The European industry body Euralarm has published a white paper on PEARS (Public Emergency Alarm and Response System). The document was created to advise on the necessary actions to increase the effectiveness of public alert scenarios.
The white paper was initiated due to the increasing challenges governments across Europe are facing when it comes to mastering crisis situations caused by natural catastrophes, manmade disasters or criminal and terror attacks. The question on how to alert the population in the affected area quickly, reliably and effectively has gained importance in the previous years. New methods of alarming the population are necessary, because of urbanisation and outdated technologies.
The European Union and several member states have started testing new methods. The most common methods use cell broadcast messages to mobile phones. This is an easy to implement method, which however has big issues because, according to a study of the UK government, only about 30 to 40 per cent of the persons reached read the messages directly. Another concern related to the testing of new methods is the lack of co-ordination between countries. The various methods are not compatible, which prevents messages from crossing borders.
Euralarm urges the European Union and all national stakeholders to cooperate and share experiences, and proposes the following actions:
•Integrate as many channels as possible.
•Integrate existing systems, including domestic systems connected to monitoring stations.
•Use standardisations to make cross-border systems compatible.
For copies of the White Paper visit: www.euralarm.org.
About Euralarm
Euralarm, the association of European manufacturers, installers and service providers of the electronic fire safety and security industry, represents the electronic fire and security industry.
