1. How does airAlert work?

The Sussex Air Quality Partnership provides daily air pollution forecasts for Sussex on the www.sussex-air.net website, via a service provided by King's College London (ERG). airAlert converts these forecasts into texts or voice-messages for recipients with mobile or home phones.

2. What do I do when I receive an airAlert ?

•  You will only receive forecasts for your area of Sussex, if there is a breach of the UK air quality standard (also known as banding).

•  The message will contain the health banding level (i.e. MODERATE,HIGH or VERY HIGH), the air pollutant type, where and how long the pollution is likely to occur.

•  Take appropriate action or medication to reduce the risk of symptoms affecting you.

3. What does the message look like or sound like?

An example message and what it means below:

“AirALERT: Probable Moderate Ozone, for non roadside areas, until noon Wed 7th ,for further information please see airALERT card”

Title:	Message wording:
Health Banding	= Moderate, High or Very High (These are the UK bandings, relative to the forecasted pollutant concentrations for a period. Refer to airALERT - more info link for more detail on bandings.)
Pollutant type	= ozone (O3), dust/particles (PM10), nitrogen dioxide(NO2) (These are the types of pollutants which are associated with forecast. Refer to airALERT - more info link for more detail on pollutants.)
Where*	= at non roadside, roadside, rural, or coastal locations. (These are locations where the highest pollution levels are forecasted for).
Time & date	= period that the forecast is valid for. No further message will sent unless there is another pollution episode in your area.
More info	= the airALERT card and associated information pack, sent to all participants, provides more detailed information.

*The messages are specific to your area; (either a district, borough or city authority area) i.e. Arun, Adur, Brighton & Hove, Chichester, Crawley, Eastbourne, Hastings, Horsham, Lewes, Mid-Sussex, Rother, Wealden or Worthing

4. Who's involved in the service?

Partner's in pilot:

The Sussex Air Quality Partnership is leading the pilot with specialist support from partners in health information, research and technical delivery of the message service.

Health information:

Dr Mark Jackson (Consultant Respiratory Physician), Department of Respiratory Medicine at Brighton General Hospital is providing health advice and research support for the pilot.

Research support:

The University of Brighton who are provided research and evaluation of the pilot (2006). The university undertook questionnaires and focus groups with participants to assess their response to receiving messages, their actions and gather information on whether the information assisted patients to self-manage their health. Feed back on the research can be found under airALERT infromation.

Technical and forecasting support:

King's College London who are providing the technological expertise to forecast air pollution and sending out the messages. The Environmental Research Group (ERG) at King's College London, is a leading provider of air quality information and research in the UK . The group provides daily updates of air pollution across Sussex and will provide the airALERT information

Recruitment and publicity support:

Sussex PCT's are supporting the pilot by providing a link to clinics and patients with asthma. (Brighton & Hove City PCT, Adur, Arun & Worthing PCT, Crawley PCT, Eastbourne Downs PCT, Horsham & Chanctonbury PCT, Hastings & St Leonards, PCT Mid Sussex PCT, Sussex Downs & Weald PCT and Western Sussex PCT) .

The British Lung Foundation have provided links to various Sussex Breath-easy groups to assist in the recruitment of volunteers.

5. airAlert information pack for volunteers (pdf).

To get a copy of the airALERT information pack click here -> (airAlert information pack)