The Brandon Emergency Alert Project (BEAP for short) was a research project conducted by the Brandon Emergency Support Team (BEST) in 2003 with the assistance of Acoustic Technologies International (ATI). The main goal of the study was to look into whether or not the city of Brandon, Manitoba would benefit from an emergency alert siren system. The study involved a public education campaign, one temporary siren installation, six siren tests, and 6 telephone surveys. The information from this post can be found in the project's executive summary, which can be viewed in its entirety here:
http://emerg.brandon.ca/images/pdf/aler ... ummary.pdf
A Little Bit About Brandon
Brandon is a city in the Canadian province of Manitoba. With a population of roughly 50,000, it is the second largest city in Manitoba, second only to Winnipeg. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province, along the banks of the Assiniboine River. The city has its roots in the fur trade and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. To this day, Brandon serves as the transportation, communications, and commercial hub for southwestern Manitoba.
In general, Brandon is in the more disaster-prone corner of the province, facing risks from flash flooding of the Assiniboine, tornadoes, and HAZMAT incidents from the Canexus chemical manufacturing facility located immediately east of the city, as well as from the CP and CN rail networks, which both maintain rail yards within the city.
The Tests
The main focus of the project was a series of six public siren tests on Brandon's east side, with a single ATI HPSS-16 being installed on a 65-foot wooden pole in Industrial Park along Douglas Street, just north of the CN rail yard. The siren was fitted with VHF/UHF radio control, 120vac and battery back-up power, and a 1000-candela strobe light. The Central Command Center was an ATI REACT 4000 one-way controller with built-in live PA function. An indoor tone alert receiver was also tested for use in critical indoor applications (schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.).
As mentioned before, the study was comprised of a public education campaign and six siren tests: 3 in May 2003 and 3 in November 2003. The public education campaign started several weeks before the campaign, and mainly included brochures in the mail and radio PSAs. Prior to each test, 12 to 15 volunteers were stationed at various locations around the siren to record sound pressure levels. Another volunteer tested the tone alert receiver. Each test consisted of a three-minute blast of an alert tone, followed by a live announcement. A total of four different alert signals were tested, which included Alternating Steady (High/Low), Red Alert (Wail), High Pitched Steady (censor beep) and Westminster Chimes. In the days following each test, residents in the Riverview and Green Acre neighborhoods were randomly surveyed via telephone.
The Results
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-Of that 90%, more than 90% supported the idea
-40% of people heard the siren
-60% were indoors
-53% of those who heard the siren tuned in to a local radio station, as instructed by the campaign
-Of those who didn't hear the siren, 66% knew what to do if it did go off
Siren Tones
Alternating Steady (High/Low): 84% recognized this as an emergency warning signal. Preferred signal by BEST.
Red Alert (Wail): Volunteers in close proximity could hear the siren continuously. Volunteers farther away reported hearing only short bursts of sound as the siren reached its peak. 71% of participants recognized this sound as an emergency warning signal.
High-Pitched Steady (Censor Beep): Likened to the sound produced by a TV test pattern. Although the sound produced by this signal carried father than any other sounds, the high frequency made it less audible to persons with hearing loss. it was not recognized as an emergency warning signal.
Westminster Chimes: Recognized by all participants as an all clear signal.
Live PA
The audibility of the broadcast varied depending on specific location. Key factors noted included amount of foliage and temperature. The sound echoed off of nearby buildings, making it difficult to understand the message. Message was more audible in colder weather than warmer weather.
Control Unit
The controller was easy to use and worked flawlessly throughout testing.
Radio
The radio channel used was the EMS Dispatch channel from the Brandon Regional Health Centre. Radio functioned perfectly, and did not interfere with EMS communications.
Tone Alert Receiver
Receiver was difficult to operate. Receiver worked at all sites, although poor transmission was reported at 6 out of 15 sites.
Strobe
Strobe was barely visible or invisible during tests conducted before sunset. After sunset, the strobe was clearly visible when in a direct line of sight. Surrounding buildings did not produce the reflective properties necessary to render the siren useful in waking people up or alerting people indoors.
Cost
It was estimated that the cost to purchase and install the control center, radio system and optional computer software would be around $25,000. Each siren station was estimated to be as high as $30,000. The REACT 4000 used had a maximum capacity of 20 sirens. It was estimated that 14 sirens would be required for adequate acoustic coverage, bringing the predicted system cost to roughly $445,000.
Conclusion
It appears as though Brandon did actually go through with the system. The number of speaker arrays is unknown, but the city did decide to go with the more powerful HPSS-32. The strobe was not included. Signals include Alternating Steady (High/Low) for emergency warning and Westminster Chimes for all clear. The system is tested on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 4:40 PM. Here are Google StreetView images of the sirens I have found thus far:
Roof-mounted speaker array at City Hall:
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- Lorne Ave E - Google Maps.jpg (218.13 KiB) Viewed 1618 times
- Brandon, Manitoba - Google Maps.jpg (116.6 KiB) Viewed 1618 times