On March 13, the sirens will sound in Hesse's municipalities from 10:15 a.m. for the Hesse-wide test alarm. The background and aim of the day of action is to further sensitize citizens to the various warning devices and alarm signals and to test the technical warning infrastructure. In addition to sirens, all other warning options, such as the "Cell-Broadcast" introduced by the federal government or the innovative hessenWARN warning app, will also be used. Both the siren signal for the test alarm from 10.15 a.m. and the all-clear signal at 10.50 a.m. will last for one minute each.

The nationwide warning day in the autumn of each year has become established as a test of the warning media and to raise public awareness of warnings. In addition to this nationwide warning day, a state-wide warning day is now to be established in each of the federal states. The aim is to test the triggering of regional warning media via the infrastructure of the Hessian districts and independent cities. In a nationwide vote, the state-wide warning day has been set for the second Thursday in March every year. On March 13, this state-wide warning day will now also be held in Hesse for the first time, alongside North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. For this purpose, the central control centers of the districts and independent cities will trigger their regional warning media via their own infrastructure. In contrast to the nationwide warning day, the national media (radio, television) will not be involved. Only the state-wide media FFH and HR are involved. The purpose of the warning day is to increase the acceptance and knowledge of the warning of the population in emergency situations. The aim of the trial warning is to remind citizens of its function and procedures so that they can correctly perceive and classify the warning messages in an emergency. In addition to alarm sirens and radio announcements, the Hessian population is also informed via the free warning app hessenWARN. With the warning, citizens receive a recommendation on what they can do to protect themselves or where they can obtain further information.

It may be necessary to warn the population in the event of an external threat to the Federal Republic ("civil defense case"), in the event of major damage ("disaster case"), in the daily operations of the fire department ("daily hazard prevention") and also in the event of police incidents (e.g. terrorist situation).

Cell broadcasting from the BBK: The prerequisite for receiving cell broadcast messages is that citizens have the latest operating systems installed on their mobile devices. For technical reasons, this warning medium only transmits the warning itself, but not an all-clear.

hessenWARN messages: In addition to the municipal warning devices - usually sirens - solutions for smartphones ("WarnApps") are also available for warning purposes. The state of Hesse and the vast majority of districts in Hesse use the hessenWARN system (or its compatible predecessor KatWarn). Both apps together are currently used by around 821,000 people in Hesse and offer hazard and disaster warnings as well as information on events or potential risks from a single source. The hessenWARN app contains not only the tried-and-tested alerts for unexpected hazardous situations (bombs, major fires involving hazardous substances, severe weather warnings, terrorist attacks and more), but also other important alerting and information functions that can be switched on and off within the app depending on personal requirements. The warning day on 13 March begins at 10.15 a.m. with the Hesse-wide warning, both via cell broadcast, warning apps (e.g. hessenWARN) and via the participating radio stations. If the municipalities have sirens that can be triggered for the warning, a test alarm is also sounded with the siren signal "Warning of the population". The all-clear is given at 10.50 am.

In municipalities where the siren signal "Warning of the population" cannot yet be triggered because the technical changeover has not yet been completed, the "Fire alarm" signal is to be triggered as a substitute during the warning day.

Background: - Siren signals in civil protection and disaster control in Germany: "Warning of the population", a one-minute wailing tone that swells up and down. Meaning. There is a local danger to people or property - find out about this in the media (regional radio stations, possibly also TV stations, Internet) - do not call the emergency numbers 112 and 110 for this - All-clear One-minute continuous tone. Meaning: There is no longer any danger - the warning has been canceled.

Further information on civil protection can be found on the homepage of the city of Wiesbaden (search for "civil protection").

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