In an emergency, turn on the radio
Switzerland is far behind when it comes to digitalisation. There is an urgent need to catch up, especially in critical systems such as civil protection or healthcare.
A doctor uses a smartphone at work. (icon image)
Photo: AlamyStock
Two weeks ago it hit Winterthur. After a large fire with heavy smoke development broke out in a 280-year-old house in the Neuwiesen district, the general alarm sounded in the affected area via sirens. The regularly rising and falling tone warned the affected population of toxic smoke. People were asked on the radio to stay indoors and close windows and doors. Sirens and radios have been the backbone of civil defense for decades. But fewer and fewer people own a radio and more and more people rely on their cell phones. Switzerland has an app to alert the population developed via smartphone, but it is not very common and unreliable. In Winterthur, for example, the general alarm went off after ten minutes, but the app only warned its users after almost two hours, as reported by several users on social media.
