Are We Safe Yet? Experimental Analysis of Emergency Post-Alert Messages

Authors

Hugh D. Walpole, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Jeannette Sutton, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Michele K. Olson, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2025

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105753

Abstract

Wireless Emergency Alerts can offer timely warnings and crucial guidance for people at risk from natural and technological hazards. However, at the time an alert is issued, it is rarely clear how long hazardous conditions will persist and when affected people can return to normal activities. This highlights the potential benefits of issuing post-alert messages to indicate that the hazard has passed; yet in practice, these post-alert messages are rarely used. When they are used, they frequently use operational language focused on the status of the associated alert (i.e. “the alert has expired” or has been “canceled”) rather than information focused on the resolution of hazardous conditions and what actions can now be taken or ceased. Here, we conduct an online experiment (N = 815) of residents of Portland, OR to examine the impacts of providing post-alert messages following an emergency message in a scenario for 3 different hazards (earthquake, bomb threat and wildfire). We compare both message-status-focused and resolution/action-focused post-alert messages to a no-follow-up control. Our results suggest substantial increases in the understandability and actionability of messages as well as reductions in fear and anger and increased perceptions of credibility and transparency of the alerting organizations when participants received a post-alert message. Furthermore, the increases for many outcomes were significantly greater for resolution/action-focused messages than those focused on the alert status. In addition, the majority of participants prefer these types of messages. Our results highlight the potential benefits of closing emergency communication loops using post alert messages.

Comments

This is the Author's Accepted Manuscript. The version of record can be found here: Walpole, H. D., Sutton, J., & Olson, M. K. (2025). Are we safe yet? Experimental analysis of emergency post-alert messages. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 128, 105753–105753. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105753

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Recommended Citation

Walpole, Hugh D.; Sutton, Jeannette; and Olson, Michele K., "Are We Safe Yet? Experimental Analysis of Emergency Post-Alert Messages" (2025). Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship. 19.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/ehc_fac_scholar/19