I was sitting in a local restaurant a couple weeks ago when I saw the news that a swine flu outbreak had been confirmed in Mexico and California. It was the news I had been afraid of for the last three years, after spending more than a year as the Risk Communication Director at the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), training for a flu pandemic, and learning how to communicate to the public during a major crisis.
So I waited for an official response from the ISDH, since we had worked on this for so long. And I waited. And waited.
I didn’t hear anything until Sunday, and after that, I didn’t hear as much as I had hoped for. I got most of my news from the national news outlets, and occasionally the Indianapolis news stations and Indianapolis Star. I saw barely a blip on social media, and a Google search for local information showed that more information was coming from the county health departments, rather than the state one.
It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback, but as a professional communicator and someone who helped develop the ISDH’s crisis communication plan, I can see where there is room for improvement. So, these are nine tips any state agency, or even large corporation, can use to communicate during an emergency or crisis.
1) Jump out in front of the communication wave. When the first news of the swine flu — excuse me, H1N1 — hit on that Friday, there was no news from the state until Sunday afternoon, 48 hours later. After that, they seemed to spend the rest of their time playing catchup, rarely pushing news out to the media, and letting the local health departments get their news out first. As the state’s voice for public health, the ISDH should have been the primary source for the news, not the locals.
The core principles of CERC (Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication) are Be First. Be Right. Be Credible. They’re the guiding principles anyone trained in crisis communication understands and practices. By missing out on the first one, the ISDH never had the chance to be the other two. (You can download a PDF of the CDC’s CERC – First 48 Hours Checklist here.)
2) Create a series of communication and press release templates. Or at least a formula. Most of the initial communication in any crisis is pretty standard. You can guess what the situation is going to be (“swine flu has been found in the state; this is what we know; this is what you can do to prevent getting it”), create a basic press release with some fill-in-the-blank answers, and fill them in when the crisis finally hits. This will save time in trying to write one in the heat of the moment. If you just have a formula, you will at least know what information should go into the press release, and can write it with a minimal effort.
3) Call the emergency what other people are calling it. People and the media started referring to this outbreak as “swine flu,” and it was only financial concerns from the pork industry that made the news people change their designation to “H1N1.” Calling it the “North American Human Influenza” strain will not improve your search engine rankings, and will only confuse the public. At the very least, stick with “H1N1,” so people in the news media recognize what you’re talking about. Use the language people use, not the scientific jargon the scientists are using.
4) Set up a Twitter account for only one agency. The ISDH and the Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) split up an account, which made it unclear to the public who was actually controlling the message, and who was the best resource for information. As a result, nothing was posted very frequently, and the ISDH missed out on a valuable communication outlet. Twitter would have been a valuable tool in the communication toolbox, but it was used improperly and too infrequently, and thus, they missed a huge opportunity to counter public misperceptions and misinformation.
5) Follow the public on Twitter. The ISDH_IDHS Twitter account only follows 21 people, while it has 500 followers. The 21 Twitterers they were following? News sources — some local, some national, including the Associated Press, New York Times, and a health reporter. Problem is, the AP has had no updates that I could see, the health reporter rarely uses Twitter, and the New York Times is, well, in New York. What this tells me is that the ISDH is getting their news from the news sources, not the other way around. Meanwhile, I created a group on TweetDeck for people talking about swine flu in Indiana. I answered questions, referred people to resources, and countered bad information. Something the ISDH should have been doing from the outset.
6) Use social media to communicate directly with the public. It’s important to use traditional media, because they’re still an important way to reach people. But newspapers are failing, there are too many radio stations, and TV news is not always on at a convenient time, while people use social media all the time. They use their computers throughout the day, when they can’t watch TV or listen to the radio, and newspapers are only published the following day.
7) Create a website specifically for the event. An issue-specific website will contain updates and much-needed answers, and it becomes the information clearinghouse for everything related to the issue. The Indiana State Health Department (ISDH) created a website at http://h1n1.in.gov, but it doesn’t have very much information, and usually points people away from the site to sites like the CDC. In essence, it says “we’re not the experts, everyone else is.” So much for “being credible.”
8) Get an issue-specific domain name. If possible, purchase a domain name with the issue and your state or city: www.indianaswineflu.com, www.fortwaynehepatitis.com, etc., and send everyone there. An issue-specific domain name helps with name recognition and search results.
9) Use a blog. Seventy-seven percent of all Internet users read at least one blog, so these things are here to stay. They’re a great way to create short, quick updates that don’t require five levels of editing and committee approval. Post press releases, figures and statistics, and answers to frequently asked questions. Tie that domain name into the blog, and you’re all done. Blogging can be done in 200-word posts that can be done quickly and easily, by anyone who has a modicum of writing skill. In the crisis communication model, a single writer can work with a subject matter to write a post and be done with it. Or in some cases, write one paragraph updating the number of confirmed cases and tagging on the boiler plate language of prevention and flu hotlines, and you’re done. Takes 10 minutes tops, and the public and the media now has a source for news they can rely on.
Another CERC principle is to create the communication plans and procedures NOW. Don’t wait until the emergency is on you to start these things up. The relative weakness of the swine flu was a shot across the public health bow. And for the most part, public health responded admirably. While the number of cases are growing, we’re not facing a raging outbreak, because of the extensive planning and response by the CDC, the Public Health and Emergency Response, and the local health departments and hospitals. We’re not out of the woods yet, and there’s still a lot to do, but it’s not too late to respond to this threat, and there’s plenty of time to get ready for the next one.
