5 - Managing Uncertainty in a Pandemic - Sylvia C Kearney

REFERENCE: Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). Preparing for Pandemic While Managing Uncertainty: An Analysis of the Construction of Fear and Uncertainty in Press Releases of Major Health Agencies. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-26.

THEME: Does a Public Information Officer Instill Fear and Anxiety In a Press Release to the Public?

SUMMARY: When SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) broke out in 2003 in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Canada, the WHO (World Health Organization) published a global alert. “ . . . Faced with a potential pandemic “for which there were no identified causal agent, no diagnostic laboratory assays, no defined properties or risk factors for transmission, no infection-control practices of proven efficacy, and no known treatment or preventative measures.” (Lingappa, McDonald, Simone, & Parashar, 2004, p. 1) This information is daunting and to tell the entire world can inflict possible chaos.

1)    First of all, the International Health community did not know very much about this outbreak and the public knew even less. “These types of challenges are similar to those currently posed to PIO’s in the midst of preparing for a possible, . . . pandemic.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008).

2)    The public insists and deserves timely, accurate information. Matter of fact, in any event, the very first 24hours are crucial in forming public opinion about a disaster. In a hurricane that will hit landfall, it is of vital importance to evacuate those people that may be in the path of the hurricane.

3)    Speed is also of the very essence. There may be no time to filter the information, there may be no time to regard managerial levels, there may just be no time but to, “ . . . assert message features such as clarity, completeness, volume, accuracy, source ethos, ambiguity, applicability, and consistency are key to reducing uncertainty in receivers of health messages.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). When a person is trying to assess and manage messages as they come in and as they need to be broadcasted by a PIO, human behavior dictates that fear, anxiety etc. is difficult to hide.

4)    Short factual up-dates to the public are better and easier to handle, in case a change in a previous update needs to be explained.

5)    In most cases a website for explanation should also be offered to the public so they can inform themselves about the pandemic. This can also help anxiety or fear, since individuals now feel empowered to inform themselves.

APPLICATION: “PIO’s must communicate their own uncertainties, then, in a way, that restores efficacy even in the face of uncertainty by presenting publics with some course of action or at least demonstrate their own efforts taken to reduce the threat.” (Johnson Avery, E., & Kim, S. (2008). There needs to be a positive relationship between uncertainty and fear.

Additional Readings: Lingappa, McDonald, Simone, & Parashar, 2004, p. 1

4 - Communication Disaster Planninng - Sylvia C Kearney

REFERENCE: Furey, B. (2006, 01). Communications disaster planning and recovery: CHANGING PARAMETERS FOR CHANGING TIMES. Firehouse, 31, 64-67. Retrieved on Sept. 27^th, 2013 from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/229630346?accountid=14779

Buckingham, David, (2004) “Young People and Media” Briefing Paper for the United Nations Workshop on Global Media Driven Culture in New York

THEME: Public Safety Communication and Planning During Disaster

SUMMARY: A very interesting and often repeated incident is of course Hurricane Katrina. So much has been written and studies have been done to help train us all. This paper about communication disasters and planning and recovery gives details how to go about preparing for another disaster in step-by-step example.

o   Public Safety infrastructure is often overwhelmed when either a major disaster, or more than one disaster occurs. “As is often the case with transportation emergencies, no singular failure is normally to blame for creating a communications crisis. It often takes multiple concurrent disruptions for a problem to occur.” (Furey, 2006)

o   This is where communication becomes vulnerable. Some communication personnel become very stressed within a short time, especially like with Katrina, where people called for help as they were dying.

o   One of the most important points to prepare for disaster communication is to have a mutual aid plan with outside agencies that includes other resources besides communication.

o   Have a way of transporting them. And by all means, keep your fuel tanks filled at all times or fill them when they are half empty. This would also include generators etc. As someone once said, “It is better to have a half of a loaf of bread than none at all.” (Furey, 2006)

APPLICATION: NIMS (National Incident Management System) explains that you need to use the right resources for communication. If the event is happening now, News is happening now and communication has to be in place. One more issue to take into account, is the, “ . . . cultural imperialism thesis has effectively given way to a much more optimistic account of the global spread of media. Rather than global replacing the local, the two have been seen to merge in a process of ‘glocalisation’. . . .(Robertson, 1994; Featherstone, 1995) Buckingham, D. (2004).

