Effective Emergency Communication Strategies for Business & Government: 12.7.08

Effective communications are critical to the success and security of our nation, economy, and every day life. Businesses and governments learned it was vital to effectively communicate to ensure operations ran smoothly. Over time, with advancements in technology, modern tools such as telephones, wireless, and the internet allow home users, business, and government agencies to communicate regularly. However, in times of disasters or emergencies, the need for effective emergency communications becomes top priority. Staff, equipment, and resources must be prepared, properly trained, and utilize appropriate resources in a timely professional manner.

Time is of the essence as many communications providers learned from natural disasters such as destructive tornadoes and hurricane events, to man made disasters such as the September 11, 2001 attacks. Many people simplified the 911 attacks as a complete communications failure. It was true that fire, police, ems, military had trouble communicating. Area employers also had trouble contacting their employees. Although errors were made, and interoperability was not heavily emphasized, in general the tools were available and operated satisfactory. In The 911 Commission Report, expert advisors detailed that in fact there were working commercial communications systems in the area during the 911 emergency. A major issue was people self-dispatching that officials could not track, command, or otherwise communicate with them. Those who self dispatched crowded the scenes and added to area command stress. Another major issue with many of the self-dispatchers was the absence of a radio to communicate. The shear amount of responders both professional and bystander was unlike ever before. Issuing radio equipment without proper channels, authorization, credentialing was such a monumental impossible task, especially in a 1 hour window of time. Further, not every responder was trained in interoperability, incident command, or critical skills such as medical, firefighting, or peace officer levels. It would be impossible especially during an active large scale national emergency as it was to adequately and properly train any individual on the spot. In any large scale emergency self responding is a not recommended.

Expert Analysis

The National Institute for Standards and Technology included expert details made to the 911 report reviewers after observing video, audio, and recorded documentation of the entire event. From the report, it suggested radio communications in the area were generally effective. Existing systems preformed generally satisfactorily according to many officials including the New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly. The major issues involved communicating across departments. Firefighters had issues talking to police. Emergency medical departments had issues talking to police and vice versa. Working together as this became a matter of national security was difficult do to the lack of implemented interoperability procedures. That is the ability for department or agency A to communicate to department or agency B using a common method or channel of hailing. Making a difficult situation worse, the burst of identification feature on many departments used to display radio identifications took precious transmit time away when seconds counted. Radio interference was extremely high causing receivers (radios) that were close to each other to overload. Other communication methods such as internet protocol may not have been fully utilized to its full potential at the time of the attacks as it is now. Conventional methods are no longer the final solution to modern emergency communication. Digital age technology is quickly proving its value in times of crisis. In addition, there had been no modern standardization for major events such as this which have changed the thinking of the communications community.

Technology

New innovations have resulted in an array of communications tools for professionals. From the low end close range wireless handheld radios of Family Radio Service, General Radio Service, to the more distant solutions of repeaters, and high powered transmitters, depending on your business budget you may purchase communications equipment assets. Static offices where regular business is held should use fixed base systems with backup power. Mobile resources should also be created that can communicate anywhere any time. When working with multiple departments, across long distances, or remote areas more advanced equipment may be required. Modern technology such as ACU1K from JPS allow interconnections between numerous communications systems including the ability to simultaneously interface satellite, telephone, Very High Frequency(VHF), Ultra High Frequency (UHF), and High Frequency (HF) radios to nearly any end user. The control operator can connect directly to modify any portion of the system including allowing conference calling features.

Voice over internet protocol features are becoming more popular with state and national agencies as this new interoperability system can be fully linked between users in accordance to Presidential Directives to promote interoperability as a common modern standard or mandate. New technology can also be deployed faster and is the preferred tool for first responders who need to coordinate their operations when seconds count. Advancements in technology including mobile satellite, internet protocol, video conferencing, and remote control allow distant offices to communicate to personnel. These new innovations allow HF, VHF, UHF, trunked 800Mhz, satellite, public switched telephone network, and internet communications to be interconnected, interoperable, and provide a more reliable backbone for critical infrastructure.

