Require mobile phone emergency alerts to be bilingual in Welsh and English simultaneously.
Rejected
4 signatures
Emergency alerts are designed to warn of immediate risks to life. During the recent wildfire alert, people received a Welsh-only message that triggered an alarm but could not be understood by many residents. This caused confusion and unnecessary stress. Issuing alerts in both Welsh and English simultaneously would ensure vital safety information is accessible to everyone in Wales.
More details
The Welsh-only wildfire alert triggered a loud, urgent alarm that many residents could not understand at the moment it appeared. Emergency alerts are designed to prompt immediate action, so when the message is unreadable people react before they can assess the situation. This automatic stress response increases heart rate, blood pressure and breathing which, during a prolonged heat wave, can be dangerous for elderly people or anyone with heart conditions, hypertension, COPD or asthma. I experienced shock and confusion because the alert appeared to signal an immediate threat to life but could not be interpreted. The English version arrived minutes later, but only after a community WhatsApp group had confirmed there was no immediate risk in our postcode. Effective risk communication requires urgent messages to be instantly comprehensible. Issuing bilingual alerts simultaneously would reduce unnecessary panic and confusion, and ensure vital safety information is accessible to everyone.