Emergency Communication Case Studies

 

Emergency Communication Case Studies

Using the information from the

Boston Marathon Bombing

 and

Hurricane Irene in North Carolina

, read each case study.

Based on your research, create a 2- to 3-page report in a Microsoft Word document, including answers to the following questions:

• What barriers were identified to message development for each of these case studies?
• How was timeliness an issue in each of these case studies? How was it addressed? 
• What was the call to action (response) for each of these case studies?
• How were the seven steps of crisis communication used (or not) in each of these case studies? 
• What were the similarities between these case studies when it comes to emergency and crisis communication?
• What were the differences between these case studies when it comes to emergency and crisis communication?

Be sure to support your points for each of the components in parenthesis with data from the program and outside research.

Communication during an Emergency

Emergencies are difficult times for practitioners in health communication. Many a times, the messages we must deliver are lost or overshadowed by the tragedy of the events. Communicating during emergencies is nonetheless an important skill and necessary to ensure a reduction in panic so that the public receives correct, up-to-date information.

The major purpose of fast and accurate emergency communication is to save lives, instil confidence in the emergency response process, reduce injury, and educate the public. When developing these messages, it is important to understand that there are three main challenges to developing emergency communication messages (Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], 2014). Further understanding of these challenges is important in message development:

1. Barriers: In times of distress, we often tend to not hear things being said. We stress out and can’t sleep. Overall, we tune out information. These are significant obstacles one must consider when developing messages.

2. Timeliness: It is not always the correct information that is remembered, it is the first heard. In a case where a long time is allowed between the incident and a message delivered, rumors grow and people form their own conclusions. This means that not only the message has to be correct but it has to also work toward correcting the misperceptions that exist.

3. Response: At the time of emergency, the public is not just interested in receiving information. The main point of an emergency communication should also include action items for the public to follow.

Reference:

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2014). Lesson 3. Communicating in an emergency. Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is242b/student%20manual/sm_03

Health Communication during Emergencies

Review the link to learn about the case studies on health communication during emergencies.

CDAC Network

Creating an Internally Displaced Persons Information Centre in Iraq

A case study that looks at communication and works through a center for internally displaced persons in Iraq.

Radyo Bakdaw: Accountability and Media in Response to Typhoon Haiyan

A case study on how the use of radio allowed for communication and information exchange in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan that occurred in the Philippines in 2013.

Monitoring Citizen Voices During the Ebola Crisis

A case study that looks at how one organization, Ground Truth, worked to communicate and address the Ebola crisis in 2015.

Additional Materials

From your course textbook Health Communication: Theory, Method, and Application, read the following chapters:

· New Technologies in Health Communication

· Media Effects and Health

· Campaigns and Interventions Donald

· Internet and eHealth

· Risk and Crisis Communication

From your course textbook Essentials of Public Health Communication, read the following chapters:

· Patient Provider Communication

· Risk and Emergency Risk Communication: A Primer