Netherlands new emergency saftey measurement

The Netherlands is the first country in the world to introduce this emergency alert system nationwide. As from today, NL-Alert will be available in all 25 safety regions of the Netherlands. The control room of the emergency services will send a message on an (imminent) disaster, such as major fires involving the release of toxic smoke, explosion hazards or flooding. Within seconds, cell phones in a specific area will pick up the message.

NL-Alert is a new additional alert system for your mobile phone. The authorities can alert people in close vicinity of an emergency situation with NL-Alert through a text message. The message will specifically describe what is going on and what would be the best course of action at that moment. By doing so, more people may be reached in an early stage of the emergency and they will be better informed. 

On Monday 4 February around 12.00pm, the government sent the first NL-Alert test message throughout the Netherlands.

Through this test message, people can check if their phone is properly attuned in order to receive NL-Alert. The message will clearly indicate that this is just a test message and that no action is required.

If you receive the test message, your mobile phone is properly attuned for NL-Alert. This ensures that you will be informed when an emergency situation occurs anywhere nearby. In 2013, the government will send three test messages; on 4 February, 6 May and 4 November.

NL-Alert works through cell broadcast (radio frequency) and not by SMS. This guarantees that NL-Alert also works when the network is overloaded. NL-Alert is free and anonymous. Currently, NL-Alert can be received on about half of all mobile phones in the Netherlands. This percentage will quickly rise in the coming time. If you would like to know whether your phone can receive NL-Alert, you can check this through this website (only available in Dutch): http://instelhulp.nlalert.nl/