A nationwide emergency alert will be issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency Wednesday Oct. 4 at 1:20 p.m. Central Time.  FEMA will be sending the message to all cell phones, radios, and televisions across the country. Every three years the practice test is required; it last took place in 2021. 

Since 2011, the alert has been used to evaluate the technological abilities of the nation’s emergency response system. Each device will only receive the notice once, and the test will take place for 30 minutes.

“During that half-hour, wireless phones that are turned on, not in “airplane mode” and compatible with the alerts should receive a test message, as long as they are located within a certain range of an active cell tower and their wireless provider participates,” FEMA said. 

FEMA produces the alert to insure the preparedness of the nation’s systems in case of catastrophic events or other emergency situations. The test can even provide information as to how swiftly the system can communicate with other countries and areas when needed. 

According to National Public Radio, the alert will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” 

In an email sent to D99 Staff, Assistant Superintendent for Learning Resources Travis McGuire addressed the nationwide test in order to acknowledge the possible effect it may have at school and in classrooms.

“Since this is during the school day, we wanted to make you aware of this nationwide emergency test since this has a likely chance of impacting the learning environment,” McGuire said.