One of the most powerful allies an emergency response agency can have during a public health crisis, for example an influenza pandemic, is the news media. The media can assist in sending out powerful messages to the public that no single emergency service provider can. The media can assist in informing and educating, get the story or information out quickly, rally support, prevent undue fear and anxiety by providing accurate and needed information, and help calm a nervous public.

Understanding what the media wants and needs from a news story while maintaining your message will make the partnership more fruitful for both the response agency and the media. Basically the role of the media is to gather and spread information while fulfilling commercial obligations to make money for their owners or shareholders. Typically, news editors and producers are looking for stories that will attract a large number of readers or viewers, and stories about disasters and high-profile events such as a flu outbreak definitely fit the bill.

This is where a proactive emergency response agency with a prepared emergency communications plan can benefit. The editors and producers typically want accurate and honest information; regular updates; timely cooperation; and access to people, places and information. Understanding what the news media want from a story and what they are likely to ask helps define what will best meet their needs. Knowing those needs will ensure a fire department or other response agency's messages will be heard by the public.

Goals & objectives

When preparing an organization to communicate with the public during a health emergency or crisis, establishing goals and objectives is critical. Like any other planning process, communication goals and objectives help keep efforts focused and on track. Some examples of goals may be building, maintaining or restoring trust and credibility; improving knowledge and understanding of the event; and easing public anxiety.

Keep two things in mind when developing crisis communication goals. The first is that the goals should work toward easing public concern. Some sample messages that achieve this are “the risk is low,” “the illness is treatable,” “it is not easily contracted,” and “symptoms are easily recognized.” The second is that your communications should give guidance on how to respond. Examples of this message include, “take these precautions;” “if possibly exposed, contact a physician;” “if symptomatic, contact physician;” and “note possible symptoms in others.” Once goals are established, objectives can be written to describe the measurable steps necessary to achieve your crisis communication needs.

The most effective way to ensure an organized communication effort during a crisis is to have a written communication plan prepared in advance. The written communication plan should be a blueprint to aid the agency in responding to an intentional, unintentional or naturally occurring event that creates a threat to the public. It should spell out the crucial first steps and formalize policies. Ideally the plan should describe goals, responsibilities, emergency notification of appropriate personnel and partner agencies, information verification and approval procedures, designated spokespeople, communication roles and responsibilities, and key messages. It's important that the fire chief and/or other key leadership individuals agree with and endorse the plan in advance of the crisis or emergency.

Primary partnerships

In a public health crisis, fire departments will be integrated into a larger community-wide response and are likely to share leadership with a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental partners, including law enforcement, hospitals, emergency medial services and other community stakeholders. Cooperation is a crucial part of effective media communication. Potential partners will bring their own focus, competencies, personality traits and organizational culture.

Proactive efforts to establish working relationships with the media should be made before an emergency occurs. Effective communication responses to emergencies are built on such pre-established relationships with the media and will pay huge dividends.

A trained spokesperson or public information officer is a necessity in almost all emergencies, and in the case of a public health crisis such as a pandemic, experts agree and emphasize the role of communicating with the public. The spokesperson or PIO is often the first messenger an organization sends out during an emergency or crisis. Identifying one person as the lead spokesperson also simplifies information flow and helps ensure the consistency of the message content. Whether the spokesperson is the fire chief or other designated person, that individual should posses certain professional and personal characteristics, including excellent media skills and the expertise to speak on behalf of the organization. He or she should posses or work to develop good professional relationships with members of the media and other partners.

The designated spokesperson should be familiar and comfortable in dealing with the media during emergencies. It's also important that he or she know the pitfalls to avoid when communicating with the media during an emergency. Basic public information officer training classes will help prepare your designated spokesperson or PIO in mastering these skills. Advanced training, such as the Emergency Management Institute's Advanced Public Information Officer course, coupled with experience, will further ensure competent and high-quality message delivery for your organization.

Prepare messages

When developing an organizational crisis-communication plan, it's extremely important to consider the interests of the community, specifically partner organizations and stakeholders. Think about who the partners and stakeholders may be and what interests and concerns they may have. Consider developing a matrix that shows the stakeholders on one axis and their questions and concerns on the other.

Next, prepare messages that are clear and concise and address the stakeholders' questions and concerns. One advanced method of this process is called message mapping. Numerous public health agencies have conducted message-mapping projects and many emergency events such as smallpox, plague, botulism, viral haemorrhagic fevers, tularemia and pandemic flu, have already been “mapped.” If possible, news or media releases should be prepared in advance. These releases should tell reporters the who, what, where, when, why and how of an event. With an influenza pandemic, much of the message formulation can be done well in advance.

Remember that messages should be targeted toward people who are experiencing extreme stress and anxiety. Reaching these individuals will require understanding and an awareness of their feelings and state of mind. Communicating poorly can lead to additional anxiety and stress, whereas communicating well can assist them in understanding and ultimately reducing stress and anxiety levels.

Once messages have been prepared, decisions will need to be made about how they will be delivered. There are a wide variety of potential media outlets that can be used to reach the intended target audience. An analysis should be performed of all available vehicles, including news releases, news briefings or conferences, Web sites, and newsletters. Keep in mind that the choice of media and strategies may need to be reviewed as the emergency event develops because the emergency may effect the public's information-seeking habits.

There are a number of variables that should be taken into consideration when identifying media outlets. Among them are the target audience itself, the complexity of the messages, the degree of urgency, timeliness, cost, staffing needs, media interest, and the message itself and how it will be used. First impressions are lasting impressions; it's crucial that public health emergencies are both anticipated and planned for.

At some point during an emergency event or public health crisis comes the time to actually deliver the messages. At the start of an emergency it's important to be able to quickly turn to the prepared media plan. This will help your organization to proceed confidently and quickly establish leadership and trust in the community. Getting the overarching message across to the intended audience should be the ultimate goal of message delivery activities. It's crucial to focus on a few key messages that are timely, accurate, clear, concise, credible and memorable.

As emergency responders, we know that time is precious during an emergency, and that holds true regarding the delivery of information. Avoiding delays in acquiring and distributing good, sound information is important. Otherwise, outside and possibly less trustworthy sources may move in to fill in the information voids you've created.

Evaluate performance

Like any other process, the final step of the crisis communication planning process is evaluating the messages and performance of the plan with the goal of improving performance. Evaluation will identify gaps and deficiencies in the plan, and changes can be made to ensure the achievement of your goals and objectives.

Evaluation should be done in three areas. One is outreach: How many people were actually reached? This is evaluated through counts of communications materials distributed, numbers of briefing or presentations made, number of people contacted, and number of media outlets covering the story.

Another area of evaluation is in the actual response: Did the audiences respond? This is measured by examining the number of inquiries your agency receives. A drop or increase in calls following the start of an information campaign is a significant indicator, as is whether your partner organizations cooperated and collaborated.

The third evaluation area is impact: Were there changes? This can be determined by reviewing before and after changes in the community's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, intentions, behaviors and actions.

Communicating with the citizens we serve is one of the few proactive things we can do as an emergency response agency to mitigate a public health crisis. Taking the time to plan and prepare to communicate will assist your agency in more effectively managing this type of event if and when it occurs.

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Dale Lyman is the emergency management battalion chief for Union Colony Fire-Rescue Authority in Greeley, Colo. He is an NFPA-certified fire protection specialist.