APPLICATION in EMS: Sustainability development (SD) and the combination of the environmental, economic, and social issues are becoming an important subject when it comes to negotiating and planning disaster vulnerabilities including communications. Of course technology is becoming better and better and new plans are being worked on to help EMS and its resources to be able to communicate with each other and the media.

3 - Leadership Failures - Sylvia C Kearney

Reference: Kapucu, N., & Van Wart, M. (2008). Making Matters Worse: An Anatomy of Leadership Failures in Managing Catastrophic Events. Administration & Society, 40(7), 711-740.

Theme: Problems With Disaster Relief Leadership Exists and the Lack of Integration Between Development and Planning Must Addressed

 Summary: Disasters come in all types and sizes. They can be natural or man made. “Catastrophic disasters require additional leadership capabilities because extreme events overwhelm local capabilities and damage emergency response systems themselves.” (Kapucu, 2008). Another way to look at exceptional leadership is that if something works out well, due to great leadership, not very many people notice, but when there are leaders who strike out and encounter failure, then everyone notices. Leaders must represent competency like:

o   Decisiveness – a leader must act relatively quickly to the task at hand and he/she must be willing to make unilateral decision while remaining calm and collected.

o   Informing – critical information must be shared with the Incident Commander and the media, and it also includes shaping the mood of the public relations function.

o   Problem Solving – includes recognizing, investigating and resolving problems as they appear.

o   Managing – creating, acquiring, transferring knowledge and creating an environment that allows a flow of timely implementation of innovations.

o   Planning – coordinating with personnel and organizing to ensure that competent people are doing the work that is necessary.

o   Decision Making – is one of the traits that should be mentioned as number one since a leader needs to be able to constantly make choices at a moments notice. A leader however, needs to be able to see and understand the whole picture and be able to actively listen to information that he/she receives, in order to be an effective decision-making leader.

Application: Leaders are people that work well with others and can become your motivational speaker and your teacher. In a catastrophic disaster, leadership is often influenced by other’s effectiveness, and networking. The National Incident Command System for example claims that local, tribal, territorial and open government, have a right to information, however, it is important to know just what the local laws are. Leadership in catastrophic disasters is also political, as well as administrative. “They must lead the way in overarching structures, reporting chains of command,  . . .” (Kapucu, 2008). It is important to understand how widespread the leadership has to reach.

2 - Overcoming Mistrust of the Media - Sylvia C Kearney

Reference: Kelly Wilson, "High Anxiety," American Journalism Review, February/March 2008, http://www,ajr,org/article,asp?id=4478,

Liu, B., Horsley, J., & Yang, K. (2012). Overcoming Negative Media Coverage: Does Government Communication Matter? Journal Of Public Administration Research & Theory, 22(3), 597-621. Retrieved on October 11, 2013 from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1ca5fd07-d640-477b-964d-776f0fea671b%40sessionmgr14&vid=3&hid=106

Weaver Journalist in the 21^st Century, Randal A. Beam, David H. Weaver, and Bonnie J. Brownlee; CfMC Quarterly Vol. 86, No. 2 Summer 2009 277-298 ®2009AEIMC  “CHANGES IN PROFESSIONALISM OF U.S. JOURNALISTS IN THE TURBULENT TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY”

Theme: Issues Exist in Communication and Mass Media, Especially With Legal and Ethical Considerations in Emergency Situations

Summary: The public often mistrusts what some news journalists are reporting about the government, for example, and reasonably so. A study revealed the following:

1)    “In 1994 Citizens trust in government plummeted to 17%, and again in 2008.” (Liu, Pew, et al., 2010)

2)    Government communicators have also been forced with more and more limitations on their freedom of speech, due to laws and regulations than the journalists in the private sectors. (Liu, Horsley, and Levenshus 2010).

