Common Issues in Emergency Public Information as Identified in CSEPP Exercises
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Ken Lerner
und
Ken Bertram
Abstract
The US Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) has been holding multiple large hazmat exercises every year for over 20 years. A sample of CSEPP after-action reports were surveyed to extract issues relating to emergency public information. Analysis showed four themes among the identified issues, relating to accuracy of public warnings and news releases; coordination of information among jurisdictions; internal communications; and accuracy/completeness of information provided to individual callers. These issues and the solutions suggested by exercise evaluators are consistent with the current body of knowledge in crisis communications. While these themes emerged from study of particular traditional emergency public information techniques and situations, the lessons they give may be applied to a variety of emergency public information channels including social media.
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Of the eight original storage sites in the continental U.S., destruction has been completed at six sites. Two sites remain active.
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CSEPP exercise standards and evaluation criteria are spelled out in joint Army-FEMA guidance. The latest version of the guidance was issued in December 2012: US Army Joint Program Executive Office, Chemical and Biological Defense and DHS/FEMA Technological Hazards Division, Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program Exercise Policy & Guidance, December 2012.
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Some of the exercise reports are marked “For Official Use Only” and are not available publicly. The public side of the CSEPP portal is located at www.cseppportal.net.
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Common issues identified included communications and power failures, hazardous material exposure, and unorganized evacuations, among others.
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In CSEPP the Army designates public information specialists as Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) while most state and local jurisdictions use the term Public Information Officer (PIO).
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The REPP is aimed at enhancing emergency preparedness for communities near nuclear power plants; see the DHS/FEMA website for further information (http://www.fema.gov/technological-hazards-division-0/radiological-emergency-preparedness-program).
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Further information and quick references on emergency public information may be found at: http://www.dis.anl.gov/groups/riskcomm/index.html.
Acknowledgments
This document was developed as part of the CSEPP History Project sponsored by the US Army Chemical Materials Activity. The activity partners with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure emergency preparedness in the communities surrounding the depots where stockpiled chemical weapons are stored. The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program works closely with communities adjacent to the Nation’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles. Its mission centers on enhancing emergency response plans and training, and identifying and securing response equipment and warning systems to meet each communities’ emergency preparedness needs. For further information about this document, please contact Ken Lerner, klerner@anl.gov.
The submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a US Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The US Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.
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©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Opinion Articles
- “One DHS” Revisited: Can the Next Homeland Security Secretary Unite the Department?
- A Pathway Forward in Homeland Security Education: An Option Worth Considering and the Challenge Ahead
- Applying Public Administration in Emergency Management: The Importance of Integrating Management into Disaster Education
- Antiterrorism and the Separation of Powers: How Public Administration Theory Can Help Us Meet the New Security Challenge
- The Professionalization of Emergency Management in Institutions of Higher Education
- A Review of “A Framework for Aviation Cybersecurity” – A Decision Paper from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Research Articles
- State Officials’ Perceptions of the Food and Agriculture Sector Criticality Assessment Tool (FASCAT), Food-system Risk, and Food Defense Funding
- The United States Medical Countermeasure Enterprise: A Broken Link in US Biopreparedness
- Understanding and Overcoming Information Sharing Failures
- Common Issues in Emergency Public Information as Identified in CSEPP Exercises
- Hurricane Wilma and Long-Term Business Recovery in Disasters: The Role of Local Government Procurement and Economic Development
- Disaster Awareness of Personnel and Students of Kocaeli University
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Opinion Articles
- “One DHS” Revisited: Can the Next Homeland Security Secretary Unite the Department?
- A Pathway Forward in Homeland Security Education: An Option Worth Considering and the Challenge Ahead
- Applying Public Administration in Emergency Management: The Importance of Integrating Management into Disaster Education
- Antiterrorism and the Separation of Powers: How Public Administration Theory Can Help Us Meet the New Security Challenge
- The Professionalization of Emergency Management in Institutions of Higher Education
- A Review of “A Framework for Aviation Cybersecurity” – A Decision Paper from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Research Articles
- State Officials’ Perceptions of the Food and Agriculture Sector Criticality Assessment Tool (FASCAT), Food-system Risk, and Food Defense Funding
- The United States Medical Countermeasure Enterprise: A Broken Link in US Biopreparedness
- Understanding and Overcoming Information Sharing Failures
- Common Issues in Emergency Public Information as Identified in CSEPP Exercises
- Hurricane Wilma and Long-Term Business Recovery in Disasters: The Role of Local Government Procurement and Economic Development
- Disaster Awareness of Personnel and Students of Kocaeli University
