FEMA's First National Test Of Wireless Alert Slated Wednesday

LOS ALTOS, CA -- Don't be alarmed if you get a presidential alert. The federal government wants to ensure it can reach you with its first nationwide wireless emergency alert due to ping electronic devices at 11:18 a.m. Wednesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has spearheaded this inaugural program for the purpose of notifying American citizens and visitors of a far-reaching, catastrophic event. In ideal circumstances, anyone plugged into wifi with a cell phone or computer who is in reach of a tower signal is expected to receive the message. There's no need to sign up for a service, as is the case for county-related systems.

The "IPAWS" text message titled "Presidential Alert" is due to read:

"This is a test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

"People tend to call about these alerts, so we want them to know not to be alarmed," Los Altos police spokeswoman Erica Ray said. The Silicon Valley police department is known to be pro active in helping its citizenry deal with the everyday challenges of averting danger.

FEMA teamed up with the Federal Communications Commission to assess the operational readiness of the feds infrastructure designed to communicate instructions associated with a catastrophic event or other emergency. The WEA system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children and other situations of a critical nature.

The test had been planned for Sept. 20 but was postponed by response efforts for Hurricane Florence.

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