The Risk Communicator (The RC)

The Risk Communicator (The RC)
Providing information and resources to help emergency risk communicators prepare and effectively respond in the event of a crisis.

Welcome to The Risk Communicator (The RC). The RC is produced by CDC's Emergency Risk Communication Branch (ERCB) and is designed to provide evidence-based, practical guidance for emergency risk communication strategy and operations. In this newsletter, you'll find summaries of research, theories, and practices that apply to public health emergency communication strategy and operations.

The RC includes practical tools and techniques, abstracts of the latest research, interviews with risk communicators and practitioners, and feature stories exploring issues related to emergency communications principles. We hope The RC becomes a valuable resource that you will use frequently and share with others.

Although we think the summaries and other content are worth reading to generate new ideas and more effective approaches to risk communication, the inclusion of a summary in The RC doesn't imply a CDC endorsement of the article's contents.

Issue 3: Emergency and Risk Communication on the Web
Effectively preparing for emergencies takes collaboration. The best plans or theories will have little practical impact on the real world if communicators and emergency and risk coordinators don’t work effectively together at all levels of a response—from cooperation among teams, to collaborating among all levels of local, state, and federal response. Our ability to impact audiences is largely dependent on the quality and scope of collaboration with partners at many levels. In this second issue of The RC, we explore collaboration at all levels of an emergency’s communication response.

Emergency and risk communication groups are using multiple ways to reach their audience, whether it's through high technology like the Web or YouTube, or other lesser-known techniques through low-tech methods like those employed by the Sierra County Department of Health. No matter what the budget and the available technology, risk communicators are finding creative ways to reach their audiences. In this issue, we explore the use of technology and creativity in emergency communication responses.

In this issue’s feature story, “Emergency and Risk Communication on the Web [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn01.asp],” we explore principles and strategies for communicating on the Web's interconnected platforms. Emergency and risk communicators are encouraged to:

* Blend emergency risk communication principles with Web usability principles.
* Seek out and embrace opportunities to educate the public.
* Aim [their] Web channels at [their] audiences.

This issue's research summary, Judit Bar-Ilan and Ana Echerman’s “The anthrax scare and the Web: A content analysis of Web pages linking to resources on anthrax [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn01.asp] [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn02.asp],” explains that during the anthrax scare in 2001:

- Anthrax was Google’s fifth overall search in 2001.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had an 118% increase in anthrax-related Web page views from the week before.

"Pan Flu Preparedness: A rural health department’s plan to communicate with the public during a public health threat" discusses: [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn03.asp]

Rhonda Grandi and the Sierra Country Health Department use of an inexpensive, low-tech solution for small communities using one of the most fail-safe systems of all.

In the article, "YouTube is Your Friend: Kerry Shearer of the Sacramento County Public Health Division discusses using video technology to expand SCPH’s communications activities:" [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn04.asp]

. Kerry Shearer talks about production and dissemination ideas using new technology while still maintaining official protocols.

In our Additional Resources section [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn05.asp], you can find a link to The WHO Outbreak Communication Planning Guide—that John Rainford discussed in the last issue of The Risk Communicator [http://emergency.cdc.gov/ercn/03/rcn05.asp#w].

If you would like to share your ideas and practical experiences with collaborating to form better communication strategies, plans, or find the full length version of the RC, visit the The RC on the CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Web site. The Web site will provide online acess to The RC, as well as lists of resources and training opportunities of interest to risk communicators: riskcomm@cdc.gov.