The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)

Antwane Johnson, Director

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IPAWS WEA Public Service Announcement & News Clips

4 minute video of news clips real life uses of WEA across the nation

at: https://youtu.be/4fFFkYOFLT4

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Evolution of Public Emergency Alerting in the United States

Originally called the “Key Station System,” the CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation (CONELRAD) was organized a network of AM radio stations with special procedures for warning citizens and providing emergency instructions and information in the event of a national catastrophic emergency.

IPAWS integrates and expands public alert and warning from just radio and TV, to wireless devices, Internet applications, NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radios, and future communications technologies using an international open standard for information exchange - the Common Alerting Protocol or CAP. 

IPAWS enables public safety officials at all levels of government to warn citizens via a diverse and integrated network of private sector communications systems.

EBS expanded emergency warning to include radio and TV stations providing the President with an expeditious method of warning the public during a national emergency.

Later expanded to enable state and local officials to alert local populations during local emergencies and provide for better and more accurate handling of alert reception and rebroadcast.

EAS modernized the EBS providing automation of alert transmission and activation to radio and TV stations with the adoption of the Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) protocol and provided better integration with National Weather Service and state and local alert systems.

CONELRAD EBS EAS IPAWS1951 - 1963 1963 - 1997 1997 - - - - - - - - Present -

IPAWS enhances and extends a national infrastructure and capability to local, state, territorial, and tribal officials for

public alerting and warning

Alerting Authorities

~633 County level organizations leveraging IPAWS services

49 State level w/ Public Alerting

3 Territory w/ Public Alerting

NOAA National Weather Service (NWS)National Center for Missing and

Exploited Children (AMBER Alerts)

Alert Dissemination Channels (public alerting systems)

IPAWS – User and Connection Status

Emergency Alert System

Wireless Emergency Alerts

Internet Services

NOAANot Active

Local

State

Territorial

Federal

IPAWS OPEN

26,000 EAS participants monitoring the IPAWS EAS Feed

61 Cellular Carriers connectedMillions of handsets deployed

All Hazards NOAA Weather Radio network

55 vendors with access to monitor IPAWS All Hazards Information Feed

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As of September 2015

CanadianMASAS

As of June 9, 2014

December 7, 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper released the Beyond the Border (BTB) Action Plan

• Established a common goal to enhancing the coordination of responses during binational disasters.

• Canada and the United –States will: “promote the harmonization of the Canadian Multi-Agency Situational Awareness System with the U.S. Integrated Public Alert and Warning System to enable sharing of alert, warning and incident information

to improve response coordination during binational disasters.”

What is IPAWS?• IPAWS is a National System for Local Alerting

– authenticated emergency alert and information messaging from emergency officials to the public through IPAWS connections to:

• radio and television as Emergency Alert System broadcasts• cellular phones as Wireless Emergency Alerts• NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio• Internet applications and websites

– FEMA, tasked by DHS, is responsible for:• Development, operation, integration and maintenance of the IPAWS which

includes the EAS, WEA, NOAA HazCollect, and IPAWS Alerts Feed components plus future connections for alerting TBD

• And making it available for state/local/territorial/tribal to use

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IPAWS is Not:– Not a subscription based mass notification system– Not an ETN or reverse dial phone system– Not an SMS or email sign up service– Not a paging or distribution list notification system

• e.g. can’t send a recall notice to a select group of employees

IPAWS supports: – Emergency Public Warning and information

• urgent messages & info to protect & manage public safety– Warning all citizens in any given area

• Residents & Visitors

IPAWS does not know phone numbers or people’s location!

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When is IPAWS used?When public safety officials need to warn of a threat to public safety:

Evacuation Shelter-In-Place Law Enforcement Situations 911 Outage Road Closure Chemical Spill/Release Water Contamination Emergency Water Distribution Location

Emergency Relief Location Emergency Shelter Locations Dam Release Alert Critical Power Outage Nuclear Accident Landslide Pipe Line Break Extreme Weather

Flooding Volcano Earthquakes Wildfires Child Abductions/ AMBER Alerts

• messages processed per month

39,263

• WEA Alerts by NOAA via IPAWS

18,803

• WEA Alerts sent by other Users via IPAWS2,831

• WEA AMBER Alerts sent via IPAWS453

IPAWS Usage (As of May 2015)

Emerging Technologies

• AWARN• SIRIUS/XM• HSIN PILOT• Multi-lingual alerts (ECHO Minnesota)

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www.fema.gov/alerting-authorities

IPAWS Public Alerting Requirements1. Obtain an IPAWS-compatible alerting tool2. Complete a Memorandum of Agreement

– Fill out the MOA Application (link below)– FEMA will create an MOA for you to sign– With a signed MOA, FEMA will set up your COG

and create your PKI certificate (to be installed in your alerting tool)

3. Complete the “Public Alerting Application”– Coordinate with the state and obtain signature

4. Complete IPAWS web-based training– With a signed “Public Alerting Application” and

training certificate, FEMA will enable your alerting permissions and you’re good to go

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Questions