[Excerpts from Sep. 30th Govt. of Manitoba News Release]
Manitobans will receive information on potential emergencies in a more timely and consistent manner as a result of the establishment of a new joint emergency alert system being phased in by the Manitoba government and the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba (BAM), Scott Smith, minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO), announced today.

The new public emergency alert system protocol will involve the following procedures:

- EMO will identify potential public emergency situations including flooding, forest fires, dangerous goods accidents and other potential immediate threats to human lives;

- EMO will work with Communications Services Manitoba to issue specific information to broadcasters in areas affected by an emergency in an agreed upon format tailored to work for both radio and television broadcasts; and

- upon receipt of the information, it will be broadcast on radio within 15 to 30 minutes or in a modified version on television as a "crawl" along the bottom of the screen.

Alerts will be issued under one or all of the following criteria:

- if there is an imminent and serious threat to human life or safety as determined by EMO;

- if an immediate broadcast may help to provide Manitobans with urgent information and direction on how to respond to an emergency; and

- if there is no other timely or effective way to notify people about a particular threat.

The list of BAM participants includes 30 radio stations and four television stations reaching virtually every area of the province. To ensure accuracy, the system will be tested over the next month.

Full Release

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