Yesterday’s nationwide trial of the new public safety and emergency response alert involved two lecturers from the University of Hull being key players in the research leading up to it.
Dr Robert Thomas, Senior Research Fellow in Geomorphology and Flood Risk, and Dr Kate Smith, then working as a Researcher in the Flood Innovation Centre, collaborated with the Environment Agency before launching an on-campus trial in November of 2019.
The ‘Emergency Alerts’ system will alert mobile phones with a sound and vibration whenever there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby, such as severe flooding, fire or extreme weather. The first national alert will be sent as a trial over the weekend.
Dr Smith said: “We worked with colleagues from the Environment Agency, as well as technical experts from Fujitsu and EE to develop the trial. This involved testing public responses to cell broadcast messages sent to mobile handsets.
“The trial showed that these kinds of messages are a really effective way of alerting people to imminent danger, and the research we presented to DEFRA and the Cabinet Office was instrumental in the government’s decision to commission a national cell broadcast service for delivering emergency messaging.
“We are delighted that our work supported this important step in improving public safety in the UK, and look forward to the success of the forthcoming mobile alerting service.”
