The Wolf Administration will begin using the national
Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system to provide important public messages
about the COVID-19 pandemic.
WEA is a national public safety system that allows customers
who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like
messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. The WEA
system is commonly used to issue time-sensitive and life-saving alerts, such as
Amber Alerts or severe weather warnings.
The Federal Communication Commission’s Public Safety and
Homeland Security Bureau allows the state, as an authorized alert originator of
messages, to use the WEA system as a COVID-19 communications tool.
“WEA is one more way to reach as many Pennsylvanians as we
can to provide timely information on COVID-19,” Governor Tom Wolf said. “This
tool is another tool in our toolkit to fight the pandemic and unite against
COVID.”
Message content, in both English and Spanish, is a combined
effort of the Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management
Agency. PEMA will send alerts through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and
Warning System (IPAWS) to participating wireless carriers, which then push the
alerts to compatible mobile devices in the area. Wireless companies volunteer
to participate in WEA.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, since its launch in 2012, the WEA system has been used nearly 56,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations – all through alerts on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices.
