Public Health Affairs

Category: Uncategorized

  • When is a Snow Emergency like a Public Health Emergency?

    Snow events, for local government agencies, are pretty unique. They are emergencies, no doubt, but kind of slow-moving emergencies. There’s generally a lead-in time with advanced warning (when the grocery stores get cleaned out), then a slowly deteriorating situation that stresses response capacity and only after the event is over do you how bad it really was.

    Sounds a bit like a pandemic to me.

    Except for places that are the first hit (Mexico, San Diego, and Texas in H1N1, China in SARS), there’s at least some warning in a disease event. And response capacity stressed? Oh yeah, definitely; beds, nurses, medications, vaccines, respirators, you name it there was a shortage of it. And only after it’s over do we really have a good view of how bad it was, and how big of a bullet we (hopefully) dodged.

    The public information needs are also similar. There are new rules put into effect (snow emergency route parking restrictions and isolation or school closings), recommendations on how best to deal with the situation (wear lots of layers or lift with knees while shoveling and covering your cough), and a need for situation updates (Mayor Booker is a great new example and CDCs FluView is another).

    Okay, for all of you naysayers, it’s not perfect, but there are lessons to be learned, right?

    Which leads to my point. Pam Broviak, writing for the Government in the Lab website, details the efforts of a City Manager for the City of Elgin, IL during the recent blizzard that ate the Midwest to communicate with the public.

    Ms.Broviak identified eight things we all can learn about communicating during slow-moving emergencies (and most of them have to do with utilizing social media):

    1. Publish the local weather alert and let people know where to get more information. This information should be issued in a press release, posted on the city’s website, and sent out through the city’s social media accounts, automated call services, and e-mail blasts.
    2. As more information is received, follow up through the same channels letting people know about special rules in effect and how services will be impacted.
    3. Once the storm hits, post information on social media channels about the snow and ice control operations and give people an idea about how often updates will be provided.
    4. Continue regular updates throughout the storm, and include information about equipment, schedules, staffing, status of services such as power, traffic conditions and road closures, weather conditions, emergency service response, and other relevant issues.
    5. Post snow plow location data if available.
    6. Inform citizens if operations are suspended and let them know when they resume.
    7. Inform citizens of problems and property damage.
    8. Let residents know as operations near completion. Leave them with contact information and one last update on the status of operations.

    While these are very much associated with snow removal and other infrastructure-y things, I think they’re absolutely necessary in public health and other slow-moving emergencies. Push out information early and often, through a variety of channels, provide situation updates including information on where things are happening, be the first to note when things aren’t going as well as planned, and finally, let people know where they can learn more.

    I think of these tips as core goals of an emergency communication effort. That they’re tied to social media here is just an illustration of one tool in the toolbox.

  • Via Bernstein Crisis Management Blog: Build Your Army

    It starts with your customers, clients, users, whoever. What you’re doing for them on a day-to-day basis defines how they’ll treat you when you need them. Are you going out of your way to be helpful? Are they buying from you, or from a “big-no-name-store?” Will they get a human being on the line when they need one, or will they go into voice mail hell?

    via bernsteincrisismanagement.blogspot.com

    Here’s one that I can appreciate. For those of you in the private sector, this seems like a no-brainer. Respect your customers. And even for some of the more forward-thinking government agencies, this makes sense. Take care of your constituents.

    (And seriously, if you don’t think this makes sense or is critical? I think you’re in the wrong business — any business!)

    I’ve talked in the past about building up your goodwill with your customers. If you’re a respected member of the community, those who respect you will come to your defense. I’ve seen it happen, and have been lucky enough to have been defended by my constituents, so believe me when I say it works.

    Normally, I wouldn’t pass this link along because it’s so basic. But the title reminded me of something that I wanted to mention about, well, building your army.

    Think about who are the people most invested in seeing you succeed? Well, besides yourself–and the taxpayers–and the elected official. Your fellow employees, maybe?

    Shouldn’t the people you work with be your best ambassadors? I mean, they work there! I don’t know how much outreach goes into worker bees in private industry, but I know that very little of that takes place in government.

    The place where this would really pay off is during an emergency. “Hey, you work for the Health Department? What’s going on?” Now, how would you like your sanitarian to answer that question?

    A) “Me? I dunno. They don’t tell me nuthin.”

    or

    B) “Well, it sounds bad, and I know the news is all over it, but we’re giving out antibiotics to people who were exposed. Go the website to learn more.”

    You’ve got HUNDREDS of built in outreach workers who are well-known in their own community, yet we continue to struggle with developing outreach programs and training folks in the community to deliver messages in an emergency. Why do we continue to ignore the best ambassadors we’ll ever have?

  • The Media is Untrustworthy and the Only One That Gets Harmed by That is You

    Bill Salvin is one of my favorite thinkers in our field. He’s got oodles of experience and writes well on very important matters. And he’s a heck of a nice guy. His most recent post is on the issue of trust, specifically the issue of trust of the media. he passes along a link to the 2011 Edelman PR Trust Barometer and notes the following:

    According to the study, trust in media is very low. In the US, only 27% of those surveyed trust the media. It’s even lower in the UK at 22%.

    I’ve written previously on how poorly the media passes along stories, so I would argue that this lack of trust is well-deserved. Mr. Salvin gives us some advice about how to do the work we do in this less-than-perfect situation:

    Companies that plan to rely on outdated crisis communications plans that focus on press releases and traditional media relations are placing their reputations in the hands of what many believe to be an untrustworthy source. The opportunity here is in developing your company’s social media presence so that you can connect directly with the audiences you need to reach. The cool part is the news media also uses and monitors social media, so you can check that box, too.

    I think it’s high time we start taking responsibility for our own reputation. Politicians today talk about going around the media filter and speaking directly to their constituents. They aim to build and maintain their reputation without having to depend on good stories getting picked up by the media while hoping that less flattering stories don’t make the news.

    Are we doing the same? Or do we continue to place our agencies’ reputations in the hands of one of the most untrustworthy industries out there?