Siren test: 98% work properly
On February 3, the annual siren test was carried out in Switzerland. Thanks to the new Polyalert control system, the results are already known throughout Switzerland, as the DDPS has announced. More than 98% of the sirens are working properly.
In Switzerland, there are about 7,800 sirens for the general alarm to protect the population: about 5,000 sirens are stationary and about 2,800 are mobile. Of the stationary sirens, about 570 are used as "combination sirens" simultaneously for the general alarm and the water alarm. Thanks to the new Polyalert control system, the results of the siren test can be collected completely, uniformly and centrally for the first time, as the VBS writes.
According to the evaluation of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), 98.3% of the tested stationary sirens worked properly. Faults were detected in a total of 81 sirens. This result is within the range of the previous year's results. According to the DDPS, this means that the migration to the new control system has been successfully implemented.
The cantons and municipalities are now required to repair or replace the defective systems without delay. Since the sirens are tested every year and any defects found are subsequently repaired, the functional reliability can be maintained at a very high level.
Further information here
