What we have here is a failure to communicate

Citation

(2009), "What we have here is a failure to communicate", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2009.07318bab.006

What we have here is a failure to communicate

Article Type: News items From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 18, Issue 2

A total of 22 states were unable to provide a state-level emergency plan when asked for one by a George Mason University (GMU) researcher.

GMU Communications Professor Carl Botan says that, despite federal laws requiring an emergency operations plan (EOP), 22 states could not provide one, withheld it on security grounds or made it difficult even for trained researchers to gain access.

Botan says that two-way communication between the public and government is essential, since residents must know what to do in emergency situations. Only 13 states – out of the 51, including the District of Columbia, surveyed – had specific strategies for communicating with vulnerable citizens in their plans. Only two EOPs – New Mexico and DC – received perfect scores. The web site Emergencity noted, “Professor Botan hits the nail on the head – emergency planning and communication services frequently do not embrace two-way communications with the public, nor do they ultimately empower the public with the actionable intelligence that allows our citizens to make smart decisions.”