Communications

Confirmed Case – A Brief Situation Analysis (22:V13:2-73)

A confirmed case of smallpox will be an international health emergency, regardless of where it happens, and it will become an emergency at all levels of government. A confirmed case of smallpox will generate immediate, intense, and sustained concern. There will be a demand for information from everywhere around the globe. The community in which the first case takes place will rapidly experience a tremendous amount of media interest and coverage. The media will flock to the first community, as well as the national health agency. The public will likely flood area hospitals and health departments. Reactions, responses, messages and action will come from everywhere, quite quickly. If a case is diagnosed a local area can expect the following:

  1. The press and media will be everywhere, trying to follow the response teams in their activities. Every vaccination site will be surrounded by cameras. Satellite dishes will be set up everywhere.
  2. Numerous TV and cable news stories will be broadcast and many of these will be inaccurate.
  3. The public statements of politicians at all levels will be inconsistent and contradictory.
  4. The government and its public health response will be severely criticized.

Should there be a confirmed case of smallpox, the demand for information will quickly exceed any one organization’s capacity and systems for supplying it. This will be true whether we’re talking about handling media calls, assisting healthcare providers, responding to public inquiries, or providing spokespeople.

In order to be effective at communicating during a crisis, communications experts should be brought into the planning and preparation phases so that they’re familiar with the approach to be taken. They will need to develop and test their plans and materials before a crisis occurs. They’ll need to identify and train spokespeople now who are well-versed in the questions they can expect to receive. The communications experts should incorporate the principles of risk and crisis communication. They should also make contacts and connections with the media now so that they can learn and collaborate before a crisis hits.

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