This is a test of the test

It's not unusual to hear radio and TV broadcasters stop programming to conduct their Emergency Alert System (EAS) test. "This is a test. This is only a test..." (I still have memorized the monthly test announcement I did as a broadcaster on a TV station in Georgia many years ago...that and the Boy Scout Law.)

This week in Alaska, though, the EAS test will be different. A full-blown EAS exercise is being conducted. FEMA, the FCC, the State of Alaska, and Alaska Broadcasters' Association will participate.

"This particular test is going to use the real code as if there was a national-level emergency and the president needed to talk to the American public. It's going to use the actual code that would be used during a national emergency," said Bryan Fisher, Chief of Operations at the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The EAN is a code sent to broadcaster EAS equipment when a Presidential alert is issued. The code alerts broadcasters to an impending message from the White House, signaling them to follow activation procedures from the operating handbook. Once issued, programming is interrupted, EAS header codes are transmitted, attention signals are generated, and the monitoring source is selected that is carrying the Presidential message. Broadcasters are required to conduct weekly and monthly tests of EAS equipment, but the EAN originating from the President has never actually been tested. Based on reports, officials are planning a nationwide test some time next year.

In a FEMA press release, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, “The Alaska exercise will help determine how to further improve the nation’s alerting system and better prepare us in our ongoing efforts to implement Next Generation EAS." The Governor of Alaska called "an excellent proving ground" the exercise.

Digitizing and expanding EAS is one of the initiatives FEMA and the FCC are involved in under FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) program.

All the best,

Rick