A trial of a new telephone-based emergency warning system, Emergency Alert, will be held in the Cremorne area on the evening of Monday 25 October 2010.

Residents in Cremorne may receive a test warning via a text message to their mobile or a voice message to their landline telephone as part of this trial.

The Cremorne trial Emergency Alert will consist of a voice recorded landline message, clearly stating it is a TEST, or a mobile phone message that will be clearly marked as a TEST.

Emergency Alert can issue warning messages to landlines based on the location of the handset and mobile phone based on the service address.

Emergency Alert provides emergency service organisations with an enhanced ability to warn the community in the event of an emergency. It is another very important tool available for organisations to issue emergency warnings.

It is however emphasised that communities should not rely on receiving a telephone warning message at the time of an emergency, individuals and communities must still prepare themselves in case of an emergency.

Emergency Alert can target selected communities in a selected geographical area – from just a few people to thousands. The system has the capacity to send 500 text messages per second and 1,000 voice messages per minute.

Members of the community should not call 000 for information about the warning system or trial.

For further information on the trial visit www.ses.tas.gov.au and for further information regarding Emergency Alert visit www.emergencyalert.gov.au.

Tasmania Police Media
(03) 6230 2296