One thing emergency management personnel want in a general emergency, is a way to alert the public, sometimes in one mass shot. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Association has such a system and it is available to local emergency management directors. It’s called IPAWS, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. Franklin County Emergency Management Director, Tom Winter, tells us what it can do in just the push of one button:
He added that IPAWS allows alerting authorities, like local, state, and federal agencies, to send targeted messages to specific geographic areas, helping save lives and protect property during emergencies. IPAWS was used a couple years ago to alert residents in Ottawa about a massive gas leak on the west side of town.
