[LINK] No cash for phone alert system

[Paul Brooks]

stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> Something specific to your area, and will grab your attention. CFA siren
> and police megaphone cruising would be heard by much of country Vic, but
> SMS specific to your area (eg quarter-cell?) registered for or you're in
> could well save many lives in a fire-prone future.
>   
Growing up in the Adelaide foothills, nothing grabbed attention like the 
sound of the Belair CFS siren winding up over the ridge, loud enough to 
stop all conversation and make people look around the horizon for smoke 
- and we knew it was serious when we heard the adjacent region sirens 
firing up and joining in.
This worked for everybody, from the aged down to the youngest toddler, 
many of which would still not be carrying a mobile phone let alone 
notice an SMS if they were carrying one.

I'm not convinced SMS has any role in raising an alert - too limited to 
that segment of the population carrying a mobile phone that is switched 
on, in a coverage area and has battery charge. Many of these areas would 
not have had a strong signal, and the mobile phone system is one of the 
first things to die once the power fails.

A thumping great siren, distributed every 5 - 10 km or so, will alert 
more people than an SMS.

SMS might be a valid way to get out more details about where the problem 
is, how urgent, and which towns/araes are in trouble - but that should 
be well after the initial alert in my view.

Paul.