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agencies and municipalities have
asked their citizens for two key
pieces of contact information: their
cell phone number and their social
media information. The cell phone
is nearly ubiquitous among people
today and it’s the only device that
people carry and actively engage
with throughout the day. However,
it’s important to realize that no contact
path, including a cellular device,
is 100% reliable, 100% of the time
(which is critical in an emergency
situation when the message must
reach as many people as possible).
This is an important tenet that the
FCC should consider as part of the
EAS overhaul.
A robust, multi-modal mass communications
program enables government
officials to more accurately
and effectively fuel the spread of
information during an emergency.
Once the communication channels
have been decided upon, consider
supporting the program through
advertising, public relations, social
media and even traditional physical
media to get the word out about
how people can sign up for the program.
The FCC should even follow
the lead of local communities,
such as Lewisville, Texas, where a
local emergency management department
conducted an extensive
awareness program, which included
development of marketing materials
and a Public Service Announcement
(PSA). The awareness program was
well received and encouraged residents
to enroll their other devices
and contact paths. The community
saw a 262% increase in resident optins
in less than a year.
The Power of Rich,
Multimedia Messages
Pictures, graphics and sound clips
have permeated our everyday communications
alongside plain text,
and are a valuable tool in crisis communications.
Just think for a moment
back to the New Jersey bombing
incident. If the FCC were able to
issue a picture of the suspect during
their communication, local citizens
would be empowered to become
helpful informants to locating the
suspect. People in crisis situations
tend to be hyper-focused on any and
all stimulus so asking them to take
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the extra step to locate an image of
the suspect via a Google search is a
bridge too far for many to cross. The
ability to provide people with a succinct
synopsis – complete with the
who’s, where’s, why’s and how’s – is
critical to stomping out uncertainty
and panic from the get-go. A picture
is worth a thousand words and can
serve as a critical piece of information
in criminal investigations for
police officers.
Real-Time Guidance During a Crisis
Crisis situations are fluid and dynamic.
To properly manage an emergency
event, specific people need to
take decisive actions throughout a
prolonged period of time. This requires
an immense amount of realtime
coordination that is impossible
unless an agency or municipality is
able to communicate with targeted
groups during an incident. EAS
should incorporate the fundamentals
of two-way communication,
and targeted notification capabilities,
where possible.
As an example, let’s imagine an
active shooter situation within a
government building. Government
officials could quickly communicate
with security personnel to
confront the gunman while directing
other workers, including those
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