On Thursday at 3 p.m., the Santa Cruz County Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience will conduct a planned wireless emergency alert test. At the same time, the Monterey County Department of Emergency Management will also be testing its wireless emergency alert system on its side of the river. Wireless emergency alerts are short emergency messages sent by authorized public safety agencies to phones during life-threatening situations. This test is intended to check that the wireless emergency alert system is ready and improve the county’s ability to quickly communicate crucial information to the public during an emergency. Messages on phones will be clearly labeled “test” or “This is a test of the Santa Cruz County wireless emergency alert system.”No action is required.