Crisis Communication and Emergency Risk Communication Guide

This guideline on communicating for a crisis is designed to supplement a crisis communication plan and is for use by someone who is not a primary spokesperson or public affairs officer, but may be supporting a primary communicator. The document recommends training for primary communicators. In short, it covers communication objectives during a health crisis, key information to remember during a health crisis, and the dynamics of a public health crisis.

Communication objectives include:

• Instill and maintain public confidence in Department of Defense (DoD) leadership.
• Minimise panic.
• Provide rapid access to comprehensive information on the crisis and its management.
• Address rumours.
• Provide consistent and accessible information through coordination with Federal, State, and local partners

The publication outlines the following key pieces of information to remember::

• Liaison and work with the local public affairs officer to augment local capabilities, following the local crisis communication plan.
• Share information with other agencies.
• Release only cleared information. Check with other agencies to ensure full knowledge of what is going to be released. If the incident involves terrorism, seek Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) approval of an information release. If it involves natural disasters, coordinate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
• Prepare anyone speaking with the media so that they are knowledgeable and can instill confidence.

The final section describes the dynamics of a public health crisis to increase situational awareness and provide context for communications during a crisis. The context described is fear and panic, frenzied media response, a series of agency response actions, and consequences including death, overloading of the healthcare system, and potential civil disorder, as well as possible quarantines. The document emphasises cooperation among organisations and agencies and an understanding of their respective missions and jurisdictions.

Expected challenges may include:

1. General confusion, accompanied by possible outrage, and citizen demands for information about how they can protect themselves, and basic life necessities of food, shelter, and water in a natural disaster.
2. Probable daily policy changes likely to affect communication effectiveness.
3. A public increasingly demanding action encountering a high degree of caution on the part of experts.
4. A collective focus on public health safety and prevention of disease spread accompanied by a degree of competing agendas and varying opinions among organisations and agencies as to how to proceed.
5. Viewpoints widely aired by media.

The document lists the following strategies for effectiveness, given the challenges above:

1. Focusing on public safety and prevention
2. Coordination among agencies and organisations.
3. Sharing of information both internally and externally.
4. Empathy and acknowledgment of fears.
5. Accommodating the information needs of the media and public.
6. Maintaining flexibility as well as a high state of situational awareness.
7. Doing no further harm.