Developing Contingency Directives

Well organized businesses and agencies should have a plan of action for emergencies that include protocols and formal training on equipment and procedures. Any business can adopt a scalable emergency operations plan that integrates the pieces of the National Incident Management System, Incident Command System, interoperability, and flexibility. The planning process for any user must involve selecting what resources or equipment will be immediately used for communications. Appropriate equipment should be determined by an expert resource such as a contract advisor or well trained representative of the selected technology. Those responding to disasters such as police, fire, emergency medical or military personnel should be adequately trained in their respective roles including cross-training, self defense, safety, emergency cardiac care, hazardous materials, anti-terrorism, the interoperability measures and recommendations as set forth by The Department of Homeland Security. Portions of the plan may be modified to meet local needs; however, the general recommendations should be adopted. For legal and quality reasons, key players need to be certified and or licensed to perform their roles (see your state statutes). In addition, DHS recommends Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) programs such as SAFECOM and the Computer Aided Dispatch Interoperability Project (CADIP). Each are designed to help agencies as they integrate their computer dispatching and other information technology systems. Developing a plan for situational adaptation may also be wise as it addresses specific case by case needs that should not be considered at the last minute.

Formal documentation should be shared with all key players including the use of audio-visual presentation to better educate staff and personnel. It is true a picture is worth a thousand words. Staff should train their team on best use practices as well as failure scenarios where team members must overcome problems with timely solutions. When a disaster or emergency takes place, do not expect everything to go as planned. It has been said before to also plan for the unknown. Instructors should also use other previous events to share with their students in an effort to learn from any mistakes or how to better improve response and recovery time.

Strategy

Primary elements to any business or government communication plan should include security, mobility, fail safe reliability, support staff, identifying communication tools, being brief, using common wording, using common tools, attention to detail, confirmation of communication, and follow up exchanges. High priority tasks should come first including security. The safety of your staff, assets, and equipment are absolutely top priority. Internet and external resources are available including armed officers or military. Your security measures should also include consideration for data. Enterprise data should be secured either transferred to a secured zone where no threats are occurring or powered down and sheltered to prevent damage.

Today's business demand disaster recovery solutions for data as a safety net. Further priorities involve the ability to move equipment, data, and staff. Mobility will allow managers, field agents, and team members to communicate from any location on batteries, backup generator, or commercial power. Static resources such as communications equipment offices, tower locations, operations centers, and field centers should be appropriately located considering geography, impact zones, security, and tactical concerns. Security must always be considered for yourself and staff to ensure safety of persons and the communications being conducted no matter what the means or tool is (encryption, radio, telephone, etc).

Many companies fail by having external only support staff. Managers should consider having on board support specialists who are experts in emergency communications and information technology. Support specialists that are internal have a more involved understanding of your business operations including equipment and will prove invaluable during any event. Your support staff can also help identify possible communications tools for your plan including the use of e-mail, internet, interconnects, telephone systems, voice over internet protocol, text messaging, wireless radio, and satellite resources.

Since time will be of the essence, tasks need to occur quickly. Being brief uses less time and bandwidth. Attention to detail is also critical for live operations and documentation purposes. Common wording means clear terminology, plain English, or common shorthand which both users are familiar with. Many studies have suggested ending 10 codes as their meanings differ from location to location. However, nearly every researcher recognizes that some codes may be necessary in the interest of security. In any exchange, a proof of receipt or documentation should occur. Confirmation is an acknowledgement or "guaranteed" sign that a message or communication has been received successfully. Follow up action ensures details that change over time are effectively communicated. Most situations are fluid and require constant situational awareness. Consider internal life support needs such as medications, food, water, entertainment, and lodging for staff to ensure team members are healthy and motivated. Managers must be aware of the actions, communication, and impact of their decisions at all time.

