EMERGENCY ACTION SYSTEM


I.	PURPOSE This appendix provides specific instructions and procedures for Washington County Government and suggested procedures for the Designated Administrative Officials to follow in the dissemination of emergency alerting and warning information and protective action instructions to the citizens of Washington County over the Emergency Broadcast System (EAS).
II.	DEFINITIONS
	A.	Emergency Action System (EAS): The EAS is composed of AM, FM and TV broadcast stations and non-governmental industry entities operating on a voluntary, organized basis during emergencies at Federal, State or Operational (local) area levels.
	B.	Primary Station: Broadcasts or re-broadcasts a common emergency program for the duration of the activity of the EAS at National, State or Operational (local) area level. The EAS transmission of such stations are intended for direct public reception as well as inter-station programming.
	C.	Common Program Control Station (CPCS): This is a Primary Station in an Operational (local) area which is responsible for originating and coordinating the broadcast of an emergency action notification for its area.
III.	CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS This plan calls for:
	A.	The prompt reporting of emergency information and recommended protective actions by Federal, State, business, industry and utility officials to the County Warning Point. These reports include severe weather watches and warnings as well as other hazards, such as dam failures, hazardous materials and other threats to the citizens of Washington County as shown in the Basic Plan.
	B.	The prompt reporting of emergency information and recommended protective action to the County Warning Point by emergency service personnel or others at the scene of the emergency.
	C.	The decision by local government to disseminate the emergency alerting, warning and protective actions instructions over the CPCS-l.
	D.	The preparation of the information to be disseminated in written form.
	E.	The activation of the EAS procedure.
	F.	The termination of the procedure when it is no longer required.
APPENDIX 2
EMERGENCY ACTION SYSTEM BROADCAST PROCEDURE
I.	PURPOSE This procedure provides a list by title of government persons who are authorized to activate the Emergency Action System (EAS) at or from the local level and prescribes the steps to be followed by government and which should be followed by the broadcast media to disseminate emergency information to the general public.
II.	AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL The individuals shown below are authorized to request activation of the EAS in order to disseminate emergency information and instructions. A list of these individuals by title has been provided to the Operational area CPCS-1 and a mutually agreeable method of authentication by code has been established. The EAS CPCS-1 has furnished the County with a list of telephone numbers to be used by the authorized personnel when requesting activation of the EAS.
	A.	Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners or their designated representative.
	B.	The Mayor or their designated representative.
	C.	Town or County Managers.
	D.	Emergency Management Coordinator or their designated representative.
III.	ACTIVATION REQUEST PROCEDURES
	A.	Notification Procedures.
		1.	Prepare in writing the exact information to be broadcast.
		2.	Call the State Warning Point (Emergency Management - Operations) and give title, name and political subdivision represented and request the EAS be activated for the Operational area.
		3.	Upon request, give authentication code.
		4.	The State Warning Point will / should acknowledge the authentication code.
		5.	Upon request of the Warning Point, read text prepared for emergency action notification.
		6.	Follow other instructions as given by the State Warning Point (Emergency Management).
	B.	Broadcast Activation Procedure.
		1.	CPCS-1 (or primary station) will disseminate the emergency information through AM-FM radio or TV according to the State Plan.
		2.	A Primary Station will disseminate the emergency information only through its own facility.
		3.	Follow-up messages as needed, upon request of the originating officials.
	C.	Termination Procedure.
		1.	Have a written termination notice specifying the hazard to be terminated.
		2.	Call the State Warning Point and give title, name and political subdivision represented and request the EAS be terminated.
		3.	Upon request, give authentication code.
		4.	Upon request, read the termination message, concluding with the statement "This concludes this activation of the Emergency Action System".
IV.	TESTING THE EAS PLAN Scheduled or random tests should be conducted so that a radio station and county operations become familiar with this procedure on all shifts.
V.	PROCEDURES DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
	A.	The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management will be responsible for updating the authentication code annually.
	B.	Each County will be responsible for advising the stations of current warning point telephone numbers.
	C.	Counties will confirm current authentication code lists with the stations.

EAS (Emergency Action System)		EAS Broadcast Procedures
A.	Purpose	A.	Purpose
B.	Definitions	B.	Authorized Personnel
C.	Concept of Operations	C.	Activation Request Procedure
		D.	Testing
		E.	Development and Maintenance