Emergency siren

[FelineUK]

www.gov.uk/alerts

So on 23rd April there will be a test of an emergency siren. This can be national or local and can be used to alert to inform the population of emergency situations such as severe flooding, fires or weather. It will come to ones mobile.

Maybe im being a little suspicious but i hardly think these emergency situations are relevant to most people locally unless the government are using these as a reason to implement such a system in case of severe national emergency such as war.

I don't see the point. We can get the same Information through the news. Pretty sure if an emergency news broadcast came on we'd all hear about it.

They can be used for very localised events like a lone gunman or a chemical spill. If you're very close to either situation it's helpful to know if you should stay indoors and take cover, avoid an area, close all windows etc

Just last week people had to leave their homes with very little notice because the cliffs they were built on were crumbling. I'd rather have as much notice as possible if I have to evacuate. Even a few minutes more can be very helpful.

I have an Android and mine doesn't have the Emergency Alert setting at all. I think it depends on how old the phone is as to whether or not the function is there.

So? What's your point?

Surely having an advance warning system is a good thing. Just think how many lives could be saved by it. I can imagine that a lot of people living in coastal East Anglia would welcome this, for instance.

They can be used for very localised events like a lone gunman or a chemical spill. If you're very close to either situation it's helpful to know if you should stay indoors and take cover, avoid an area, close all windows etc

Lone gunmen? Chemical spills? Ive lived in a major UK city for 50 years and these have never been a issue! Managed to keep myself safe and well for over half a century without the government alerting me to danger so it's still a no from me.

Lone gunmen? Chemical spills?

Yes lone gunmen and chemical spills happen in the U.K too.

It's not just the countries mentioned by a pp which have this. I live in a city in France and we have an emergency siren which is tested once a month, at the same time of day on the first Wednesday.
Seems sensible to me. The city has a decent sized industrial estate.

Its the first ive heard of it and yes i live under a rock..

Apparently one's phone can not be activated normally until the alert message message has been responded to. And the alert service in one's phone settings does not have to be on in order for the message to be sent.

Now the news is saying it can alert us of 'wild fires' ... useful in cities!

Useful or not for these extreme incidences but i dont like it and seems like we wont have any choice.

I’ve disabled it on my phone.
Whether it still goes off, I’ll find out.
Not keen personally, but if others find it useful…?🤷🏻‍♀️

Now the news is saying it can alert us of 'wild fires' ... useful in cities!

It'd have been pretty useful to the people affected by the London wildfires last year.

news.sky.com/story/major-incident-declared-across-london-after-huge-surge-in-fires-and-homes-destroyed-on-uks-hottest-ever-day-12655061

IPhone (I'm not 100% up to date on version but fairly close): If you go into Options > Settings > Notifications and scroll to the bottom in the menu there are two options there for extreme alerts and emergency alerts

Thank you.

Long overdue. Something like this would have saved lives in the Grenfell Tower fire where the fire service had no way of telling residents to self-evacuate. It was only the later or repeat 999 callers who were told to get out. The earlier callers were told to stay put. There was no system to contact them when the "stay put" instruction was revoked.

I’m honestly not bothered by this. I don’t really understand the reasons people would be bothered by it either. I can understand people thinking it’s pointless but some I’ve seen on social media seem to absolutely HATE the idea.

I can see the usefulness. We had a large fire in a factory near us a few years ago. We’re told to close out windows and/or leave the area because of the shit in the smoke. Would have been useful to revive that info much quicker by text.

I’m honestly not bothered by this. I don’t really understand the reasons people would be bothered by it either.

I'm autistic and I have c-PTSD, I don't understand why people are not bothered by it.

I was able to post without saying as much though, because I didn't need to understand.

@premicrois That makes sense.
I wasn’t being sarcastic, I genuinely couldn’t see what it was that people didn’t like about it because I had read loads of people saying they didn’t like it but not why. I can understand that that style of alter might be distressing for those with PTSD. It’s useful there is an option to turn them off.

Appreciate your reply here, thank you

I suffer from extreme anxiety and hearing this siren will just heighten it.

Some people just love to go against everything sensible - just to show that they are ‘cool’ and ‘edgy’ 🙄You really wouldn’t want to be alerted to a terrorist situation in the next street to you?? Grow up!

And if hearing an alert on your phone gives you ‘acute anxiety’ then I hope you have sought treatment.

I have extreme anxiety not 'acute' and I am 'seeking help' for it 👍🏼

I really don't understand all the fuss about this.

I grew up near Broadmoor and we had a warning siren test and then an all clear every Monday morning. It was no big deal. Very occasionally it went off if someone escaped, at which point we knew to get to a place of safety with adults that we knew & trusted and lock the doors.

I know somewhere that has a similar system related to storm tides and sea defences.

Once a system is in place, it isn't anxiety inducing, it's just routine. I'd far rather know there is an abnormal threat and be able to respond accordingly.

Thanks for the thread OP as I had no idea and hadn't heard of this.

Fuck me. Yes I actually have.

I have complex PTSD and part of that involves bing constantly hyper vigilant. I haven't just sat around for years waiting for this day so I can have an explanation for Mumsnet as to why I am switching a fucking alert off. I have had YEARS of medication, therapy and learned lived experience to battle this problem. That's why I opt out of things that have the potential to heighten it. I can't imagine why you think people who are anxious haven't looked for help. The majority of people who say they have anxiety are most likely medicated for it - that doesn't actually make it disappear.

This 'seek help for anxiety' shite is regularly used here as a dig at people who have exposed a vulnerable part of themselves.

What exactly do you get out of that?

We've had emergency alerts in Nz for years. Used to warn of tsunamis and designed to wake you. They alerted the first and second covid lockdowns and clarified the 'rules'. Used recently during the Auckland flooding and cyclone with advice on what to do in emergency, where shelters were, what to prepare, how long it would last etc.
useful to have it all in one text message. That's all it is, a helpful text message. The histrionics on here is ridiculous!

@benten54

It's actually not a helpful text message. It's a screen flash and siren sent to your phone.

For all those people objecting, think of this.

A convicted and criminally insane child murder er breaks out of the local hospital. Would you rather know that you need to collect your 10yo dd from school or would you prefer she walks home alone because you don't like hearing a phone alarm !