On Friday, Nov. 30, you may receive an emergency text
message.
Remember: This is only a test.
The Johns Hopkins Emergency Alerts system is
conducting its first large-scale test that
afternoon, sending a message to cell phones and mobile
devices registered for JHEA users at the
Homewood, Eastern, Mount Washington and Peabody
campuses.
JHEA was launched in early September to give
university security offices a fast way to alert
students, faculty and staff that a potentially
life-threatening emergency is under way.
In a real emergency, security would send a text
message to all JHEA-registered phones, giving
users critical early warning on what was happening and
where. Since text messages can be no more
than 160 characters, the alert would also tell users where
to get more information, on, for instance,
the university's telephone hot line or Web site.
The Nov. 30 message will be clearly labeled as a test.
It will go to all registered users on the
four campuses, currently numbering about 1,600 students and
800 faculty, staff and others.
Arrangements are being made in advance with several hundred
users to report back to the test
organizers whether or not they received the message and, if
so, when.
Members of the university community can still register
for JHEA in time for the test. Log on to
the
my.johnshopkins.edu portal, go to the myJhed tab, click
on "update your Emergency Alert
information" and provide your cell phone number. You must
agree to the program's terms and
conditions, which include the responsibility to pay your
mobile service provider's usual charges, if any,
for text messages received.
Complete information on how to register for JHEA is
available online at
webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/today/text_alert.pdf.