Make the right calls in an emergency
The need to prepare to communicate in a crisis was brought to my attention three times within the past 24 hours, so I’m paying attention.
It started when I registered yesterday for a pre-conference workshop to be delivered by Gerard Braud at the 2007 IABC International Conference in New Orleans. Braud’s workshop topic, “Katrina: Lessons in leadership and communication,” will provide a real-life example of crisis communications in action.
I’ve never worked with Gerard, but our paths did cross immediately following Hurricane Katrina, and it started on this blog. Past Chair Warren Bickford–who escaped from New Orleans as the hurricane was striking– had written a post looking to spur interest in chapters assisting in hurricane relief efforts. Braud’s reply to that post was both moving and alarming. In part, he wrote:
The problem is, there is no way to get information to anyone in an official capacity who can get me in to help. I need an official police or emergency vehicle to get from Destin, Florida to Covington, Louisiana. Only official vehicles are allowed on the interstate.
As with most disasters, everyone is busy handling the crisis and no one is communicating. I have a broadcast camera and computer editing in my car. If I can get in, I can drive back out to places with power to get this information out to citizens who need it. ONE MILLION people are trying to get official information and there is NO SOURCE FOR IT. One Million people will be HOMELESS for week and don’t know it yet. I have the tools and the know how. I just need a way in.
I contacted Braud later that day and posted more information on my former Blogger site. I’m looking forward to meeting Braud in person this June and discussing lessons to learn–and to avoid.
The second item about crisis communication was in the Friday, April 6, 2007 New York Times. The article, “An S O S for 911 Systems in Age of High-Tech,” (registration required) is an eye-opening update on how the 9-1-1 emergency number used in the United States has become very ineffective in this age of cell-phones and Internet telephony. According to a source quoted in the Times article, “40 percent of the nation’s counties, most of them rural or small-town communities like this one, cannot yet pinpoint the location of cellphone callers, though the technology to do so has been available for at least five years.”
The third item is information about the First European Security and Safety Summit that will be held on June 6-7, 2007 in Brussels Heysel, Belgium. The European Emergency Number Association is planning to offer sessions at the summit that will be dedicated to all aspects of emergency telecommunications (112, interoparability and alert systems issues).
We U.S. citizens haven’t had to face the technical and political challenges that come from being one of several adjacent nations, each with its own emergency number to dial. The 112 initiative seeks to popularize that number as the single emergency number for the European Union nations. Of course, they also must tackle the questions of how to trace calls made by non-landline phones.
When an accident or disaster occurs, communications between emergency services, authorities and citizens are needed the most, while availability can be limited–or nonexistent. Consider brushing up on this topic so that you can help your clients or company executives to communicate at those times.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:01 am
[...] aration for a major crisis is an important subject area for many communicators. I recently wrote a post on this topic on the main blog of the Int [...]
April 16th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Google alerted me of your comments… boy, does it bring back a flood of emotions and memories. For those who want to know how the story ended, no one was ever able to break the log jam of bureaucracy for me to assist with communications.
As for the conference session you mentioned — I’m honored to be leading both a workshop and Katrina tour at this summer’s IABC conference here in New Orleans and I’m thrilled that you signed up for the session. It is a pre-conference event that requires participants to reserve their place.
What will make this event special is that New Orleans remains a living classroom. Just this past Saturday I drove the route that we’ll travel on June 10.
To give your readers an idea of what New Orleans is like these days — the French Quarter is open, as are most of the hotels and restaurants. There is still some construction downtown, but for the most part, the central business district is open for business.
It’s a different story in the neighborhoods that flooded. From the infamous 17th Street Canal levee break in Lakeview, across Gentilly, into the 9th Ward and down river into St. Bernard Parish, it is estimated that more than 200,000 homes are still unoccupied and not repaired.
New Orleans is the proverbial tale of two cities. I hope our members support the conference and the city with their attendance. I’ll make an effort to send you more postings and perhaps a few photos to help attendees know what to expect.
I’m also open to direct questions anytime: gerard@braudcommunications.com
April 18th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
[...] As I mentioned in my CommaKazi Speek blog, it was an eery coincidence that I was moderating a comment here from Gerard Braud just minute [...]
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:21 am
In India, we encourage a similar method of contacting relatives in emergency cases by adding an important number under the name of ICE ( In Case of Emergency). That cue is good for any stranger to contact the victim’s nearest kin for passing on the message.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:56 am
Thanks, Aniisu. I also had come across that tip, and entered my wife’s mobile number as “ICE Kim” on my mobile. I hope that no one ever needs to use it, but if someone does, they won’t have to wade through all of the “Keefe” listings, trying to find the right one.