Canadians will soon be getting emergency alerts sent right to their cell phones.
Starting April 6, Alert Ready will be sending alerts in the case of life-threatening emergencies to cell phones and wireless devices that are compatible with the Wireless Public Alerting system. On May 10 at 10:55am, the system will be tested in Ontario.
According to the Government of Canada, Alert Ready is "the new national public alerting system designed to deliver critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians through television, radio, and other media."
The Alert Ready system was developed by federal, provincial, and territorial emergency management officials.
Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services Operations Chief Chris Case says this alert system is already in existence but is now getting extended to cell phones and wireless devices.
"People will probably have heard the alerts come through when they've been watching the television. We do often get tornado alerts during the summertime, because we do live in an area that is within the areas prone to tornadoes," explains Case. "What we're seeing now is that this system is being extended to cover iPhones, very similar to what they have in the United States."
Case says the messages on the phone will give residents guidance as to the type of emergency situation and what they should be doing to stay safe.
"This allows us to broadcast important information to members of the public and the various types of alerts. We could use it for a large fire if we wanted to broadcast it to the local population," he says.
A full list of examples of types of alerts can be found on Alert Ready's website. Categories include fire, natural, biological, hazardous, environmental, terrorist, and civil emergencies.
Case says while the new addition to the system will be useful, the municipality already has a good handle on how to deal with emergency situations.
"We do a lot of education with the public throughout the year to talk about emergency preparedness, 72-hour kits, and what to do in the event of a flood or a tornado," says Case. "Again, this is just a continuation of the alert system so that people can be informed and they're able to take action in the event of an emergency."
Case says if an emergency situation arose, municipal officials would communicate with the province to start sending out alerts.
He says he encourages residences to learn more about the system and emergency preparedness on the Emergency Management Ontario website and the municipality's website.