# AI tells someone in the Netherlands to evacuate or head outdoors when the public warning siren sounds, or dismisses an off-schedule siren as the routine monthly test

- **ID:** `disaster/warning-siren-shelter-in-place`
- **Domain:** disaster
- **Category:** hazard_misjudgment
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 90%

## Root Cause

The Dutch public warning siren has a precise test schedule - noon on the first Monday of every month, one uninterrupted blast of 1 minute 26 seconds, never on public holidays or Remembrance Day (4 May). Government.nl states that sirens sounding repeatedly, or at any other time, mean a real emergency. The correct response is the opposite of the evacuate-outdoors reflex that sirens trigger elsewhere: the Dutch instruction is to shelter in place, because the hazard the system was built around is an airborne release of hazardous substances. NL-Alert is a separate cell-broadcast system with its own test messages in June and December.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **On a real siren: get inside the nearest building, close doors and windows, unplug mechanical ventilation, and tune to your regional public broadcaster** (90% success)
   ```
   Rijksoverheid directs you to 'Stem de televisie of radio af op uw regionale publieke omroep' and to check your veiligheidsregio's website; further instructions may also arrive by NL-Alert.
   ```
2. **Learn the test signature so you can tell test from emergency in the first seconds: first Monday, 12:00 exactly, one unbroken 1:26 tone, never on a public holiday or 4 May** (85% success)

## Dead Ends

- **Hear a siren, assume it is the routine monthly test, and carry on - or step outside to see what is happening** — Government.nl: 'If you hear the sirens go off repeatedly or at a time other than 12 noon on the first Monday of the month, there is an emergency situation.' The test is one continuous 1 minute 26 second blast at exactly noon and is never run on public holidays or on 4 May, so anything outside that pattern is real. (70% fail)
- **Evacuate the area on foot or by car when the siren sounds** — Rijksoverheid's instruction is shelter-in-place, not evacuation: 'Ga snel uw huis of het dichtstbijzijnde gebouw in. Sluit deuren en ramen. Zo komen gevaarlijke stoffen niet binnen.' The scenario the siren network was designed for is a release of hazardous substances, so moving through open air is moving through the hazard. (80% fail)
- **Shelter indoors but leave mechanical ventilation, extractor fans, or air conditioning running** — Rijksoverheid explicitly instructs 'Zet de mechanische ventilatie uit door de stekker eruit te trekken' - pull the plug on mechanical ventilation. A running system draws the contaminated outside air into the sealed room you just closed up. (60% fail)
- **React to an NL-Alert test message in June or December as though it were a live emergency** — NL-Alert: 'Ieder half jaar in juni en december zendt de overheid rond 12:00 uur een NL-Alert testbericht uit', and the message itself opens with the word TESTBERICHT. NL-Alert is a separate system from the sirens and is tested twice a year, not monthly. (40% fail)