Louisiana’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness will be using the Alert FM system to send out emergency alerts to the state’s emergency managers in the 64 parishes and 42 institutions of higher learning in Louisiana, according to a release.
The system will use a secure satellite network and local over-the-air broadcasters to disseminate the message. Alert FM is the last leg to the citizenry. It uses RDS to contact small receivers.
One of Louisiana’s U.S. senators, Mary Landrieu was an early supporter of broadcast-based emergency alert systems, according to a release. She said, “With Alert FM and GSSNet, we have implemented a reliable method of distributing life-saving information to the citizens of Louisiana. The dependability of broadcast transmissions can make the difference between life and death during an emergency.”