The EAS consists of a network of broadcast stations, across the Nation and across the State, with equipment designed to allow the automatic transmission and broadcasting of emergency messages.
Alerts pass from station to station and on to the air automatically, without human intervention.
The State Division of Emergency Services activates the EAS for State-level alerts. The new EAS incorporates coding that allows specific locations to be alerted, so that only affected areas recieve the alert, so as not to alarm locations not affected. The new EAS allows alert information to be digitally coded, along with standard audio information, so that television stations can have a crawl that displays the text of the alert for hearing-impaired citizens. EAS was designed to be a cooperative effort between government agencies and local broadcasters. The SECC is chaired by Alaska broadcasters.