As many of you may already know. Next Wednesday at 11am, across the Nation will be the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). This is the first time the EAS has been used to deliver a nationwide alert. This alert will be different than the familiar tests or alerts involving severe weather or Amber Alerts.
Of note is a possibility that the “test” banner may be missing which will leave just the banner “emergency alert” due to differences in systems nationwide all coordinating at the same time. Some residents with access and functional needs may not have full access to fully understand the message. The YouTube Video below produced by FEMA is an excellent educational tool and I highly recommend you watch it and start pushing out the message components now and feature the story on Tuesday as a reminder.
Your partnership in this effort is CRITICAL.
This test is part of a nationwide effort to strengthen and improve our alert and notification and to keep our nation and communities safe. The City of Fresno fully collaborates with FEMA, Cal-EMA and our local partners to support this effort. We are committed to emergency preparedness to make our community safe.
On a parting note, I would like to point out in the YouTube video, the use of an ASL interpreter in the video box. Nationwide, many safety broadcasts are lost in translation to the Deaf community as some speak only ASL and would not understand text. In Fresno and Fresno County we have a large Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. I HIGHLY encourage you all to consider the use of ASL interpreters whenever you are delivering critical safety information so the entire community is included.
