Alarm Fatigue, or "How I learned to HATE the ontario ready alert system"

[MolsonExport]

And another one goes off. Just now. Fucking Klaxon of Doom, but it is just a test (was it a test to see if I would get pissed off? Passed that test with flying fucking colors!!). False alarms for Nuclear plant "incidents". Messages admonishing me to self-quarantine (for no fucking good reason). Amber alerts at 3am for some kid snatched by a parent 500kms away. The obligatory french-language version (with that horrible Klaxon of Doom) that follows just a minute after you finally have calmed down enough to fall asleep. Even better when it goes off when you are driving your car down a busy road.

There may have been at least a dozen such alarms in the past 8 months.

Sorry, I fucking hate the ontario ready alert system, and constantly crying wolf makes for alarm fatigue.



I didn't fucking leave Ontario, you miserable shits:

[Dengler Avenue]

I have learned to put my phone on silent mode. No more airstrike alarm for me~

[hipster duck]

They should only use it sparingly, but it works. Some debate if something like the Quebec City stabber or the nutjob who killed people house by house in NS would have been able to get as far as they did if those provinces had Ontario's warning system.

[MonctonRad]

I received one today too in NB.

I was in the zone, in a heavily darkened and silent room, completely without distraction reading a mammogram. In mammography, we are looking for the subtlest of abnormalities on an image with a complex background, so an environment eliminating any distractions whatsoever is mandatory.

In any event, I was "in the zone" as I said, when suddenly the claxon on my phone sounded off. Talk about leaping out of your chair!!!

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I have learned to put my phone on silent mode. No more airstrike alarm for me~

Even better, I don't have a cell phone. The sweet sound of silence.

[YOWflier]

The alarm sound is horrible but I've no problem with the alerts in principle. They're as frequent as they need to be, unfortunately, given what that implies.

The "nuisance" ones are just that but system testing is necessary. I can't say I'm experiencing any fatigue from these.

[WarrenC12]

There is a nationwide test today. In BC it never gets used, I'd like to see it for COVID restriction updates TBH.

https://twitter.com/EmergencyInfoBC/...51559617404928

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

There is a nationwide test today. In BC it never gets used, I'd like to see it for COVID restriction updates TBH.

https://twitter.com/EmergencyInfoBC/...51559617404928

I would agree with this, I think a lot of people are simply unaware of the constantly changing restrictions, which are announced during news conferences at 3:00pm when many people are working, and not everyone follows news online. Everyone knows there's a pandemic but they aren't always going to know the exact level of restrictions for today. Especially younger people who are less likely to watch the News Hour at 6 than their parents and grandparents.

[MolsonExport]

my issue is that it is not used sparingly but rather frequently.

[Taeolas]

They did give plenty of warning that the NB Alert test was going to happen today. I think I first heard it was coming last week, and it was certainly on the local radio news and shared on various FB groups this morning.

My own (android) phone has the sound off 99% of the time, so all I got was a buzz and the screen showing the alert that I just swiped away. No real distraction other than the fact that it was about 5 minutes later than they said it was going to be.

I was a little surprised that while the alert test was waiting on my tV when I turned it on later at lunch, the Internet Radio I was streaming (streaming a local radio station at that) was NOT airing the alert. That seems to be a bit of an oversight in the alert system, or at least a case of the system falling behind in technology.

[kwoldtimer]

I must not have had the TV on. I noticed no test...

[suburbanite]

What's frequently? I think I've seen maybe like 4 during all of Covid.

If it helps save a life it's fine with me.

[niwell]

My personal and work phone (both iphones) are virtually always on silent so I've never heard the annoying sound everyone talks about. I gather that some(?) android phones aren't able to disable the alert sound? Or do people just not have their phone on silent? I think the only time I have the ringer on is if I'm expecting a package I have to sign for - so pretty much only beer deliveries!

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by niwell

My personal and work phone (both iphones) are virtually always on silent so I've never heard the annoying sound everyone talks about. I gather that some(?) android phones aren't able to disable the alert sound? Or do people just not have their phone on silent? I think the only time I have the ringer on is if I'm expecting a package I have to sign for - so pretty much only beer deliveries!

