This is NOT a Test!

 

I was just reading the other day that the first nationwide test of the US Emergency Alert System will be taking place on November 9^th  at 2:00pm EST.

That’s great news.

So what, you say?  What’s the big deal? 

Besides the fact that every person in our country deserves the very best, most up to date alert system that America can create?  The big deal is what happens if it doesn’t work!

Does anyone remember the day that the Emergency Broadcast System went nuts and started sending out codes that caused it to take over radio and television stations across the country? 

The message?  This is not “just a test”. 

For nearly forty minutes on February 20^th, 1971, people who were unfortunate enough to be listening to the radio or watching cartoons that Saturday morning were convinced that America was under attack.  I know.  I was watching cartoons. That icy February day, my parents decided to leave me at home with Grandma while they went grocery shopping, so I could stay warm and spend the morning playing.   As little as I was, I still remember that high pitched moan of the old emergency broadcast system and the disembodied voice of the unseen announcer telling us that there was a national emergency, that they didn’t have any details yet and that we were to stay tuned for any updates. 

I ran to get Grandma, who didn’t take the news much better than I had. 

 

Here is a replay of one the actual broadcasts as it happened at radio station WOWO-AM in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Even though she eventually turned the set off, for the longest time we listened and wondered what could be happening.  There were no cell phones so we couldn’t reach my mom – who I wanted, badly!  We didn’t have an extra car, so we couldn’t go anywhere, and we didn’t have computers back then, so there was no internet to quickly grab the news going on beyond the Chicago metro area.  We had no idea what was happening, or the fate of anyone outside of the houses we could see on our block.

Finally, nearly an hour later, we found out what had happened.  The regularly scheduled Saturday morning emergency broadcast test was launched, but the people that send the code the stations used to authenticate it, mistakenly sent the “emergency code”, instead of the “all clear, just a test” code, throwing the world of broadcast into chaos.  Even when they realized their mistake, they tried sending the all clear code, only to send the wrong code again! 

Many of the stations didn’t believe there was a disaster and just ignored that original code, leaving viewers blissfully unaware.  A good thing I supposed, unless the threat had actually been real.  But in Chicago, Indiana and many, many other cities, scores of listeners will never forget what it feels like to actually experience a real emergency broadcast alert.  How would I describe it?  Kind of like the first half hour of 9/11, only without being able to actually see and hear what was happening in real time, the details left only to the imagination.  Just a blank screen with a scary looking logo and a frightened reporter repeating, over and over again, what he could not confirm.

Mom came home and we told her our story.  The new sort of glazed over it that evening, hoping the majority of Chicagoans simply didn’t notice. 

So an emergency alert system that is more foolproof and actually works when it’s supposed to, wherever you are and whatever media you happen to be watching at the moment?  We’re all for that!

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For more information on the EAS Test taking place in November, visit these links: http://www.tmcnet.com/topics/articles/228525-november-9-national-us-emergency-alert-system-eas.htm  or http://www.regionalinfo-alert.org/index.php/2011/08/18/nationwide-test-of-the-emergency-alert-system/ 

Want some How To tools?  Here are more ways to Get Your Stuff Together… 

How To Put an ICE Contact On Your iPhone

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Could you and your family be Ready In 10 minutes for an earthquake, tornado or other emergency?   If not, it’s an easy fix.  All it takes is one afternoon.  Get a copy of our book    “Ready In 10” today, from Amazon.com.   $19.95   

CSI: Miami Lessons from (not so real) Life

Did you see the CSI: Miami episode with the tornado?  Well if you didn’t, see if you can catch it on demand, because it was one of the best episodes they’ve ever done.    Jerry Bruckheimer and gang should be proud!

The basic plot was that Ryan and Walter (deftly played by Jonathan Togo and Omar Miller) were called to a mobile home community to investigate a dead body.  Just as they were nearing the home, the skies darkened and there in the distance was a funnel cloud.  As hard as they were trying to get to the scene, seconds later, the funnel cloud, became a full-fledged tornado.  Fighting the winds they stumbled into the home, and trying valiantly to preserve the crime scene – which by this time was the few inches of carpet surrounding the young woman’s body.  Walter started cutting the carpet around the body.  Ryan tried to loosen it and roll the girl up for safekeeping, but before they could lift her and run for safety, the tornado struck.  

Seconds later they were fighting for their own lives, as Ryan grabbed on to the only thing Walter could find to help keep him from blowing out of the wind ravaged doors – a string of Christmas tree lights.  Walter had to let go of the lights when they began cutting his hands raw.  Ryan flew out the door, only to be discovered about ten minutes later, lying in a heap outside.  Eventually Horatio and the rest of the team were on scene and discovered the girl’s body in a tree. 

Yes, everyone was all right, despite having risked their lives to try and maintain the integrity of a crime scene.  It was a great start to a fascinating episode.   Then right in the middle of the action, writer Brian Davidson slips in a critical lesson in evacuation planning.

As we find out later, after the girl’s parents saw the tornado watch and then warning, they spent about half an hour, getting ready to evacuate.  A flashback showed them grabbing family photos, their vital documents, asking each other if they had everything they would need.  

But the one thing they didn’t do, is the one thing that cost their daughter her life.  You see, their daughter was away at college.  What they didn’t know, is that she had an argument with her boyfriend and decided to spend the night in her own room at home.  She probably slipped in after they went to bed. 

The parents grabbed what they needed to start over again, in case their home was destroyed – which it was.  They asked each other if they had everything – which they thought they did.  

What they didn’t have was an Evacuation Plan or even an Evacuation List.  If they had one, like the “Ready In 10″ Evacuation Plan in our book, they would have known that they needed to double check every room in their house before leaving.  As it was, they must not have grabbed any of their daughter’s keepsakes or anything that might have been important to her.  Granted she’s away at school and has most things with her, but like most college aged people, she probably had quite a few things that she would have wanted to grab for safekeeping. 

If those parents created an Evacuation Plan or List with the other member of their family, as we suggest, they would have known what she wanted to take with before a tornado or hurricane were to strike.  And to do that, they would have gone into her room, and would have seen her.  And they would have woken her up, taken her along and she would not have been home when the looters entered their home.  That Evacuation Plan would have saved their daughter’s life. 

This is a great lesson for all of us.  The next time you update your Evacuation Plan or check over your Evacuation List, make sure that you include – “Check Each Room Before Leaving House”.  You never know what or who might have been left behind.

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Want some How To tools?  Here are more ways to Get Your Stuff Together… 

How To Put an ICE Contact On Your iPhone

___________________________________________________________________

Could you and your family be Ready In 10 minutes for an earthquake, tornado or other emergency?   If not, it’s an easy fix.  All it takes is one afternoon.  Get a copy of our book    “Ready In 10” today, from Amazon.com.   $19.95