Evaluating the use of the Alerting System Reverse 911

Evaluating the use of the Alerting System Reverse 911
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October 15, 2012
Introduction
Establishing the right mechanism for relaying information about a threat in the time of crisis provides a leeway for saving many lives and at the same time preventing panic associated with emergencies. Reverse 911 provides a public communication instrument to combat emergencies by communicating in advance and giving the public the right measures to take. Through the reverse 911 alerting system, safety organizations in the US and Canada are able to communicate with various people in defined geographical regions to forewarn them of an imminent danger (After Action Report, 2007). The alerting system utilizes a database of many phone numbers and the related addresses, which are then linked to geographic information systems (GIS). This way, the safety organization maps the locality of the people who need to be cautioned over an impending danger so that they can respond appropriately. Usually, the alert messages are relayed as recorded emergency announcements, which are then relayed to the necessary populace.
Back Ground to Emergency Notification Systems
Emergency warning systems have past roots in civil defense and the main reason why these systems were developed was to alert the public concerning a forthcoming threat over a given geographical area. In the epoch of Cold War, the US developed an emergency broadcasting system known as CONELRAD, which utilized radio stations to broadcast any emergencies (After Action Report, 2007). Later this system was advanced to become the Emergency Broadcasting System (EBS), and then afterward into the modern day alert system known as Emergency Alert System (EAS), which was intensely used by safety organizations to pass on emergency notifications to the public concerning threats such as adverse weather conditions, such as floods, tornados amongst others(After Action Report, 2007).
Owing to the escalating occurrence of natural disasters in the past two decades, it is important for the government to have a reliable emergency warning system so as to reach a huge cluster of people within a short period when there is a disaster in the offing(After Action Report, 2007). The proliferation of reliable communication devices like mobile phones, PDAs and computers has advanced the manner in which emergency warnings are relayed. There has been a notable decline in death tolls resulting from natural disasters such as storms, Tsunamis, cyclones and even fires. The modern day systems are computerized and they facilitate rapid message delivery using the computer programmed “reverse 911” system (Barry, 2005).
In the year 2007, when the wild fires ravaged San Diego, the full impetus of this automated system became apparent when thousands of residents were contacted and given instructions to evacuate. There were minimal casualties as compared to the 2003 wildfires; owing to the...