Good news! I just stumbled across clear instructions on how to set up my phone to receive emergency alerts.
Bad news! It’s mostly for the USA.
Good news! I sometimes travel in the USA.
Better news! It provoked me to think about emergency alerts in Canada. You won’t be surprised to learn that while Government Alerts can be toggled on/off in the USA (Who’s in charge, anyway?), you can’t choose not to receive an Alert in Canada.
Given the importance of warning the Canadian public of imminent threats to the safety of life and property, it is not possible to opt out of receiving alerts.
– Emergency Alerts and the National Public Alerting System
You can, of course, choose to make them be vewy, vewy quiet. Just sayin’.
Bestest news! I wondered what my phone had to say about emergency alerts, and stumbled again, this time over a whole whack of safety/emergency options:
- alerts for my phone’s home page (I chose only two [extreme weather and big earthquakes] since I figure I don’t need ridesharing reminders and won’t pay attention to fitness ones.)
- storage/display of emergency contacts and medical information
- something called Emergency SOS, which will take some exploration of how to set it up and use it properly
- car crash detection
- emergency location service
Your phone is likely similar. Just sayin’.
I also learned that I can use my cellphone for a 911 call in the USA or, indeed, in Canada. The issue in both countries is that the call goes to the nearest cell tower and then to a regional center/centre and then to emergency services near where I am: if, like, I can explain where I am and if the operator and I can understand each other’s funny accents. This speaks to maintaining some situational awareness and to selecting Emergency Location Service, which can communicate my location in, well, an emergency. It was on-by-default on my phone, when I checked.
None of what I’m doing is what you’d call a comprehensive emergency-readiness program, but today is better than yesterday, which in turn was better than the end of April. Onward and upward.
PS – On a side note, I was this many days old when I learned that LTE (as in LTE Network) stands for Long-Term Evolution, “and is a registered trademark owned by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) for the wireless data communications technology and development of the GSM/UMTS standards.” – Wikipedia
Is there such a thing as short-term evolution? Just asking. Onward!
Is there such a thing as short-term evolution? Just asking. Onward!
I wish. Seems many of us humans are going backward, fast.
Barbara – Yes, some days it does seem like that.
I didn’t realize there was a difference between USA and Canada regarding emergency alerts. Although, in fairness, I haven’t been to the USA for more than a few hours for at least 15 years.
Tom
Tom – It was news to me too and I’ve spent a lot of time in the USofA in the last few decades.
Isabel – regarding emergency readiness. In Canada it is good to know that “…. any cell phone, even if it’s not subscribed to a service or is locked, can dial 911 and connect to emergency services. However, calls made from cell phones without an active subscription may not automatically transmit your location to the emergency center, and they cannot be called back if disconnected.”
What that means is that anyone can call 911 on any cellphone as longs as there is a charge in that phone’s battery and you won’t need a finger print, facial image or password to make the initial call.
John – You’re right – that is good to know. Both the limitations and the base capability.