The CEO of a critical event management company has issued a letter explaining what went wrong and why millions of Floridians were awakened early on Thursday by a test of the state’s emergency notification system.
David Wagner, the CEO of Everbridge, released a letter addressed to the people of Florida:
“If you or anyone you know was awakened by a test alert on your phone…I’m sorry,” Wagner wrote.
Wagner explained the cause was human errors that took place in violation of a number of precautionary steps that should have been followed prior to the release of any emergency notification.
“Our job at Everbridge is to give you and all of Florida’s emergency departments, at the state and county level, peace of mind so you can sleep through the night knowing you will be awoken and alerted if there is a hurricane or an imminent life-threatening event. The last thing we want to do is wake you up when you should be asleep,” Wagner wrote.
To ensure that as many Floridians as possible see the letter, Everbridge will buy advertisements in several leading Florida newspapers this week as well as in a variety of digital outlets.
A lot of people have cell phones sitting by their beds while they sleep and the alert caused them to react, well, startled, to the FDEM alert relayed statewide by the non-profit, state-chartered Florida Association of Broadcasters.
The alert was not for an emergency, rather just a "test": “This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”
The reason for the alert came out via a tweet from the Florida Department of Emergency Management that offered an apology, but little solace for those awakened early:
"We know a 4:45 AM wake up call isn't ideal. @FLSERT wants to apologize for the early morning text. Each month, we test #emergencyalerts on a variety of platforms. This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping. We are taking the appropriate action to ensure this will never happen again and that only true emergencies are sent as alerts in the middle of the night."
Pat Roberts, an FAB official, also issued an explanation:
"As you know, there was an alert sent this morning at 4:50 a.m. The State of Florida's Division of Emergency Management Watch Office sent out the incorrect test, which sent the wrong alert. We are told we should be receiving a statement from the Division shortly.
"Once we receive it, we will blast it out, and also put out our own statement.
"The test is sent out monthly to only TV and radio broadcasters as required by the FCC. FAB only sets the schedule, the Florida Division of Emergency Management is responsible for sending it out. FAB has no involvement in the sending of these alerts.
"A mistake was made by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, they are well aware of the seriousness of it, and we are all working on it."
The test did not endear many Floridians to the FAB, wrongly so by the above explanation, as witnessed by these posts on the association's Facebook page:
- Are you freaking serious? 4:45 AM WAKING EVERYONE UP? Someone needs to lose their job!
- Who came up with this schedule? Because of it, hundreds, or even thousands or more will just end up disabling the alerts. Great job bringing it to our attention.
- Those alerts are at 3:50am for those of us in the central time zone.... Thanks a lot.
- HEY FAB, what an inconsiderate time for a test at 4:45AM this morning. You really need to think about this one, NOT COOL!
- Which one of you thought “it’s a great idea to “TEST” the emergency alert system at 4:45am?” You sadistic twerp! A great way to embed a bad impression, so no one takes it serious when it’s real. #genius
The full text of Wagner's letter follows:
To Anyone Awakened at 4:45 a.m. ET on April 20th:
"If you or anyone you know was awakened by a test alert on your phone at 4:45am ET on Thursday, April 20th, I’m sorry.
"It should not have happened.
"But it did, and here’s why.
"Essentially, human errors caused the alert to go out, in violation of a number of routine precautionary steps that should have been followed prior to the release of any emergency notification. Customers who operate our systems run monthly tests, required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on mobile and broadcast networks to keep you informed. In this instance, our system delivered the message as designed – that’s the good news. The bad news is a live message was inadvertently sent to millions of residents’ cellphones, instead of a notification sent only to Florida broadcasters. That notification should not have been sent to you.
"As a result, we have re-examined our procedures and are adding further safeguards to our platform so customers can only send you messages when necessary.
"We hope that FEMA will review everything that happened. Their oversight is appropriate, and we welcome it. We will also continue to work with the Florida Division of Emergency Management to provide them with everything they need to keep you safe.
"Our job at Everbridge is to give you and all of Florida’s emergency departments, at the state and county level, peace of mind so you can sleep through the night knowing you will be awoken and alerted if there is a hurricane or an imminent life-threatening event. The last thing we want to do is wake you up when you should be asleep.
"We are proud of what we do as a company. Our job is to protect lives and our platform is designed to deliver emergency and life-saving alerts only when necessary.
"We are the world’s leading provider of emergency alerting systems. Our track record is strong and that is why so many state and county governments, and more than 25 countries, rely on us.
"As CEO of Everbridge, I thought I owed you an explanation.
Sincerely,
David Wagner
Chief Executive Officer
Everbridge, Inc.
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