[sbe-eas] Interesting Dissertation on EAS

[Stephen Weber]

IMHO, this dissertation should be required reading for all officials at DoHS, FEMA, and the FCC.

Steve
  From: Rob Dale 
  Date: Friday, January 07, 2011 3:06 PM
  To: SBE EAS Exchange - a mail list for discussion about the Emergency AlertSystem and other emergency communication issues. 
  Subject: [sbe-eas] Interesting Dissertation on EAS


  http://tinyurl.com/eas-dissert

  EFFICIENCY OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM

  by Rita Marie Kepner, Ph.D.
  Washington State University
  December 2010

  Scholars, emergency workers, and the general public have noted failures in
  disaster communication over the last decade. Communication breakdowns
  following catastrophic events have been categorized, defined and studied
  in a variety of ways most often focusing on the effectiveness of the
  communication - do people take the right actions? But what about the
  efficiency of the system - do people actually receive the communication?
  This study focused on one narrow type of disaster communication: disaster
  warnings as embodied in the emergency alert system (EAS). Inspired by
  reports of some unrelayed EAS warnings, this researcher explored the
  efficiency of the EAS by using in-depth interviews with EAS technicians
  from western states to seek understanding of why some urgent warnings have
  not been relayed. The introduction and review of the literature indicate
  that some EAS messages have not been relayed as one might expect, and
  people have been seriously injured and in some cases, deaths have
  occurred. The design of this dissertation study was guided by a basic
  communication model and Kantian Capitalism theory. These perspectives
  suggest broadcasters would consistently relay warnings such as "tsunami
  coming; run now" even though, in our capitalistic system, the broadcast
  time is costly.

  Study results indicate that the federally regulated EAS system is
  inefficient for a variety of reasons, including the cost of broadcast
  time. Evidence shows that the EAS will remain inefficient in spite of or
  perhaps because of ongoing complex Kantian Capitalistic efforts now
  underway. Making dire warnings mandatory would improve efficiency.
  Required training and agreed upon criteria could improve efficiency. New
  technology with common protocol can improve efficiency, for some. However,
  there is a lack of strong leadership at the national, state, and local
  levels and that leadership continues to be challenged by constitutional
  issues and the structure the broadcast corporations in our U.S. public
  warning system. Results of this study provide opportunity for further
  research and challenges for public policy development.
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