KHON2:

It was an event where most Hawaii residents remember where they were. The state was jolted by the threat of an incoming ballistic missile on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018, only to find out that it was a false alarm.

The Federal Communications Commission determined that the Hawaii Emergency Management (HI-EMA) worker who triggered the panic believed Hawaii was actually under attack. On Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2021, HI-EMA told KHON2 that procedures have been changed in order to prevent a false-alarm from happening again.

“When activating alerts, instituting a two-person activation and verification system for all testing exercises for all hazard scenarios,” said former Civil Defense vice director Ed Teixeira. “A pre-scripted correction statement can also be triggered within seconds of an error should the need arise.”

Teixeira says, those two procedural changes were quick to come to mind…

Click here to read the full article.