Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
Information and resources are available through the Colorado Office of Emergency Management to support local emergency alerting.
Map of Colorado Authorized IPAWS Alerting Authorities
The map below shares the current status of alerting authorities within each county of the state. The map legend is shared below the map. To see a larger version of the map click the square in the far right corner of the gray header of the map.
Map Legend
- Green Shade means approved alerting authority
- Yellow Shade means in the process to become an approved alerting authority
- Gray Shade means the jurisdiction has not started the alert authority process.
Overview
During an emergency, alert and warning officials need to provide the public with life-saving information quickly. The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is a modernization and integration of the nation's alert and warning infrastructure and will save time when time matters most, protecting life and property. The alerts are disseminated through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System and on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio.
Resources
Below are resources to assist with learning more about emergency alerting. A calendar below shares training and learning opportunities for Colorado public safety and emergency management staff.
FEMA
- FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security provide an interactive, web-based version of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPWAS) Program Planning Toolkit. The new free online tool will assist new and existing alerting authorities across the country to create and support an effective program for alerts, warnings and notifications.
- IPAWS Users Conference Presentations and Videos resources webpage.
- IPAWS Alerting Authority Assistive Tool Platform
- This FEMA Tool {Message Design Dashboard) allows Alerting Authorities to more rapidly draft effective messages – that is, those that are complete, clear, certain and consistent, with the power to motivate action.
- Alerting Authorities input pertinent information about their emergency into the MDD, which will automatically produce a draft 90- and 360-character alert based on cutting-edge best practices in crisis psychology and social science research. The MDD is informed by a database of content for more than 50 hazards across a range of domains and includes hazard impact statements and protective action guidance that has been vetted with subject matter experts and reviewed by communication scholars.
- New for April 2025, MDD version 2.0 includes categories to facilitate messaging for missing and endangered persons as well as all-clear messages, plus improved functionality for both desktop and mobile users.
- Tools if free to access and use.
Colorado DHSEM Resource