A national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will be held on Wednesday, August 7 at 2:20 p.m. EDT. All AM/FM/TV broadcast stations and cable television operations are required to interrupt programming for a short message from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The test will be distributed through the traditional broadcast “daisy chain” in an effort to test the effectiveness of EAS without internet delivery.
As in the past, stations must submit three forms to the Federal Communications Committee’s Electronic Test and Reporting System. The Form One deadline was July 3. The Form Two deadline is midnight on the night of the test. The Form Three deadline is September 23.
This spring, the State of New Hampshire passed a Blue Alert law enabling public notification in the event a law enforcement officer is murdered, injured or missing in the line of duty. A written operational policy is now being developed. NHAB and the State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC) recommend that all stations include the BLU event code in your EAS programming.
Sage Alerting Systems has notified customers that two Endec firmware updates are forthcoming. Version 89-34 is already available and is free. However, another update will be available in September dealing with IPAWS access – and it is going to cost subscribers $349 per Endec. More details are available at the link provided.
As always, if you have questions please contact SECC chairman Ed Brouder at 603-668-0652 or by e-mail.