If you read The Warn Room regularly, you know that a foundational aspect of good warnings is that they deliver complete information to the message receiver. Complete messages include the 1) source, 2) hazard (plus description), 3) location, 4) guidance, and 5) time. It is possible to write a complete message for both 90 and 360 character WEAs and doing so will reduce action delay because the receiver doesn't need to search for additional information to understand the threat

This missing person alert is a great example of how to write an actionable message with enough content that a receiver may be able to act upon it. All warning messages should contain information about the source, hazard, location, guidance, and time. We can apply similar rules to a missing person alert with just a few tweaks. Here, the source is clearly named: Sutter Sheriff The hazard/threat/dangerous condition is: a missing person The sender provides clear description of t

While you cannot tell it by reading these short WEAs that were issued within about 25 minutes of each other, These messages had the potential to meet all of the guidance found in the research-based Warning Response Model. The reason you cannot tell that is because the complete message was posted in the “instructions” field of the alerting software. This is the field that will not show up in any phone that is not an iPhone with the latest software installed (See FEMA-IPAWS T

About once a week we find a message on warn.pbs.org that is clearly incomplete in both the 90 and 360 character WEA fields. But if you read a little further down, you’ll often find a beautifully written message that is included in the field called “Description.” In the case of these two WEAs, posted for a natural gas leak, we see that the original and updated messages contain what appears to be a headline containing no actionable information. The description field for the o

This is a great WEA for illustrating the strategies to include additional information. Sometimes, the content that you need or want to provide in a WEA is just too long to fit into the limited character fields. We have a few options to address this problem and they’re ALL included in this single message: First, which seems to be a common pattern, is to start abbreviating words. This is not recommended – not every message receiver is going to understand the shorthand t

This message includes the contents that motivate people to act and does so in a clear and concise manner. It provides information about the threat and its location; identifies the specific areas that are at risk and instructs them when and how to shelter in their homes. It also explains how to find additional information about the event. A few things could be added for improvement, including the SOURCE of the message, specific TIMING, and an indication of the potential IMPACT

We frequently see missing persons alerts that are incomplete, difficult to read, and filled with acronyms and jargon. This makes a difficult condition to communicate effectively even more difficult to act upon. As WEA is used for more conditions that outside of imminent threats to the public, it becomes more important for agencies that use the IPAWS system to communicate well to prevent audience disengagement or decline in organizational credibility. In this case, we see a me

Issued 9/22/2023

(click to enlarge image) Evacuation zones can be useful, but only when it follows public education. We've been wondering a lot about the effectiveness of designating areas as evacuation zones to help alert about wildfire in a quick fashion. In the past, we've seen zones accompanied by a bit of description that would help to explain the geographical area that is at risk. Those seem to be a 'happy medium' where persons who know their zones can read and interpret the code; tho

WEAs issued 8/29/23 (click image to enlarge) If you are a Warn Room reader, you know that we usually write about the use of "trigger language" in reference to levels of risk that are generally applied to wildfire events. Level 1 means something different from Level 2, which means something different from Level 3. They can be clarified by including a label with each level, such as "Level 2 - prepare to evacuate" or "Level 3 - mandatory evacuation order," although if you're

Public health advisories frequently fall into the category of "WEA-ble" due to the potential for impact on community populations.

Two WEAs issued for wildfire on 7/21/23 Clearly, alert and warning writers are neck deep in technical jargon when talking about IPAWS, alert originators, 360 and 90 WEAs, etc. We use language that is relevant to our community to say more using fewer words. Sometimes this carries into messaging to the public. Take for instance, the messages here about wildfire. While we couldn't find an original message issued about a SET STATUS, we can assume that the community received an

WEA issued 7/9/2023 Templates for alerts and warnings certainly have their place. They have the advantage of providing pre-scripted content in an order that (generally) makes sense and can be used in a snap when time is short. Pre-scripted messages have the benefit of time because they were created when the message originator was not under pressure to think through the hazard, it's potential impacts, and the actions a person should take to protect themselves. In this case

Sheriff's WEA issued on 6/29/2023

Wildfire WEA issued on 6/28/2023 In prior posts, we discussed the importance of message consistency. Most frequently, this is a topic that applies to messages issued by multiple senders and their contents contradict one another, this is EXTERNAL inconsistency. Inconsistency between messages can cause a lot of confusion for the message receiver, but it can also mean that they have to choose who they will believe and who they will trust in the future. It's best to coordinate

WEAs have the power to reach people without requiring them to opt-in. Use this tool to deliver content that is meaningful and actionable, especially in slow-moving and pervasive threat environments. Heat domes, heat bursts, heat advisories, heat indices, heat warnings... they all communicate one key thing: it's hot out there and it's not safe. But, we can do more. Including protective actions to keep people safe will be useful for those who have the means and resources to

The warning gallery has previously displayed examples of incomplete messages that could use improvement. In this case. we're focused on the 90-character version of a wildfire message using technical jargon. Wildfire "trigger language" (the word that Kuligowski et al. use to indicate that evacuation is imminent or to trigger evacuation behavior) is a type of jargon that is employed inconsistently across varying jurisdictions. One set of phrases that has been adopted is "Rea

Source information is important, y'all! While clearly there are constraints that come with a 90 character WEA, when you have the full 360 characters you also have the opportunity to spell out the name of the source sending the message. In these examples, we applaud the organization for including something that signifies who the message comes from in the 90 character message. Unfortunately, an identical message was issued for all 360 character receivers. Researchers have fo

WEA issued 4/22/23 to persons in Met Life Stadium The research record on alerts and warnings consistently identifies the importance of including 5 primary content types to create a COMPLETE message. This message does include information about the hazard and the guidance to persons who are at risk. However, it leaves out other key pieces of information. All effective warning messages should include location information. The research record shows that this increases persona