Tuesday, OCTOBER 28, 2025 |
Photo – CC Emergency Management webpage – Courtesy Carbon County Emergency Management
The county’s Emergency Manager said Wyoming PBS’s branded alert system could lead to confusion.
During the October 7th meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners, Vice Chairwoman Gwynn Bartlett announced that Wyoming PBS has developed its own automated emergency notification system, simply called Wyoming PBS Alerts. Vice Chair Bartlett explained to Emergency Manager Lenny Layman that the state’s public television network is offering the free service as an alternative to AlertSense, the county’s existing emergency notification system. The Board directed Layman to investigate the new service and report back with his findings.
At the October 21st County Commissioner meeting, Emergency Manager Layman updated the Board on the Wyoming PBS Alert system. Layman said he spoke with Wyoming PBS Chief Technology Officer Josh Williams, who asked him to submit a letter outlining his concerns about the new service. The emergency manager read his letter into the record, hoping it would help address questions about the notification platform.
Layman began by outlining the reasons why Wyoming PBS should not attempt to send its own alert messages to residents, saying that doing so could cause confusion during an emergency.
Layman said all emergencies begin and end on the local level. When the state’s public television network sends emergency alerts, it encroaches on local authority and interferes with the county’s ability to coordinate notification efforts.
Additionally, Layman said that by maintaining its own subscriber list, Wyoming PBS would make it more difficult for first responders to coordinate response efforts during an emergency. The emergency manager used the August power outage as an example of how residents, who have signed up for multiple notification systems, instead of just AlertSense, can be wasteful and dangerous.
Instead of hosting its own emergency notification system, Layman recommended that Wyoming PBS collaborate with the state’s 23 emergency managers to tailor its platform to each county’s specific needs.
Layman ended his letter by acknowledging that Wyoming PBS is attempting to do something beneficial for the state. However, its approach could unintentionally create confusion and operational risk during real-world emergencies. Instead, Layman urged the public television network to work closely with local authorities to develop a unified alert system that works in conjunction with AlertSense. In the meantime, the emergency manager encouraged Carbon County residents to subscribe to AlertSense and disregard Wyoming PBS Alerts.
Commissioner John Johnson noted the wide-spread reach of Wyoming PBS, which is available on every television and radio, while residents must actively enroll in AlertSense to receive notifications. Commissioner Johnson recommended partnering with the broadcasting station to improve how residents are notified during emergency situations.
Emergency Manager Lenny Layman explained that AlertSense already enables him to send notifications through multiple channels, including Wyoming PBS.
Emergency Manager Layman pointed out the lack of communication between Wyoming PBS Alerts and AlertSense. Because he has no way of knowing who receives messages from Wyoming PBS, Layman said first responders may waste time responding to residents who have already been notified about an emergency.
Layman said he asked Wyoming PBS Chief Technology Officer Josh Williams why the public broadcasting network was attempting to create its own subscriber list but did not receive a clear explanation. The emergency manager added that Wyoming PBS cannot issue independent alerts and merely rebroadcast county messaging, making a separate subscriber list effectively useless.
Commission Vice Chairwoman Gwynn Bartlett said that during its Wyoming PBS Alerts launch, the public broadcasting system announced plans to seek federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security. Vice Chair Bartlett asked if that could put Carbon County’s AlertSense funding at risk.
Emergency Manager Layman said that all 23 Wyoming counties are legally required to maintain their own individual mass notification systems, a mandate that he fully supports. Layman said relinquishing control to the state would make it nearly impossible to effectively coordinate local emergency alerts.
Layman said the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and the Wyoming All Hazards Association, an organization representing the state’s emergency coordinators, both support his assessment of Wyoming PBS Alerts. The emergency manager said he plans to invite Wyoming PBS representatives to future emergency coordination meetings to encourage stronger collaboration with local agencies.
