Situational Awareness

The term situational awareness simply means having access to important information that can help guide decisions. However, information that is valuable in one set of circumstances may be of little help in other cases.

• Television, especially local channels and the Weather Channel, can be very helpful when seeking information on a particular topic.
• Many large cities offer email notification services that provide updates on critical events.
• Severe weather and outbreaks on the sun that can disrupt GPS systems, cell phone reception, and other types of electronics and computer systems, can be tracked at several websites including:
  • http://newsroom.redcross.org/
  • http://www.noaa.gov
  • http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
  • http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
  • http://spaceweather.com/
  • http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/
  • http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/earegister.html
  • http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/
  • http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/

• News services such as CNN, the BBC, Bloomberg Channel, and others are also valuable sources of breaking news and information. Many of these same services have a radio presence or can be accessed via the Internet.
• Many states and larger cities also have information websites and alerting services that send out emails and text alerts. Some examples include:
  • https://a858-nycnotify.nyc.gov/notifynyc/Home.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
  • http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/oem/provdrs/alertchicago.html
  • http://gohsep.la.gov/