At 1:18 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3, cell phone users received a presidential alert that stated the following: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
Although the message was sent out by President Donald Trump, the National Wireless Emergency Alert System was originally signed into law by former President Barack Obama. However, it wasn’t ready to be released until now. This alert system allows the White House to inform the public of national emergencies, ranging from terrorist attacks to nuclear meltdowns to massive toxic spills.
“It’s a really important piece of emergency infrastructure,” said Dr. Erin Bergren, visiting assistant professor of environmental and interdisciplinary studies at NCC.
When the message was sent out, many people didn’t understand why they were receiving this message; some wished they could turn it off. However, Bergren explains why these messages are important for today’s society.
“If (fill in national emergency) is coming and you are watching Netflix, you’re not going to get the radio alert and you’re not going to get the TV alert,” Bergren said. “What you will have is your phone, and so expanding the emergency alert system to wireless systems is a way to accommodate new technology.”
With society’s growing reliance on technology, people are more likely to get news from their phones than TV or radio. Since technology has improved the speed at which people can access the internet, then so too shall the emergency alert system be improved by the speed at which it notifies the public of national emergencies.
“It just really bothers me the idea that political tension would get to the point where people would turn off something that is designed to keep them safe in an emergency,” Bergren said. “It’s not like (President Trump) can tweet at you. All he can do is warn you of emergencies, and I think when emergencies are coming, we all want to be warned about them.”
