The Ministry of Interior has announced a change in the emergency alert system. The change has been brought into effect since 1 April, and it’s about the sound you hear on your phones. While you still are going to receive the alerts in the event of a threat, they won’t always come accompanied by the blaring siren.
Between 12:00 (midnight) and 6:00 am, alerts will no longer trigger the emergency siren tone. Instead, they’ll come through as a standard notification, following whatever your phone is set to. If you’re on loud, you’ll hear your normal alert ping. If you’re on silent, you’ll get a vibration. The information still reaches you, just without the full-volume siren in the middle of the night.
Between 6:00 am and midnight, alerts may continue to come through with the familiar emergency siren tone, as they have been.
If you’ve been in Bahrain over the past few weeks, you’re familiar with the sound. Since the onset of the regional conflict, emergency alerts have become part of daily life for residents. They continue to serve their purpose. This change reflects a need to alter the nighttime routine since residents and citizens on the island wake up to several alarms overnight.
This is a practical change more than a security one. The threat level doesn’t shift, and the system is still doing what it’s designed to do.
So, follow the same procedures: stay indoors until you get the all-clear message, don’t go near any intercepted fragments or shrapnel, and contact the emergency services on 999 should you need help.
READ MORE: Official Channels To Follow in Bahrain for Information
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