Crisis Communications: Scaling up Communications to Meet Any Challenge

Scaling Up Communications in a Crisis - Case studies & Guidance Francisco Sanchez, Jr. Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management

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Scaling - Up Communications During a Crisis Current Process at HCOHSEM: ● Dedicated Joint Information Centers ● Cross-training ● JIC Strike Teams

Communications Strategy News Releases Ready Harris App Joint Information Center Partner Guide Ready Harris Website Press Releases & Customized Alerts

Communications Times During a NonCrisis Time ● Training ● Maintaining Connectivity through technology ● Outreach events with the community ● County-wide exercises ● Disaster Recovery Workshops

Scaled-Up Response ● How did your organization perform during recent flooding events? ● What worked well? ● What presented the biggest challenges? ● What would you hope to do different next time? ● Was it/is it difficult finding some particular skill sets when scaling-up?

Communication Strategy ● Homeland Security Quarterly Briefings ● Mayor and Judge Annual Hurricane Season Luncheon ● June 1st Hurricane Season KickOff Event ● Houston Infragard Sector Meetings

What concerns you most about the process of scaling-up communications? ● Do you have confidence in your Communications Strategy? ● Are you more concerned about partner participation? ● Would your agency be prepared to answer some of these commonly asked questions from the media during a crisis? ○ How much damage do you expect? ○ Why wasn’t this prevented from happening? ○ What are you not telling us? ○ What precautionary measures were taken? ○ What is the worst case scenario? ○ What lessons were learned?

Any suggestions for a training program the PIO network could host to support these needs? ● Cross-Training all personnel in a department to fulfill additional duties as needed. ● Setting up a dedicated Joint Information Center for future crisis communications ● Forming Joint Information Center Strike Teams ● Creating Partner Resource Guides & Materials