Background

This document presents selected results of GAO’s Web-based survey of emergency management directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We conducted this survey to collect information on state and local alert capabilities, including the extent of compatibility standards usage; state and local participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) pilot projects; state and local communication and coordination with FEMA regarding the IPAWS program; and challenges, from the state and local perspective, to developing and implementing an integrated alert and warning system. A copy of the survey and selected results can be viewed by clicking on the table of contents at the bottom right of this document. We received completed questionnaires from 46 states and the District of Columbia for a response rate of 92 percent. This document presents results from all closed-entry survey questions but does not include narrative responses that we received.

A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report Emergency Preparedness: Improved Planning and Coordination Necessary for Modernization and Integration of Public Alert and Warning System, GAO-09-834 (Washington, D.C.: September 2009). We administered the survey from March 2009 through April 2009 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Instructions for Viewing this Survey

How to View The Surveys

• Click on the Table of Contents link located in the lower right of this screen. To read to the bottom of the screen, you may need to use your scroll bar on the right side of this screen.
• The first screen in the survey is an introduction and general information that was sent to and viewed by recipients of the survey. There are no survey results to view on this screen. This screen is for information only and you may by-pass it by clicking on Next located at the bottom of the screen in the lower right.
• The survey may have links to allow respondents to bypass inapplicable questions (skip patterns). While these were active links during the data collection period, they have now been disabled.
• When a respondent wrote a narrative response to a question, we sometimes present the percent of respondents making a comment.

How to View the Responses for Each Question

• To view the responses to each question, click on the question number (Links to survey questions will look like this: 1., etc.).
• After viewing the responses to each question, click on the "x" in the upper right corner of your screen to close that window and return to the questionnaire.

How to Return to a Page That You Previously Visited

• To return to the last screen you viewed, click the Previous button on the lower right corner of the screen.
• Click the Next button to advance to the next screen.

How to Make the Font Larger on Your Screen

• You can make the font larger by changing your browser setting. For example, on Internet Explorer you can change the font size by going to View and selecting Text Size.

Contact Information?

• If you have questions concerning these data, please contact Mark Goldstein at (202) 512-2834 or Mark Goldstein.