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Read. Understand. Apply.
The Warn Room blogs apply 70 years of research to the practice of alerts and warnings. We show how evidence-based changes to message content, style, and structure can create more effective warnings.
Warning Gallery
Helping you Improve Wireless Emergency Alerts!
Some Wireless Emergency Alerts are exemplary in their construction and inclusion of content. Others are not. Risk communicators can learn from each other in order to improve their messaging when it really matters.
Come back frequently for more examples.
Practice with your alerting software, please.
While you cannot tell it by reading these short WEAs that were issued within about 25 minutes of each other, These messages had the...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 15, 2023
The Importance of Training and Exercises
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...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 7, 2023
Strategies to Provide Additional Information in a WEA
This is a great WEA for illustrating the strategies to include additional information. Sometimes, the content that you need or want to...
Jeannette Sutton
Nov 5, 2023
A Clear, Concise HazMat Message
This message includes the contents that motivate people to act and does so in a clear and concise manner. It provides information about...
Jeannette Sutton
Oct 28, 2023
Missing Person Alert Using Plain Language
We frequently see missing persons alerts that are incomplete, difficult to read, and filled with acronyms and jargon. This makes a...
Jeannette Sutton
Oct 20, 2023
A 5 Star Warning!
Issued 9/22/2023 (click image to enlarge) The Warning Gallery loves to display messages that exemplify good messaging. This message,...
Jeannette Sutton
Sep 22, 2023
Wildfire Evacuation Zones are coming to a town near you
(click to enlarge image) Evacuation zones can be useful, but only when it follows public education. We've been wondering a lot about the...
Jeannette Sutton
Sep 9, 2023
Your evacuation messages shouldn't be so confusing
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...
Jeannette Sutton
Aug 29, 2023
A clear & concise public health advisory
Public health advisories frequently fall into the category of "WEA-ble" due to the potential for impact on community populations.
Jeannette Sutton
Aug 24, 2023
The JARGON style of wildfire messaging
Two WEAs issued for wildfire on 7/21/23 Clearly, alert and warning writers are neck deep in technical jargon when talking about IPAWS,...
Jeannette Sutton
Jul 21, 2023
The downside of templated messages.
WEA issued 7/9/2023 Templates for alerts and warnings certainly have their place. They have the advantage of providing pre-scripted...
Jeannette Sutton
Jul 10, 2023
Should I send a WEA for a weather event?
Sheriff's WEA issued on 6/29/2023 (click image to enlarge) The National Weather Service has the authority and responsibility to issue...
Jeannette Sutton
Jun 28, 2023
Message Inconsistency
Wildfire WEA issued on 6/28/2023 In prior posts, we discussed the importance of message consistency. Most frequently, this is a topic...
Jeannette Sutton
Jun 27, 2023
It's time to get serious about excessive heat messaging.
WEAs have the power to reach people without requiring them to opt-in. Use this tool to deliver content that is meaningful and...
Jeannette Sutton
Jun 22, 2023
4 Stars for this alert!
WEA issued on 6/20/23 We like to call attention to the GOOD alerts when we see them. In this case, the message is nearly complete (it is...
Jeannette Sutton
Jun 19, 2023
90 Characters of Jargon
The warning gallery has previously displayed examples of incomplete messages that could use improvement. In this case. we're focused on...
Jeannette Sutton
May 23, 2023
LCFD NYPD UALB... the problem with acronyms
Source information is important, y'all! While clearly there are constraints that come with a 90 character WEA, when you have the full 360...
Jeannette Sutton
May 4, 2023
The importance of location information
WEA issued 4/22/23 to persons in Met Life Stadium The research record on alerts and warnings consistently identifies the importance of...
Jeannette Sutton
Apr 21, 2023
ALL CAPS = SCREAMING
BOLO sent 4/21/23 WHEN YOU WANT TO GET ATTENTION, SOMETIMES IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO SCREAM. Sometimes, getting ATTENTION can be as simple as...
Jeannette Sutton
Apr 20, 2023
What is this unnamed hazard that you warn of?
WEA issued on 4/20/23 for a brush fire Decades ago, disaster researchers Mike Lindell and Ron Perry developed the Protective Action...
Jeannette Sutton
Apr 19, 2023
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