The Alerting Authority

This episode is sponsored by Nextdoor

What if your next emergency alert could reach thousands of residents who aren't following your agency on social media or signed up for traditional emergency notifications?

In this episode of The Alerting Authority, hosts Dr. Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola welcome Joseph Porcelli of Nextdoor to explore how neighborhood-based communication is changing the way public safety agencies connect with their communities.

With approximately one in three U.S. households on Nextdoor, according to figures discussed in the episode, the platform offers emergency managers an opportunity to reach an established local audience through geographically targeted messages.

Joseph explains how Nextdoor's free public agency tools can support emergency alerts, disaster preparedness, community engagement, and even the search for missing or wandering individuals.

In this episode, we explore:

- How Nextdoor helps public safety agencies reach verified neighborhood residents
- Why traditional social media platforms can leave gaps in emergency communication
- How geographically targeted alerts reach specific communities, flood zones, and evacuation areas
- How Nextdoor alerts use push notifications, email, and prominent newsfeed placement
- How Nextdoor can supplement Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
- Integrations with emergency notification systems
- Real-world examples involving disasters, severe weather, and missing individuals
- How Nextdoor's AI-assisted Behavioral Communications and Alerting Prompt incorporates Dr. Sutton's warning researchNextdoor Is Changing Emergency Alerts — Here's What Public Safety Agencies Need to Know
- Why building community trust before a disaster can make emergency communication more effective

Apply for your free Nextdoor for Public Agencies page at Nextdoor.com/agency

Try the Nextdoor Behavioral Commsa d Alerting prompt at Nextdoor.com/commsprompt

What happens when an emergency alert takes too long to reach the people who need it most?

In this episode of The Alerting Authority, host Eddie Bertola joins us from Seattle, Washington, where he and Dr. Jeannette Sutton are working with city leadership to examine emergency alert policies, improve warning messages, and strengthen public safety communication.

Following a tragic shooting at the Bite of Seattle, city officials have taken steps to evaluate how critical warnings are created, approved, and delivered.

But improving emergency alerts isn't simply about buying better technology. It's about building policies, preparing personnel, and ensuring lifesaving information can reach the public when every second counts.

In this episode, we explore:

• Seattle's efforts to improve emergency alerts and warnings
• Why emergency alert approval processes can create dangerous delays
• How leadership and agency coordination influence public safety
• Why active assailant warnings need clear, direct language
• How Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and IPAWS can help reach visitors and residents
• The importance of preapproved emergency messaging templates
• The risks of relying on a single person to authorize alerts
• Why emergency alert training must lead to real policy improvements
• How local governments can build more resilient warning programs

Eddie also discusses Alert Seattle, the importance of reaching people who haven't signed up for local notification systems, and why honest, sometimes uncomfortable language can help people make lifesaving decisions.

The biggest takeaway: Effective emergency warning systems depend on more than technology. They require strong leadership, clear communication, practical policies, and people who are prepared to act.

Whether you're an emergency manager, first responder, public information officer, government leader, or someone interested in public safety, this conversation offers valuable lessons about improving emergency communication.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for conversations about emergency alerts, warning science, disaster communication, IPAWS, Wireless Emergency Alerts, and the people working to make communities safer.

Join the conversation: What's the biggest obstacle to sending timely emergency alerts in your community?

#EmergencyManagement #EmergencyAlerts #PublicSafety #IPAWS #Seattle

What happens when an emergency alert goes to the wrong people—or never reaches the people who need it most?

On this episode of The Alerting Authority, host Eddie Bertola welcomes William (Will) Chapman, Oregon's Statewide Interoperability and Watch Center Manager, for an in-depth conversation about emergency communications, lessons learned from major disasters, and building a more reliable statewide alert and warning system.

Drawing on his experience in 911 communications, law enforcement, fire, EMS, and emergency management, Will shares how Oregon has transformed its alerting capabilities following the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating 2020 Labor Day wildfires.

The conversation explores:

• How disasters exposed critical gaps in Oregon's emergency alerting infrastructure
• The development of OR Alert, Oregon's statewide alert and warning program
• Why training, preparedness, and preapproved message templates matter
• How emergency managers should respond when alerts are issued incorrectly
• The importance of collaboration between state, local, and tribal governments
• How multilingual alerts and geographic targeting improve emergency communications
• The future of public warning as technology and communication platforms evolve

One of the biggest takeaways? Effective emergency alerting isn't just about having the right technology. It's about building relationships, preparing before disaster strikes, and creating systems that empower people to act confidently when every second counts.

