The latest test of the province’s AlertReady system has come and gone, with the alerts going out at 1:55 p.m. yesterday.

These tests coincided with Emergency Preparedness Week across Canada.

BC’s Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness Jennifer Rice is a fan of the AlertReady system, but says it’s not the only way to get the message out.

“We still will have our radio and television. We also have other ways of communicating via social media,” she says. “We have the Prepared BC and the Emergency Info BC website. We still have our PENS system. This is one more tool we’re adding to the toolbox.”

To ensure people don’t miss out on the alerts, Rice is urging people to make sure their phones have the latest updates.

“I am like many, I used procrastinate hitting the update in the settings. Now I’ve learned, and these alerts have actually motivated me to update the settings on my phone more often so I don’t miss out on important information.”

In the past, people have complained they didn’t get the test alert on their phones, and Rice says that’s why there are plans for two tests a year to iron out all the kinks.

“We’re continuously improving just like technology is continuously improving,” Rice said.

“People can go to the AlertReady website and you can try and see if one of your issues fits into one of those question and answers or there’s a lot of other information on what you can do to make sure that you actually get the alert in the case of an emergency.”

You can get more details about the AlertReady system here.