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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.
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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


Law Enforcement warning and all-clear
A series of messages about law enforcement activity. The Warning Gallery has many examples of incomplete warning messages that would...

Jeannette Sutton
Jun 10, 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


An unfamiliar hazard and a local area emergency
At The Warn Room, we don't claim to be experts in all hazards, which is why adding hazard impact information to a message really helps...

Jeannette Sutton
May 13, 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


Location information update
(WEA sent 4/23/23) The editor's desk draws from research to suggest improvements to the hazard impact statement and to specify the...

Jeannette Sutton
Apr 23, 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


Complete messages with room for improvement
WEAs issued 3/22/23 These messages are complete and include stylistic choices to increase attention (use of ALL CAPS for GO and EVACUATE)...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 22, 2023


The monthly test...
WEA sent 3/22/2023 Alert originators are required by IPAWS to conduct regular tests of their system to ensure that it is operational and...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 21, 2023


Standardizing a flood warning
WEA issued 3/14/2023 Wireless Emergency Alerts for flood and some other severe weather events are officially the domain of the National...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 14, 2023


Is it time to talk about WEA policy?
Alerts sent on 3/10/23 to West Hollywood, followed by all of L.A. County The Warn Room resources and commentary have been primarily...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 10, 2023


Water disruption
Thoughts on message consistency and WEA. Message consistency is a popular topic among risk communicators in the severe weather space. ...

Jeannette Sutton
Feb 26, 2023


It's wordy, but polite
WEA sent 2/24/2023 Some alerts and warnings warrant a great amount of detail to help message receivers understand the threat and what...

Jeannette Sutton
Feb 24, 2023


Brushfire
To the left (click image to enlarge), we include the original 90-character WEA and a revised 272-character WEA. The first message on the...

Jeannette Sutton
Feb 19, 2023


Lead with fear?
New Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment. February 3-6, 2023 The messages sent to alert the Village of New Palestine, OH were absolutely...

Jeannette Sutton
Feb 9, 2023


Cancellation messages
WEA sent 1/31/2022 Cancellation messages, also called "all-clear" or "post-alert messages," have been under-studied by warning...

Jeannette Sutton
Jan 31, 2023


When is it software; when is it knowledge?
We've seen a lot of WEAs that are missing content in the message that is delivered to the phone... but sometimes, when we take a look at...

Jeannette Sutton
Jan 16, 2023


Cheeky humor...
WEA sent 1/4/2023 Recent research on the use of humor for crisis communication has shown some mixed responses. Generally it has focused...

Jeannette Sutton
Jan 4, 2023
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