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UK Tests Emergency Alert System

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Emergency Alerts Tests

The UK Government are going to be testing their new Emergency Alert system based off systems used in countries such as the United States.

There is a BBC Article about this here.

This system means that in the event of an emergency situation, such a natural disasters, every person nearby with a functioning mobile phone will get immediately alerted.

This new system is set for testing on 23rd April 2023 sometime in the evening, but currently there is no specific time set

What Exactly Will Happen? A Notification will appear on your home screen A siren-like noise will come from your phone for 10 seconds (even when on silent) and vibrations. You will have to acknowledge the alert before being able to use your phone again.

The idea of having a “siren-like noise” go off “sometime in the evening” is going to be potentially anxiety inducing for many Autistic (and also Allistic) people across the country. There are steps that you can take to reduce this anxiety. If you would simply not like to receive the “test” but would like to be alerted in a real emergency, you can put your phone to “airplane” mode or switch it off on the evening of the 23rd.

If you would never like to receive these alerts, even in a real emergency, there here is how:

Android, Go to the Settings App, Search for ‘Emergency Alerts’ using the search bar at the top of the screen, Click or tap on the first option that pops up, Once in the device’s Emergency Alerts settings page, turn off Emergency Alerts by pressing all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off). Apple, Go to the Settings App, Scroll down to find and click or tap on the ‘Notifications’ tab, Scroll all the way down again to find a dedicated section for Emergency Alerts, You will see ‘Extreme Alerts’ and ‘Severe Alerts’ buttons, To turn them off, press all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off)

Please be sure to share this information with all friends and family, whether Autistic or not, as it’s important that we’re all well informed and prepared.

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2 responses to “UK Tests Emergency Alert System”

  1. Kayzi Avatar
    Kayzi

    Great post, really clear, nice graphics! Will put it in my diary

    Reply
  2. tomnotpetty Avatar
    tomnotpetty

    On Sunday 23rd April at 15:00 a National Welcome Message will be issued in relation to Emergency Alerts.

    This will see 4G and 5G handsets across the country receive an Emergency Alert, in order to make them aware of the capability and what receiving an Emergency Alert will look and sound like.

    More information on what this message will look like can be seen on the GOV.UK Emergency Alerts page or by viewing the YouTube video

    https://www.gov.uk/alerts
    http://www.youtu.be/mvzm-ocreu8

    Reply

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