Whether you're an emergency manager, public information officer, first responder, or alerting authority, this episode offers practical insights into making emergency communications more effective.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for more conversations with the people shaping the future of public warning.

#EmergencyManagement #EmergencyAlerts #PublicSafety #IPAWS #ORAlert #EmergencyCommunications

What makes an emergency alert actually work — and what happens when critical information is left out?

On this episode of The Alerting Authority, Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola welcome back Dr. Hugh Walpole for Part 2 of their conversation about risk perception, warning messages, and the science behind how people respond during emergencies.

The conversation explores groundbreaking new research examining the individual pieces of an emergency warning message and what happens when one of those pieces is removed.

The research tested six major warning-message components: source, hazard, hazard impact, location, time, and protective-action guidance.

The biggest finding?

While complete messages consistently performed best, three pieces of information were particularly important:

• What the hazard is
• How the hazard could affect people
• What people should do to protect themselves

The group also discusses risk perception, self-efficacy, response efficacy, confirmation bias, trusted sources, evacuation terminology, “milling,” wildfire warnings, and why incomplete messages can cause people to spend precious time searching for additional information instead of taking action.

They also discuss the Warning Lexicon, a freely available research-based resource designed to help emergency managers and public information officers build clearer and more complete warning messages.

For emergency managers, public information officers, meteorologists, alert originators, researchers, and anyone responsible for communicating risk, this episode offers practical lessons backed by research about how to design warnings that help people understand the danger and take protective action.

Because when every second counts, the information inside an alert matters.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for conversations about emergency alerts, warnings, risk communication, preparedness, and the people working to make communities safer.

#EmergencyManagement #EmergencyAlerts #RiskCommunication #PublicSafety #WarningMessages #DisasterCommunication #EmergencyPreparedness

Emergency alerts are supposed to help people make fast, potentially life-saving decisions. But what happens when the alert itself is vague, incomplete, or confusing?

In this Alerting Authority Reality Check, Eddie Bertola tackles one of the most basic — and most overlooked — parts of an effective emergency warning program: TEMPLATES.

Too many agencies are still trying to write critical messages from scratch while an emergency is unfolding. Eddie explains why that needs to change and how well-designed, pre-approved templates can help alerting authorities communicate faster, more clearly, and more consistently when every second counts.

In this episode:

• Why emergency alert templates are NOT optional
• What information belongs in a complete warning message
• Why vague alerts like “danger in the area” aren't enough
• WEA, EAS, SMS, email and other alert formats
• Why local authorities can't simply rely on National Weather Service messaging
• Preparing templates for your community's most likely hazards
• Building evacuation, shelter-in-place, update and all-clear messages
• Why templates should be reviewed and updated regularly
• Preparing multilingual alerts BEFORE an emergency happens
• How pre-approved templates can reduce delays during a crisis
• Free resources available to help improve message design

The goal isn't to create a template for every emergency imaginable. It's to prepare for the situations you can reasonably predict before the pressure is on.

And emergency information shouldn't only work for people who speak English. Templates can allow agencies to prepare translations ahead of time so more members of the community can receive critical information in a form they understand.

Your community deserves clear, actionable and complete emergency information.

If you work in emergency management, public safety, alerts and warnings, risk communication, or crisis communications, ask yourself one question:

When was the last time you actually reviewed your alert templates?

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for more conversations and Reality Checks about emergency alerts, warnings, public safety, risk communication, preparedness, and building stronger alerting programs.

#EmergencyManagement #EmergencyAlerts #PublicSafety #CrisisCommunication #RiskCommunication #WEA #IPAWS #EmergencyPreparedness

Why do people make the wrong decision during an emergency — even when they understand the warning?

On this episode of The Alerting Authority, Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola are joined by disaster scholar Dr. DeeDee Bennett Gayle to explore groundbreaking research using virtual reality to study how older adults respond to emergency warnings in real time.

Instead of simply asking people what they think they would do during a disaster, researchers placed participants inside virtual emergency scenarios involving a hurricane and a chemical spill — allowing them to observe how people actually seek information, interpret warnings, and decide whether to evacuate or shelter in place.

The results raise some fascinating questions.

