Comprehensive Emergency Management for Local Governments: by Gordon James A.;

Author:Gordon, James A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rothstein Associates, Incorporated
Published: 2002-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION

As indicated under the preparedness phase, emergency public information is a critical aspect of successful emergency management. Simply put, people want to know what has happened and what is being done about it. “Routine” emergencies normally handled within the scope of day-to-day operations of response agencies are expected in everyday life in an urban environment and handled as the various media outlets choose depending on how busy of a news day it has been.

Major emergencies necessitate a proactive approach on the part of the local government who must contact the media outlets, invite them to a briefing location and provide the message that needs to get out to the public. The planning efforts in this regard made by the local government should also happen almost automatically. In general, any emergency necessitating the deployment of the Emergency Operations Center probably involves the scale of emergency that will concern residents. This concern must be addressed by the Emergency Operations Center through regular information bulletins to the media and, increasingly common, via a call center.

Provisions made for contacting the media and for the establishment of a call center should be activated immediately by the Public Information Officer once he/she is notified of the emergency. Other decision-makers within the Emergency Operations Center will be supporting the site in combating the emergency while the Public Information Officer invokes the Emergency Public Information Plan. As noted earlier, this plan encompasses the immediate actions for the Public Information Officer and should contain all the necessary media contact information, templates for news releases, and directions for establishing the call center.

Human psychology tells us that in an emergency, fear and confusion make addressing an emergency and its subsequent recovery extremely difficult. Informed and organized victims seem to be able to tolerate adverse circumstances better and longer when they are aware of what has happened to them, what the scale of the emergency is, how they can address their immediate needs, and how long recovery is anticipated to take. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the local government to meet the challenge of emergency public information head-on and plan for its near automatic deployment in the response phase.

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