[sbe-eas] Canada: B.C.now learning the public alert lessons previously learned by others

[Sean Donelan]

It seems elected government officials have similar misunderstanding how 
modern alerting technology works. U.S. officials made similar statements 
about concern of causing panic after the deaths of people during 
wildfires or not understanding alert geo-targeting.  Elected 
officials often prefer using the same communication methods they used
getting elected, such as untargetted social media posts like facebook and 
twitter for public alerting.

Elected officials are busy, and don't have time for training classes.




Misinformation rampant as B.C. public safety minister downplays alert 
system used everywhere else in Canada
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/misinformation-rampant-as-b-c-public-safety-minister-downplays-alert-system-used-everywhere-else-in-canada-1.5671055

[...]
But that’s a misrepresentation of how the Alert Ready technology works; 
one that was echoed online by people who speculated and repeated rumours 
that the entire province would need to be alerted.
[...]
"(Designated emergency officials) determine the area,” said Martin 
Belanger, director of public alerting for Pelmorex.

“It could be a city block, it could be a region, it could be the entire 
province," Belanger said. “Any cell tower that covers that selected area 
will be triggered and send the emergency alert out, which means other 
people in the area may receive the alert because the cell tower may cover 
a larger footprint."

While there is some potential for spillover to unaffected people, Belanger 
said urban areas have enough towers that the message remains fairly 
localized, explaining that the content of the message should specify 
exactly what the issue is and where, allowing people who receive the alert 
to determine whether they’re affected.