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🇸🇪 Sweden /Disasters & Emergencies

Phones Will Soon Sound the Alarm in an Emergency: SE-Alert Tested Today

From Svenska Dagbladet · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Sweden will conduct the first test of its SE-Alert emergency-warning system at 3 p.m. in Stockholm and Gotland counties.
  • About 2.6 million people across 26 municipalities will receive an alert followed by a message saying the danger has passed.
  • The system can target warnings geographically and is designed for threats including serious accidents and hazardous releases.

At 3 p.m. today, mobile phones across Stockholm and Gotland counties will sound an alarm as Sweden tests its new SE-Alert warning system for the first time.

The test will affect 26 municipalities and about 2.6 million people. Phones will first receive an alert with a sharp sound and vibration. A few minutes later, users will receive a message saying the danger has passed, bringing the test to an end. People in neighboring counties such as Uppsala, Södermanland and Västmanland may also receive the message because SE-Alert uses mobile masts rather than exact county borders.

Mikael Frisell, director general of the Swedish Civil Defence Agency, said preparations had continued for more than a year. The agency tested the system in a controlled environment and worked with SOS Alarm, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority and mobile operators. It also conducted outreach in several languages, with particular attention to hospitals, Arlanda Airport, organizations supporting people with hearing loss, language communities and women’s shelters.

We have worked hard for just over a year.

· Mikael FrisellThe Civil Defence Agency director general described preparations for the first SE-Alert test.

A phone must be switched on, updated and connected to the mobile network to receive the alert. Users do not need to download an app or register their number, and the alarm will sound even if the phone is set to silent. A phone that is completely switched off or in flight mode will not receive a signal.

The system was developed with the international security situation in mind, but it can also be used for serious accidents and dangerous releases. Frisell said its advantage is the ability to target a specific geographic area without the congestion that can affect text messages, allowing the right information to reach the right place at the right time.

The advantage is that we can target the warning at a geographic location without the system becoming congested as it can with text messages, so that the right information reaches the right place at the right time and we can save lives.

· Mikael FrisellHe explained the purpose and technical advantage of the warning system.
About this summary

Originally published by Svenska Dagbladet in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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