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warnings between Federal, State and local governments. The original mission of NAWAS was to warn of an imminent enemy attack or an actual missile launch upon the United States. NAWAS still supports this mission but the system is now used to communicate information about all hazards. NAWAS is operated and maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Federal NAWAS circuit connects FEMA's national and regional facilities with the Warning Points for each US State and Territory, as well as the National Weather Service offices and certain US Defense Installations. The State of Florida also has a State NAWAS circuit, with stations installed at most of the State's 67 County Warning Points or EOCs. Transmissions on FL NAWAS are independent from the federal circuit, however FEMA can bridge FL NAWAS with the national system to transmit on FL NAWAS in a major emergency. It will be used to provide us with severe weather information, emergency notifications (incoming and outgoing) and other appropriate emergency management business or functions. 5. SLERS — State Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) is used by the State Watch Office (SWO) and the FDEM Regional Coordinators to report their current location or communicate updates about incidents they are responding to. Indian River County Emergency Management has a SLERS radio that provides the counties with a redundant means of communication during an emergency. 6. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) - Across all age groups, in the United States, approximately 1,000,000 people (0.38% of the population, or 3.8 per 1,000) over 5 years of age are "functionally deaf;" more than half are over 65 years of age. About 8,000,000 people (3.7%) over 5 years of age are hard of hearing (that is, have some difficulty hearing normal conversation even with the use of a hearing aid). Again, more than half of those who are hard of hearing are over 65 years of age. While it is uncertain how many deaf or hearing-impaired residents are in Indian River County, our office is prepared to handle these calls through the use of a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD). A TDD is a machine that can be connected to the telephone providing deaf and hard -of - hearing people with a way to use a telephone without an interpreter. TDD users type their messages on a standard typewriter keyboard, which is read on a display by the receiver using compatible equipment. The Indian River County Department of Emergency Services' TDD telephone number (772-770-5091) is published in the BellSouth Text Telephone Directory annually. Television stations also display information via visual crawlers for the hearing impaired. Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 134