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The right message from the right person at the right time can save lives.
Emergency communication should help people stay safe during a public health crisis.
The information you offer can include positive action steps, or situational updates.
As we've discussed in previous modules though,
messages need to be clear and accessible to achieve positive public health outcomes.
Emergency communication is more than simply listing facts for the general public.
Communicators need to identify who is most at risk in a public health emergency,
determine the most important messages and work to make them easy to understand,
easy to access, and actionable.
People will judge emergency messages based on content, what they say?
Who delivers them? Who says them?
How they are distributed?
Which channels you use to reach your audience?
To this end CDC is crisis and emergency risk communication or SERC curriculum,
offer some guidance for crafting effective emergency messages.
In an emergency it's especially important for you to know your audience.
To meet people's communication needs in an emergency,
you must understand how people have been
affected and how they receive and understand information.
Of course, audience needs vary among populations
and depend on each group's relationship to an emergency event.
For example, those most directly affected, survivors, first responders,
public health personnel and medical workers,
will need immediate action messages and safety guidance.
For people who are just outside of an area affected by an emergency,
you can focus on sharing updates about the event and the response.
Finally, for people who are further removed from an emergency,
you can offer information and
perhaps guidance that would help them prepare for a similar incident.
Remember though, that audiences and their needs will change as the situation changes.
Also bear in mind that each audience has unique concerns in an emergency.
For example, survivors and their families will
likely be most concerned with personal safety.
At the same time they might also be concerned with loss of
revenue or infrastructure if their livelihoods have been affected.
First responders will be concerned about
available resources for the response and their personal safety.
But first responders who are part of
the affected community will also be concerned with their family's safety.
The media will be concerned with the speed of information flow,
but like first responders,
local reporters may be concerned with personal safety and their family's safety as well.
While you are asking people to concentrate on your messages,
remember that your audience's attention may be on many concerns at the same time.
To maximize the success of your communication with your audience's,
initial messages should be extremely brief,
easy to understand and simple to act on.
Short and straightforward messages are ideal since
people cannot take in a lot of information during an emergency.
Excessive information or the use of jargon can obscure
the most critical information and can even lead to harmful misinterpretations.
Initial messages should include information that can be used instantly.
Additional details and background information may be provided later,
but initial messages should focus on the actions people need to take to stay safe.
More importantly, action messages should tell people what
they should do rather than what they should not do.
For example, tell people to only drink
clean or disinfected water rather than saying don't drink contaminated water.
To help people remember and share these beneficial public health behaviors,
you'll also need to repeat these initial messages frequently.
SERC also offers principles for making facts work in your messages.
Well, we've already addressed most of these, two are worth noting.
First, emergency messages should avoid speculation,
communicators should not make guesses or assumptions when sharing information.
They should only communicate what they know.
After all, situations can change in unexpected ways at any time during an emergency.
Likewise, they should not promise any outcomes or resources
beyond what they are sure their organization can deliver.
Second, communicators should avoid humor,
while some people use humor to cope with difficult situations,
it's disrespectful to display humor to
communities who have suffered a public health emergency.
Every message should quickly and efficiently make a point,
or promote an action that can help affected people.
It's no surprise that some communication mistakes can damage your messages effectiveness.
To help avoid these,
consider some of these additional tips.
Response organizations should work together to ensure their messages are consistent.
Different and contradictory messages from various experts will cause confusion.
Though we've mentioned it before,
information should always be timely to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Paternalistic messages or condescending to the public,
so the tone of emergency messages should always be respectful.
People are more likely to dismiss a message if they feel
disrespected or that someone else is assuming to know what's best for them.
Rumors also encourage dangerous public health behaviors.
When rumors begin to spread,
communicators should address them with correct messages without repeating the rumors.
Repeating rumors can inadvertently add credibility to them,
so avoid repeating wrong information.
Knowing the right steps to take can help
people stay safe during a public health emergency.
SERC guidelines can help you create clear and concise communication that
people with diverse needs can act on to protect themselves, and their communities.
Dabney P. Evans, PhD, MPHAssistant Professor
Julia Smith-EasleyLead, Risk Communication and Community Engagement
