New technology to alert people about emergencies
13 November 2017
A new way to let people know about an emergency is coming to a phone near you. That’s the message from the Ministry of
Civil Defence and Emergency Management who are leading the implementation of a new nationwide emergency alert channel.
A live nationwide test will be held on 26 November 2017 to check the new system.
Director of Emergency Management Bay of Plenty Clinton Naude says the alerts are sent using cell broadcast technology,
so there is no need to sign up or download an app.
“They can be targeted to affected areas, so you will only get them if the emergency is in your area. This means if your
phone is on, capable of receiving them and inside the targeted area, you should get the alerts. You can find out whether
your phone has the required update and can receive the alerts at civildefence.govt.nz,” he says.
Emergency Mobile Alerts are different to the existing text alert platform in place in the Bay of Plenty. Mobile phone
and internet traffic can easily overload the network, where as Emergency Mobile Alerts use a dedicated cell broadcasting
channel. This means that all capable phones in the targeted area will get that notification at the same time.
“In an emergency we make use of all available channels to alert people. That’s because people get their information from
different places and every channel has its advantages and disadvantages. For example not all phones are capable of
receiving these alerts, not everyone is signed up to Facebook and not everyone listens to the radio. We will be using
this new system in addition to our existing suite of alerting tools,” says Mr Naude.
Minister of Civil Defence, Kris Faafoi, says Emergency Mobile Alerts are an additional channel to help keep New Zealand
safe in an emergency and do not replace other alerting systems, or the need to take action after natural warnings.
“If you feel your life is in danger, don’t wait for an official warning. Take immediate action,” he says.
Additional information:
You can find out whether your phone has the required update and can receive the alerts at civildefence.govt.nz
Emergency Mobile Alerts can only be sent by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups, NZ Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the
Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The nationwide test is a way to test systems, the cell towers and a phones ability to receive an Emergency Mobile Alert.
ends