This bloody emergency alert

[Random789]

It's going to be like when they test the fire alarm at work, isn't it?
You get more and more tense waiting for it, then three minutes before it is due to go off you forget all about it. Then it does go off and you scream like a lunatic and jump so hard that you dislocate something in your neck.

I'd rather just get fried in a nuclear attack and avoid all the stress.

I'm not panicking but I have turned it off. Sometimes I cope well, sometimes not so well, I'm autistic. I have raised a child alone for almost 17 years and I work full time but earn barely above minimum wage. So I'm getting by.

I knew someone in Korea as Covid was kicking off. The phone alert system was used a lot then. It's presumably for all sorts of things not just Armageddon

I’m sorry if this has already been mentioned.

But if you are using an iphone and you have the Home app you also need to turn off critical alerts within that app as well as in the settings.

What a nasty post. So autistic people, people with mental illness, cPTSD, other vulnerable people (my elderly grandmother wanted it turned off), you'd prefer them all gone?

Some people will never understand and lump everyone who doesn’t think the same way they do under “nuts”.

All ours will be turned off as my dad and my MIL have dementia. My dad 90 and panics at loud noises as he’s trapped reliving his traumatic childhood in WW2.

He will be with us on Sunday afternoon as usual, but I don’t want it going off in future because it might be at a time when he’s with us.

My MIL would also be put in a very bad place from a loud, unexpected noise. We have to have phones on silent around her anyway as just a text or a ring can send her spiralling sometimes, depending how she is that day.

Lots of people have lots of valid reasons and we went all mad.

*aren’t all mad.

I live in a flood risk area but I think by the time the alert goes off it'll be a bit late for me to be filling up the sandbags! I get texts and emails from the environment agency and we're very unlikely to go from a flood alert to severe warning overnight.

I don't really want to be woken up to be told we're going to be nuked and I don't need to know about missing people during the night so no, I don't really need alerts at night!

My phone's too old for it. Sweet.

@katyperryseyelid most people on here would understand if they are turning it off for health reasons, but many people turning it off don’t fall within those categories. I have seen posts on Facebook where people have been telling others to turn off the notification because ‘you are being watched’!!

For those turning it off just because you can, have you travelled to other countries with similar systems and turned off notifications there too?

It feels like it may be the precursor to a hopefully avoidable
"Threads" type incident. Do not watch if you are of a sensitive disposition. Do watch if you want to really understand what might happen.

Very fucking badly, as it happens.

I watched Threads- It’s terrifying.

I am old enough to remember mum
going to Greenham Common, and “Protect and Survive “ booklet through every door.

Let’s hope it won’t happen. ( Obviously!)

Thanks @Womencanlift !

I think once they've got it on our systems they could go off randomly as in florida example.

It’s already on our systems

Would a factory reset remove it, then just not update the system?

When you reset a phone, I believe you have to reinstall all the essential updates ect, and those will include the emergency protocol.

I could be wrong but that's my guess

As am I. I had no idea there were so many people unable to cope with the slightest little out of the ordinary thing.

I can cope with it, I just don't want an alarm going off in the middle of the night so I've turned it off now.

I think people are making a massive fuss about nothing, it seems that any potential drama bandwagon is just jumped upon now.

We were in holiday in Rhodes a few years ago, during a heatwave. We were at the beach. Suddenly mine and DD’s phones made a siren noise - no louder than the phone is when it usually rings and it didn’t last for very long at all, just like a siren ring tone would be - we heard a few other phones around us making the same noise, and we both got texts to warn about forest fires on the island.

That was it. We weren’t in an area where we had to be concerned- checked with restaurant owner - but the whole thing was pretty self explanatory, our phones had automatically connected to this and it’s a system they use there, pretty sensible.

I can cope with many out of the ordinary things. Many little things add up though and all together can occasionally be too much. Turning the alarm off is an easy way for me to get rid of a non essential little thing enabling me to focus on what matters.

Their is weird. How do you know what many little out of ordinary things are happening on Sunday at 3 pm which will tip you over the edge if the alarm goes. Looks like you cannot cope generally.

@Aslanplustwo

As am I. I had no idea there were so many people unable to cope with the slightest little out of the ordinary thing

Then you are very fortunate, and a tad ignorant.

Things add up over a few days. I'm autistic, I do what I need to so I can cope. I'm aware of my limits and stress levels and am able to self manage quite well.