*Mock Newscast, Datacast Alerts to Originate from NPT on Friday and Saturday*
On Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8, 2006, Nashville Public Television (NPT) will participate in the Emergency Preparedness Challenge, the nation's largest local disaster exercise since Hurricane Katrina. Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, in coordination with the Greater Nashville Homeland Security District 5, is sponsoring the exercise, which is designed to assess the ability of local, state and federal agencies to respond to multiple disasters and provide aid to citizens in the District's four counties - Davidson, Williamson, Sumner and Wilson.
During the exercise, emergency responders and coordinators will be able to receive information about the simulated disaster on laptop computers in the field and at emergency planning sites such as hospitals, fire and police departments. The transmission uses a small portion of NPT's digital broadcast signal and will not be visible without the special receivers being used by emergency teams during the exercise. Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) students and staff will create a mock newscast to accompany the exercise, which will originate from NPT's Studio A to be encoded as streaming video into NPT's digital video broadcast.
With NPT's assistance, MTSU staff and volunteers will begin setting up a data network, desks, computers and edit stations in Studio A, as well as mobile control vans behind NPT's building at 161 Rains Avenue on Wednesday. The exercise will begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue until approximately 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.