萬安演習？

風大的陰天，坐在書桌前喝咖啡聽Chet Baker，除了下午的丹麥文課令我有些煩躁之外，其實是個愜意的午間時光，但剛剛忽然警報大作，就像台灣的萬安演習一樣，伴隨著長短不一且低沉的警報聲。住在丹麥這麼久還沒遇過這種事情，我還以為萬安演習是台灣人恐懼阿共仔的表現，沒想到丹麥也流行這套嗎？


幾個朋友開玩笑說該不會是豬流感的警報吧！雖然前兩天丹麥出現了第一個H1N1的確定病例，但這也太小題大作。上網看新聞，原來自1994年開始，五月的第一個禮拜三正午都會有警報演習，為了測試警報是否有效，也讓民眾熟習警報聲，對聽力有障礙的民眾還會發出手機簡訊提醒，確實就跟台灣的萬安演習一樣。


以下引用自The Copenhagen Post Online
http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/45590-shrill-sirens-to-sound.html


Shrill sirens to sound

Wednesday, 06 May 2009 09:23 KR News
Sirens across the country will sound at noon today as part of emergency services’ annual awareness campaign

Police and the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) will activate the emergency sirens across the country today as part of the annual public awareness campaign.

The 1,078 sirens mounted on buildings and rooftops in areas of the country with a population of more than 1,000 people will sound off at noon.

According to the DEMA, at least 80 percent of the population will be able to hear the warning blasts. In case of emergency, areas not covered by the sirens will be visited by police in patrol cars, warning residents with mobile sirens.

The deaf and hard of hearing have been able to receive SMS messages from the police and DEMA warning them of emergencies since the start of last year. To date, 563 people have signed up for the service.

Since 1994, the sirens have sounded on the first Wednesday of May every year so the public are familiar with the sound.

The first siren will sound for 45 seconds, rising quickly and falling slowly. It signals that the public should remain indoors, closing all windows, doors and ventilation systems. The public should tune into national radio or television for more information.

Four minutes later the first siren will be repeated, before the final siren sounds after a further four minutes. The final siren signals that the danger has passed and will consist of one long tone for 45 seconds.

The system is designed to warn the public of emergencies and catastrophes, such as poisonous fumes from factory fires or fears of nuclear fallout. One well-known case was the 2004 fire in a fireworks factory in Kolding, Jutland, after which thousands of residents had to be evacuated.

The sirens are actually tested every night, but at a frequency that is not audible to humans or animals. Since 2002, the sirens have been used for real emergencies 32 times and were sounded on ten occasions last year.

The last time they were needed was in connection with a fire at a plastics factory in Hårslev in November.