From the Crisis Comm Blog by Gerald Baron

Information approvals, political overlay of messages, “sanitizing” response information—these are among the biggest challenges for emergency communicators. That was brought home to me again yesterday talking with some communicators about how the local political authorities slowed the release of information by requiring consolidation and their approval. Worse, they “sanitized” it, putting a happier face on bad news which undermined trust in the department trying to get vital information out.

In thinking about this for crisis and emergency communication plans, and particularly for the plan template I’m working on, I concluded the problem is really found in the distinction between “information” and “messages.” We absolutely saw this in the Deepwater Horizon event where the Coast Guard pros working in the Joint Information Center wanted to get out event and response information, while the White House wanted to use the JIC to get political messages out, particularly “inoculation messages” that insured public outrage was directed at BP rather than the President. But this same process to lesser degrees seems to be at work in nearly every government response. Those responding need to get vital information to the public, those whose political careers may be on the line, want to do “messaging.”

Read more @ emergencymgmt.com

From the Disaster 2.0 Blog by Adam Crowe

Emergency managers across all disciplines are struggling with how to implement social media in an effective way that protects their organization from liability and supports their mission of saving lives and preserving property.

The problem is that this challenge forces practitioners to ask two things — forgiveness and permission.

Because social media is relatively new, poorly understood throughout the industry, and changing constantly, there WILL be times where we have to ask forgiveness for activities, actions, and exchanges that have occured that may or may not reflect well (in a traditional sense) on the organization.

Read more @ emergencymgmt.com

Today, FEMA and its partners released the National Preparedness Report (NPR). The Report identifies significant progress the nation has made in areas of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. Overall the Report found that the nation has increased its collective preparedness, not only from external threats, but also for natural and technological hazards that face its communities.

The Report was developed to meet the requirements of Presidential Policy Directive 8/PPD-8: National Preparedness. PPD-8 is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for the threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation, including acts of terrorism, cyber attacks, pandemics, and catastrophic natural disasters.

The NPR focuses on five mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery, as outlined in the National Preparedness Goal released in October 2011. Within these mission areas are 31 core capabilities central to preparedness. The NPR assesses each of these 31 core capabilities. (more…)

Many residents in Portland, Ore., may be prepared for a disaster — and they haven’t even thought about it. As the city’s residents enlist sustainable practices, from biking to participating in community gardens, they are making themselves and their neighborhoods more disaster resilient.

And a new trend is seeking to take that resiliency and citizens’ ability to act as first responders after a disaster a step further. Cargo or freight bikes are becoming increasingly popular in Portland’s sustainable community, and the benefits they provide like being able to haul gear and supplies seamlessly work into disaster response.

Portland has the Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET), which is similar to Certified Emergency Response Teams, which train residents on how to provide disaster assistance within their neighborhoods. NET member Ethan Jewett said that after reading Portland’s emergency plans, he understood that one of the big challenges after a citywide disaster will be what to do with the limited fuel resources. Knowing that if the fuel supply is cut from the city, the remaining resources will be provided to emergency responders and critical infrastructure, Jewett saw a new use for his cargo bike, which he uses to carry his children.

Read more @ emergencymgmt.com

From the FEMA Blog by: Angela Petersen, Vice President, Business Continuity for Zions Bank

On April 17, 2012, the State of Utah participated in the Great Utah ShakeOut the largest simulated earthquake exercise in the state’s history. Several members of my organization were fortunate enough to be asked to participate in the state simulation cell during the exercise. What a great opportunity to strengthen both our knowledge of the operation of the state during a crisis, as well as our organizational response plans and how we can better respond during an event.

Through the actual experience, and being able to spend time talking with our FEMA regional representatives about their past response to significant events, I am able to take away practical knowledge that will be used to benefit my organization.

One of the most important messages I will take back deals with communications. As a financial institution, we have always known that our customers are the most important focus of our recovery. The exercise reinforced the importance of pre-planning for communications following a significant event.

Read more @ blog.fema.gov