Work phone on silent? Is your phone always in your pocket or your hand?

I only put mine on silent if I'm in a Zoom call or similar or a meeting (remember those) in person. I also turn off my phone at night when I go to sleep.

I am at a loss why you would have a phone and then enable it so you can't hear an incoming call. Or am I just an old crusty. I'm also one of those people who leaves voice mails and don't return calls to people who call, don't leave a message and then expect you to return their call based on you seeing it on the missed call list.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

Work phone on silent? Is your phone always in your pocket or your hand?

I'm on my work laptop with my phone next to it most of the day, and if I'm out I'll physically check the phone every once in a while. No need to see an email instantly, and virtually all calls I take are pre-booked meetings. No interaction with the public and anyone below me will email or instant message. I don't want to hear notifications after work hours, though will check my phone occasionally.

Most people I know under the age of 40 (social and work) always have their phone on silent - it's very rare to hear a text / call notification.

[acottawa]

I turned my alerts off after the 3rd or 4th Amber Alert for a kidnapping in the GTA.

I wish the Klaxon of Doom would only sound if the event is in the immediate area, otherwise a lock screen notification would be sufficient.

[Acajack]

We just had the test here a few minutes ago and all the phones went off in the house.

It had been well publicized (at least in Quebec) in the days prior so while I wasn't waiting by the phone for it, it didn't surprise me.

Having so many people turn off all notifications so they don't get the alerts, kind of defeats the purpose of an emergency alert system, does it not?

[savevp]

I did see a notice about today's alerts on the morning news.

I don't think the relatively frequent tests are the issue so much as the overuse of Amber alerts in 2019. To be fair, I think police sort of got the message after the outcry following the umpteenth 3am quadruple-alert barrage for a missing person at the other end of the province. And then or course the bizarrest of Twitter virtue signalling (typing 'wake me up any hour of the night to save the children' before rolling over and going back to sleep, rather than immediately heading out to search for the child in question).

I had one last year where I was driving on the 401 in heavy traffic and an Amber alert went off. Everyone on the road immediately got distracted and had to disable the claxon on their phone. I very nearly rear-ended a van. Amber alerts should only involve a notification. The claxon should be used for immediate threats.

A funny story; a couple years ago I was on a business trip to the States. This was before Canada had anything like Alert Ready. The US, however, did have their warning system. Well, myself and my Canadian colleagues were out for dinner when all of a sudden, an Amber alert set off every phone in the restaurant. Our phones didn't go off, presumably as we weren't on American data roaming.

None of us had ever experienced this before and jumped right out of our seats, not having a clue what was going on. One of us actually jumped, literally, and knocked over a waitress who had approached the table. She smashed her tray of beer (it was only Bud Light, no real loss). For my part, I thought it was some kind of bomb and went down to a knee, with just my head poking above the table.

We got a healthy mix of glances from the other tables the rest of the night.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I turned my alerts off after the 3rd or 4th Amber Alert for a kidnapping in the GTA.

I wish the Klaxon of Doom would only sound if the event is in the immediate area, otherwise a lock screen notification would be sufficient.

A couple of years ago Manitoba got an Amber Alert in the dead of night regarding a child abduction in Saskatchewan... it turned out they were headed to Alberta.

I griped about it on Reddit and took a lot of shit for it ("why don't you care about the lives of children hurr durr") but my counterpoint was that if you wake people up pointlessly for irrelevant alerts, then they're just going to start turning their phones off at night. I mean fair enough if the abducted child is actually in this province, then fire away with your 3 am alert messages. But if the kid is in North Battleford, then maybe it can wait until 7?

Fortunately there haven't been any middle of the night alerts since then.

[Acajack]

I feel quite strongly about Amber Alerts but perhaps the system could be more refined to take into account the radius in which the perpetrator could realistically travel since the estimated time of abduction.

GTA to Ottawa is only about five hours so that's easily done in a half a day or overnight.

GTA to Thunder Bay or Kenora, not so much.