Public safety officials can help protect their communities with the ability to send emergency alerts.
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is an integrated gateway through which an authorized public safety entity—for example, a local emergency management authority or a Public Safety Answering Point—may alert the public to emergencies such as a wildfire or an AMBER alert for a missing child. Using IPAWS, authorized users may send alerts through the Emergency Alert System, which delivers the information via radio, television, and other media, and/or Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are delivered to consumers’ cell phones.
State, local, tribal, and territorial emergency management authorities may wish to review FEMA’s “How to Sign Up for IPAWS” website and consider qualifying to become alert originators. This is an effective way of making sure that people in your community get timely information they may need to stay safe. Public safety officials who have questions or want additional information should email IPAWS@fema.dhs.gov.