Calvert Advanced Life Support, Inc.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU ANNOUNCES THAT FIRST EVER NATIONWIDE DIAGNOSTIC TEST OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM WILL OCCUR ON NOVEMBER 9, 2011 AT 2 PM EST

On February 2, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission (the Commission) amended its Part 11 rules governing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to provide for national testing of the EAS and the collection of data from such tests. Newly amended section 11.61(a)(3)(iii) of the Commission rules states in relevant part: “Notice shall be provided to EAS Participants by the Commission at least two months prior to the conduct of any … national test.” The Commission hereby provides notice to all EAS participants that the first nationwide test of the EAS will occur on November 9, 2011, at 2 PM EST.

The purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a mechanism to alert the public of emergencies. Although EAS Participants currently participate in state-level monthly tests and local-level weekly tests, there has never been a nationwide test of the system. The Commission, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will use the results of this test to assess what works within the EAS and what does not and working together with EAS stakeholders will make improvements to the system as appropriate.

The Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (the Bureau) will continue to provide additional information concerning the first nationwide test of the EAS, through the release of further public notices. Please also visit the Bureau’s web page (http://www.fcc.gov/pshs/), which will continue to post announcements of all significant developments affecting nationwide EAS testing for both EAS Participants and the general public. The Bureau encourages EAS Participants to take steps, in coordination with their State Emergency Coordination Councils, in preparation for this test, such as:

Reviewing and, if necessary, updating your state’s EAS plans;

Reviewing the manner in which you deploy EAS assets – particularly EAS Participant encoder/decoder equipment – to ensure end-to-end connections and the required redundancies to minimize any single points of failure within your state’s EAS architecture

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