Network Alert Levels

The Emergency Management Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network sets a single alert level for each site of the Network, and where necessary for the Network as a whole. There are four levels: Normal, Advisory, Alert and Emergency. The level is set by the duty coordinator at the Network Coordination Centre, on the advice of the site emergency controllers, and takes effect at every site from 07:00 on 7 September 2026.

Four levels is a deliberate choice. A scale with more steps invites argument about which step applies while the hazard is developing; a scale with fewer cannot distinguish between a hazard that is being watched and one that has begun. Each level below states three things: what it means, what is expected of staff and citizens, and what the Department itself will do. Nothing is required of a household that has not been described in advance on the Preparedness page.

4

Network alert levels in force at every site from 7 September 2026

11,900

Addresses registered to receive Network alerts at establishment

6

Channels by which an alert is repeated; no alert is issued by one alone

5 min

Standard within which a warning should reach the whole of a site

The four levels. A level may be raised by more than one step at once, where the position warrants it. It is lowered one step at a time, so that preparations are not stood down before the hazard has passed.

Level in force at each site. The table below is maintained by the Network Coordination Centre and is republished whenever a level changes. The time given is the time at which the level was recorded, not the time of the last check.

How an alert reaches you. No alert is issued by one means alone. Each channel below has a failure mode the others do not share, which is the reason for having six of them.

Email to registered addresses

The primary channel. Every alert goes to every registered address for the affected site, and to all addresses when the level is set for the Network as a whole. At establishment 11,900 addresses are registered.

Publication on this site

Every alert is published on emergencies.gov.vin, with the time it was issued and the time of the report on which it was based. The published alert is the authoritative text; where a repeated alert differs from it, the published text governs.

The site address system

Each principal site repeats the alert on its own address system. Two of the outbuildings at Meridian Court are not reached by it, a finding of Exercise Meridian; those buildings are alerted on foot.

Alerting on foot

A member of the site response team alerts each occupied building in person. This is slower than the other channels and is never relied on alone, but it is the only channel that does not fail with the power.

Written notice at each entrance

A written notice is posted at every entrance to an affected site, so that a person arriving after the alert was issued learns of it before entering.

Broadcast arrangements of the Network

At Emergency, the Department asks the Communications Department of the Network to carry the alert on the broadcast arrangements, which can be received on a battery radio when no other channel is working.

Registering an address. Registration is the single most useful thing a member of staff or a citizen can do before an emergency. It takes a few minutes and is done once.

1. 1

   Step 1: Write to the Department

   Send your full name, your staff or citizen identification number, the site you are attached to, and the email address at which you wish to be warned. Registration is open from 6 September 2026 and there is no charge.

2. 2

   Step 2: Register a second address if you can

   A second address for another adult in the household means the warning still arrives if the first address cannot be reached. Say clearly which address belongs to which person.

3. 3

   Step 3: Say whether you would need help to leave

   If you or a member of your household could not leave a building unaided, say so. The Department passes this to your site emergency controller for the site register of persons requiring assistance. The register is held at the site, is not published, and is used only for the response.

4. 4

   Step 4: Confirm the registration

   The Department sends a confirmation to each address, normally within two working days. If no confirmation arrives, the address is not registered; write again.

5. 5

   Step 5: Keep the address current

   Tell the Department when an address changes, when you move between sites, or when a registration is no longer needed. Registrations are checked against the records of member organisations every six months, and an address that cannot be confirmed is removed.

What happens once a level is raised is set out on the Response page, and the plans that govern each site and hazard on the Register of Emergency Plans page. Questions about the levels are answered among the frequently asked questions. Registrations and enquiries may be sent to contact@emergencies.gov.vin.