From the 1000 Federal-warned points, further dissemination of warning is made through police, forestry or other radio or telephone networks to reach outlying cities and towns. Each State has its own system of intrastate warnings. Time to alert the public beyond the 1000 NAWAS warning points varies from a few minutes to 20 minutes or longer. The combination of NAWAS and State warning systems provides siren alerting to about 60 percent of the urban population nationwide, under ideal conditions. In Tennessee, NAWAS points are located to permit entry into State Highway Patrol radio systems. These systems further disseminate warning to many communities. In some cases, local telephone calls are used to further spread the alert. DECISION INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (DIDS) DIDS is a proposed addition to the present CD warning system. It provides an automatic warning system connecting the three Warning Centers with Federal, State and local government terminals and with local siren systems. It is a low-frequency radio and AT&T wire-line system which initially will activate about 40,000 points consisting of voice-receiving terminals, teletypewriter terminals, and terminals for switching on multi-siren systems and individual sirens. (See pages 20-21 for technical description.) It is designed to survive modest levels of nuclear weapons effects. DIDS will provide State and local governments with additional coverage of attack warning information and with rapid "hard copy" terminals at key locations to permit local officials to make effective lifesaving decisions. |