Massachusetts Official: Hawaii Mistake Can’t Happen Here

BOSTON (AP) — The director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency says it’s unlikely the state would experience a false ballistic missile alarm like the one that caused widespread panic in Hawaii because Massachusetts has “very different” protocols in place.

The alert that panicked Hawaii last Saturday was blamed on a worker who pressed the wrong button during a shift change. The alert was not rescinded for 38 minutes.

Emergency management Director Kurt Schwartz tells The Boston Globe that the only way something similar can happen in Massachusetts “is by intentional wrongdoing, not by mistake.”

He says Massachusetts requires three people to agree to send such an alert.

Nevertheless, the Hawaii mistake prompted Schwartz and three Cabinet secretaries to assess the state’s emergency alert system and to order a review of current protocols.

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