Why do people seek multiple sources before taking action? Why might someone understand an emergency warning but still choose a different protective action? And what can emergency managers do to make alerts and warnings more effective?

The conversation explores wireless emergency alerts, the Emergency Alert System, NOAA Weather Radio, television, social media, warning comprehension, risk perception, protective action decision-making, older adults, and the future of virtual reality in emergency preparedness.

Because sending the warning is only the beginning. What matters next is whether people know what to do — and actually do it.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for more conversations about emergency alerts, warnings, risk communication, preparedness, and the people working to make communities safer.

#EmergencyManagement #EmergencyAlerts #PublicSafety #DisasterPreparedness #RiskCommunication

What happens after a devastating weather disaster — and who makes sure we actually learn from it?

On this episode of The Alerting Authority, Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola are joined by Jennifer Sprague Hilderbrand and Doug Hilderbrand, co-founders of the American Weather Enterprise Association (AWEA), for a conversation about the future of weather safety, emergency communication, and national policy.

They discuss the idea behind a National Weather Safety Board, the importance of studying major disasters to identify what worked and what failed, the future of America's weather infrastructure, and why sustained advocacy matters for emergency managers, meteorologists, researchers, and communities.

The conversation also explores the Congressional Weather Enterprise Caucus, aging weather radar infrastructure, alerts and warnings, social science, and the challenge of turning lessons learned after disasters into meaningful improvements before the next emergency.

Because when every second counts, learning from the last disaster could help us prepare for the next one.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for more conversations about emergency alerts, warnings, risk communication, preparedness, and the people working to make communities safer.

#EmergencyManagement #Weather #EmergencyAlerts #SevereWeather #PublicSafety

In this Alerting Authority Reality Check, Eddie Bertola tackles a controversial question: Should AMBER Alerts really be sent statewide?

Wireless Emergency Alerts were designed with geotargeting capabilities, yet many jurisdictions continue sending AMBER Alerts across an entire state—even when an abduction occurs near a state border or available information points toward a much smaller geographic area. Eddie examines examples from Oregon, Washington, Texas and Florida and explains why he believes this approach needs to change.

The concern isn't whether every effort should be made to recover an abducted child. It's whether sending alerts to people hundreds of miles away is actually the most effective use of the technology—and whether over-alerting could eventually cause more people to disable AMBER Alerts entirely.

Eddie also identifies three factors he believes contribute to statewide alerting: outdated policies, outdated technology and resistance to change.

Is it time to rethink statewide AMBER Alerts?

Join the conversation and tell us what you think.

How do we actually know whether an emergency alert works?

In Part 1 of this special two-part episode of The Alerting Authority, Dr. Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola are joined by research scientist Dr. Hugh Walpole for a deep dive into the science behind emergency warning research.

Hugh breaks down qualitative vs. quantitative research, experiments, representative sampling, risk perception, and how researchers determine whether changes to an emergency message actually make a difference.

But the conversation leads to an even bigger question: Should the success of an emergency alert really be measured by whether people comply?

The answer is more complicated than it sounds.

The group explores why researchers focus on understanding, belief, personalization, and decision-making—and why getting people to make themselves safe may be a much better goal than simply getting them to “do what they're told.”

In this episode:
• Qualitative vs. quantitative emergency communication research
• How emergency alert experiments actually work
• Why representative samples matter
• The dangers of relying on anecdotal feedback
• The Warning Response Model
• What motivates people to take protective action
• Why “compliance” can be a misleading metric
• How real-world context changes emergency behavior
• The ethics of emergency communication research
• How better research can lead to better warning messages

This is Part 1 of our conversation with Dr. Hugh Walpole. Part 2 will dive into the latest research from Dr. Sutton's lab and content mapping for emergency messages.

Subscribe to The Alerting Authority for conversations about emergency alerts, warnings, risk communication, research, policy, and the people working to make communities safer.

The Alerting Authority — Every Second Has a Story.

Earthquakes can strike without warning—but new technology can give you precious seconds to react.

In this episode archived of The Alerting Authority, Jeannette Sutton and Eddie Bertola break down USGS ShakeAlert, earthquake early warnings, Wireless Emergency Alerts, and the technology that can warn people before strong shaking arrives. They also examine false earthquake alerts and why fast follow-up communication is critical for maintaining public trust.  

The episode also revisits the Hawaii false missile alert and research showing why people need corrective information through the same channels that delivered the original warning.