Don’t Stress – It’s Only a Test

At 2 p.m. EST today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission, along with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. The test will last about 30 seconds and be transmitted via television and radio stations. Similar to local emergency alert system tests, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming. When the test is over, regular programming will resume.

The national Emergency Alert System is an alert and warning system that can be activated by the President, if needed, to provide information to the American public during emergencies. While the system is often tested in local markets, a nationwide test is being done to further evaluate and, if necessary, improve the system.

For more information about the nationwide Emergency Alert System test, go to http://www.fema.gov and www.FCC.gov

So don’t worry if you hear the tone – it’s just a test!

Eliot Brenner
Public Affairs Director

Author: Moderator

Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

13 thoughts on “Don’t Stress – It’s Only a Test”

  2. It would be interesting to find out the results of this test? Hopefully it went smoothly and hopefully the real thing will not be needed.

  3. Wonderful timing, now all the armageddon nuts and their subsects, (Nibula planet, galactic alignment, polar shift, ad nauseum..) are all going to say, “See!! Told ya so!!”. ugghhhh

  4. We currently have liaison officers and Incident Management Assistance Teams in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico emergency operations centers, working with territory and local officials to identify needs and shortfalls impacting potential disaster response and recovery.

  5. Executing this test is very important so that people will know that the government has a direct communication to all people whether from radio or t.v in case of emergency, also Having this kind of test is a kind of drill to the people.

  8. It is right that they’ll perform a test of the National Emergency Alert System, so that the public may know their National Emergency Alert System is still working, also I’m sure that not all people know about this, so this is a kind of introducing it to the public.. This Alert System is very important to inform people ahead of time about the future disaster..

  9. It would be interesting to find out the results of this test? Hopefully it went smoothly and hopefully the real thing will not be needed.

  12. The methodology of the test shows how important it is to have the emergency team with the right aptitude and attitude. Kudos America !

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