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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.


A complete message for a chemical fire
Chemical fires are frightening. They represent a sort of "dread risk" that raises concerns about not only short term impacts but...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 12, 2025


When a warning has ended, what do you say?
When a warning has ended, do you send a message or do you let silence speak for you? Do you let the public figure out that the coast is...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 18, 2025


Lessons on rumoring, style, and consistency from a haz-mat message
A colleague sent this message to me, calling attention to the words "hazardous materials" and asking what might be a more plain language...

Jeannette Sutton
Mar 14, 2025


Improving an incomplete wildfire warning message
I write a lot about wildfire warnings; I do so because they honestly stand out as being some of the most frequently incomplete and...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 9, 2024


Warning Location Information and Zones...
If you send or receive wildfire or hurricane alerts and warnings, you know that there has been a shift to the use of zones to highlight...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 30, 2024


Another wildfire message, this time using SET as a signal to prepare
If you read the blog posted on July 8, you know that wildfire messaging is inconsistent and frequently incomplete. You can read research...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 12, 2024


Should we make preparedness messages actionable, too? Yes!
Another excellent post shared by @zachstanford, who helps to highlight how we can use the Message Design Dashboard and effective...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 8, 2024


A complete message for a fast moving wildfire: 5-stars!
The wildfires that erupted in New Mexico this past June were fast moving and extremely dangerous. Having messages prepared ahead of time...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 3, 2024


Punctuation and Abbreviation - suggestions to improve readability
WEA 2.0 made it possible to devlier messages with 360 characters, yet we frequently find that message writers don't make use of all that...

Jeannette Sutton
Dec 18, 2023


Update the order and visual design to improve message readability.
Message design is more than just the inclusion of contents, it also includes the ordering and the use of visual effects to capture...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 17, 2023


Does sending a WEA reduce call volume?
Every once in a while, The Warn Room will see a WEA that appears to have been issued with the intent of reducing traffic to a local 911...

Jeannette Sutton
Nov 13, 2023


WORDS MATTER!
Technical language and jargon may accurately describe the context and the hazard but at what cost? The editor is taking a bit of a detour...

Jeannette Sutton
Sep 23, 2023


Making use of ALL CAPS
Of the many problems in public alert and warning messages, the habit of falling back upon "how things have always been done" or "what...

Jeannette Sutton
Jul 29, 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


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


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


Wildfire warning: Two great examples, two formats, two message boxes...
(click image to enlarge) Alerting software is, apparently, not easy to use. We regularly see important content placed in the description...

Jeannette Sutton
Aug 1, 2022
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