ESA to test telephone warning system tomorrow

The ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) will conduct a test of the national telephone warning system known as EMERGENCY ALERT tomorrow (Saturday 3 May, 2014) in selected areas across Canberra.

The EMERGENCY ALERT system was enhanced in 2013 to allow emergency services to target text messages towards specific locations on an expanded number of mobile phone networks.

The test will provide an opportunity to target a range of areas including the urban / rural interface, the inner city, a rural district, as well as an area with NBN coverage.

Trained operators within the ESA and ACT Policing will target streets in the suburbs of Conder, Turner, O’Connor, Fadden, Gowrie, Macarthur, Gungahlin and also at the Cotter Reserve.

The test will begin at 12pm and scheduled to conclude at 4pm. The test message will clearly identify that the message is a test and recipients should not call Emergency Triple Zero (000).

Media Release – ESA to test telephone warning system [.pdf 137 KB]