Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) is an alerting network in the United States designed to disseminate emergency alerts to mobile devices such as cell phones and pagers. Authorized national, state, or local government authorities send alerts regarding public safety emergencies such as severe weather, missing children, or the need to evacuate using WEA. The alerts are sent through FEMAs Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to participating wireless carriers, which then push the alerts to compatible mobile devices in the affected area. There are three types of warnings that will trigger a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA): Presidential Alerts, Imminent Threat Alerts, and Amber Alerts. The alerts appear on the screen of the recipients handset as a text-like message accompanied by a unique attention signal. The WEA system has been used more than 84,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations. Wireless companies volunteer to participate in WEA, which is the result of a unique public/private partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FCC, and the United States wireless industry in order to enhance public safety.