7. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

OBJECTIVE:

Identify strategies for effective communication during emergencies, including which sources of information you will use to communicate.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

Provide accurate information by using official sources. During emergencies, false information spreads for several reasons:

Unconfirmed information gets passed by word-of-mouth.
Unclear information gets miscommunicated.
The situation changes so frequently that information quickly becomes outdated.

TO DO:

Use the following questions to get a sense of what your potential strategies would be during a emergency:
- What are the best ways to reach residents in your community?
- Which languages would you need to provide information in?
- Which network members are regularly in contact with community members? e.g. congregations, daycare centers, tenant associations
- Which members have the skills and staff to run a communications operation or information hub?
- How will you communicate if there is no power or if phone lines are down?
Review the communications chart in your plan. Fill in potential strategies and point people to carry out emergency communications during an emergency.

DID YOU KNOW?

Notify NYC is the City’s official source for information about emergency events and services. New York City Emergency Management’s Watch Command team monitors emergency activity throughout the city 24/7 through 911 dispatches, information feeds from regional emergency operations centers, the FAA, MTA, the Port Authority and many other federal, state, and local agencies. When an emergency has the potential to affect a significant number of New Yorkers, Watch Command uses Notify NYC to inform the public.