We’re all use to getting Missing Children and Severe Weather alerts on our cell phones. Now FEMA will apply the same technology on a national level, testing the ability to communicate with the entire country at the same time. The alert will be called the “Presidential Alert” and will be used to alert the entire nation during a national emergency.
The Presidential Alert will be sent on Wednesday, October 3rd at 2:18pm Eastern time [so 1:18pm Central; 12:18pm Mountain and 11:18am Pacific] and will use the same ringing sound that you get during an Amber/Weather Alert. The Presidential alert will read the following: “This is a TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The alert will be sent out on TV and Radio as well.
More than 100 mobile carriers including all the top wireless companies will participate in this alert. No one can opt out of these alerts. The system will not transmit messages that don’t relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other threats to public safety.
While a notification like this can be very helpful in a time of crisis, it can cause widespread panic in case it ever gets hacked or sends a message by mistake like the False Missle Alert in Hawaii back in January.