WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the State of Alaska, and the Alaska Broadcasters Association will conduct a statewide exercise of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in Alaska on Wednesday, January 6, 2010, at 10 am local time.  Radio and television broadcast stations and cable television systems across the state of Alaska will participate in the exercise aimed at testing the capabilities of the EAS system. With the help of the Alaska Broadcasters Association, public service announcements informing the public about the test were distributed to television and radio stations on December 21st.   

"Periodically exercising our communications capabilities is an important step to ensure that we, as a country, are prepared for an emergency," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.  "This is only a test, but it also serves as an important reminder that just as our federal, state, and local teams are taking steps to be prepared, so should families across our country.  Families can log onto Ready.gov to learn the few simple steps they can take to be prepared for an emergency."

The EAS is a national public warning system that allows the President to address the Nation during a national emergency.  Parts of the system may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information such as AMBER (child abduction) alerts and severe weather information, and many individuals across the country have already experienced emergency alerts and tests over broadcast media generated by their state and local officials.  The alert and warning system includes U.S. broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) providers, direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") service providers, and others.  The January 6th exercise will test the Presidential alert and warning capabilities over radio and television broadcast stations and cable television systems only.