3)    In 2002 major newspaper companies declined, by shedding many publications and over 2000 journalists lost their jobs. It was the new platform of journalists who needed to adjust to the Internet and create new content. Values changed, including professional practices, autonomies, ethical predispositions, etc. (Wilson, 2008).

4)    One part of journalists reported with a neutral, detached observation, whose main tasks were to pass along factual information to the public, where another part of journalists chose to interpret, explain and even advocate their own solutions to social or political problems. (Weaver, 2009)

5)    Case and point, in 2002 journalists were covering President Bush, as he began to build an invasion of Iraq, called Desert Storm. (Weaver, 2009)

6)    Then there came blogging, a practice that is now widespread. Most journalists prefer to write blogs for their organizations, which brings yet another different type of journalism to light. Instead of factual information, the public is more interested in finding solutions to society’s problems.

Application: Gathering factual information these days is more difficult if one only views one source of information. In order to receive all the details without opinions, we have to rely on our own intelligence and view more than three news sources, including those from different countries. Only then, can we gather the real truth. Only then, can we make up our own opinion and follow our God given free will. The same exists in offering information in EMS. I believe that the information has to be factual, timely and without personal opinions.

6 - THE PIO: A POSITION WITH INFINITE BOUNDARIES - Chris Schippers

Chris Schippers

Reference:  Ruda, S. J. (1998). The PIO: A position with infinite boundaries. Fire Engineering, 151(12), 61. Retrieved on October 10, 2013 from http://ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1774778&site=ehost-live

Theme:  This article discusses the role of the Public Information Officer and why it is necessary to have one.  It also points out the responsibilities of the PIO and the skills required to be one.

Summary:

·         Service agencies are realizing the importance of having staff capable of handling media relations.

·         To be effective, the PIO must be well trained and well informed.

·         The PIO must be prepared for possible attention from the rest of the world, not just the community they are assigned to.

·         Discusses the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma and how the PIO was responsible for informing the world of search and rescue operations for victims of the explosion.

·         It is not unusual today to receive calls from the local media asking how well prepared your department is to handle a major emergency, a natural disaster, or a terrorist attack similar to one that had recently occurred in some other community, state, or country.

·         Talks about the PIO of the Los Angeles Fire Department and preparedness.

·         Discussed the use of multiple PIOs and their responsibility in the LA riots of 1992.

·         During the riot there were multiple fires up to four or five started within a minute and the media gave of the wrong impression of the Fire department, showing unattended fires.

·         Explained how the PIO let the public know that they were triaging the fires and attending to those most threatening to the neighborhoods were responded to first.

·         The media then became allies of the fire department after the information given by the PIO.

·         Defines natural disasters.

·         The PIO and his staff work around the clock in order to see to it that the public doesn't take for granted the services the department provides. It is the duty of the PIO's staff to make sure that their bosses, the taxpayers, are aware of the fire department's accomplishments.

·         Highlights accomplishments of the PIO for Los Angeles processing more than 123 press releases; has responded to 51,919 media inquires; and has disseminated to the media and city officials 16,833 notifications of newsworthy incidents.

·         Goes over required skills such as interpersonal communications, oral and written communications, ability to interact with city government officials, time management skills, and organizational skills.

·         The PIO must be motivated and have the ability to motivate others.

·         The PIO is undergoing a continual learning process. Ideally, most of the learning will be the result of experience, not mistakes.

Application to the Lesson Topic:

Over the course of the article the importance of a Public Information Officer is brought to your attention and show what value they are to the Los Angeles Fire Department.  This applies to the lesson topic in that it talks all about the what a Public Information Officer is, what it does, and what skills it take to be one.

Application to Emergency Services:

After reading this article, Emergency Service departments everywhere can see the value and importance of the Public Information Officer and why it is necessary to have one.  If it weren't for a PIO, the media would not have a source of accurate information and this could ultimately hinder the operations and response to disaster management.  Not to mention, the PIO responsibility of keeping the public informed is crucial to the public's survival before, during, and after disasters.