Mutual Aid

It is possible for resources to become overloaded and require mutual aid. Local and national resources are available and should be utilized without hesitation. Hesitation can result in further catastrophic public and economic impact, not just to your agency or business unit. Managers should establish formal agreements to any identified resource. For example, a school may need transportation, food, water, or health services in a large disaster or emergency. Often, large capacity buildings, especially public can be used as shelters. Leaders should recognize and possible resource and prioritize who will be utilized from most critical to least critical. Further example of this would be most critical category. Critical resources should be the life threatening safety network which includes emergency medical, firefighter, hazardous materials, military command, and law enforcement professionals. Moderate category may include utility companies, and other infrastructure resources. Low priority may be relief organizations such as the Red Cross, Amateur Radio, and others who often will respond with volunteers during times of disasters or emergencies to assist displaced families, food and water disbursement, or other recovery services. The advantage to amateur radio being there are no fees involved as it is a free non-commercial service. The disadvantage to amateur radio is often having a non-staff individual who is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate the ham radio equipment. Some employers are promoting staff members become licensed ham radio operators (consult the Federal Communications Commission regarding legal issues if your business or agency wishes to utilize ham radio as an emergency communications non-commercial resource). Employees can also receive additional training regardless of their job title. Employers can provide basic first aid training to staff. Communities can also adapt to the mutual aid role by coming together with formal very basic emergency training such as Community Emergency Response Teams.

Process Initialization

Recognizing an emergency or disaster is the first step to the emergency operations process. For the general public this starts with dialing 911. However, business and government agencies must have a call out plan such as paging, dispatching, or contingency plan in addition to calling into a 911 center. This is where initial notification goes out to your staff and emergency resources informing them on the nature of the emergency, your immediate needs, and any other relevant information or instructions. Any emergency communications plan should include a relief plan. Rotating staff can ensure long hours of work are met with adequate rest time that prevents higher stress and promotes clear thinking. Recovery is the first step to completing the emergency timeline. The post emergency environment includes repair of damaged assets or infrastructure, correcting environmental problems, counseling, debriefings to discuss next steps, and continuous monitoring or situational awareness.

During the entire process leadership must function with due diligence, confidence, authority, and an informative dialogue with staff and the public. It is important to establish public relations or information officials to represent your business or agency during the entire disaster-emergency event. This representative should be adequately familiar with you business or agencies operations. Your Public Information Official (PIO) will represent your business with a professional image providing important information and dialogue to external sources such as media. Media play an important role with information dissemination and can often assist in passing information along. You may frequently brief your PIO to ensure quality control efforts are successful. However, consider which details you will provide to the public and which may not be appropriate to share outside of internal staff.

Ongoing Training & Review

Part of any emergency operations training involves drilling. Regular tests should be conducted to study trouble areas or practice procedures. Some trouble areas include logistics such as evacuations or elongated events where staff must remain active for extended hours (beyond a normal work load). Managers should involve all appropriate staff, and external resources in each drill. The saying practice makes perfect is absolutely true. Although the emergency operations phase may not be perfect, effective oversight and practice can increase quality as well as reduce possible negative impacts. For official licensed and certified professionals this may come in the form of accredited continuing education from official sources which can test and verify skills. Managers should consider regular formal training using the continuing education system. Many colleges, agencies, and technical schools offer this training at reduce cost to multiple users.

Conclusion

Our society depends on everyone functioning in their part to survive. Business or government agencies that need formal training or assistance in drafting and implementation of effective emergency communications should hire a professional to council management ensuring mission critical goals are met. Emergency management can be cost effective and efficient if it is well thought of, developed, organized, and implemented correctly. Insufficient attention or organization can result in financial disaster and much higher impact. In order to reduce impact, capital loss, protect assets, staff, and ensure future success it is imperative to immediately plan, train, and implement an effective emergency communications system.

*This publication was authored by Ben Alonzo, a professional emergency operations and information technology specialist. Copyright 2008 Ben Alonzo: StormSector Online. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or modification without prior written permission is prohibited by federal law. Photos curtesy Ben Alonzo, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Transportation.

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