EPR-Public Communications - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

EPR-Public CommunicationsL-013

Roles and Coordination of InformationSlide2

Objective

To understand the functions of different government

bodies;

To review and cope with the challenges in coordinating information between these

bodies.Slide3

Outline

Local

authorities

;

National

authorities

;

International

authorities

;

Roles

in public

communications;

Coordinating

public

communications.Slide4

Local authorities

Local authorities are responsible for:

Evacuation planning;

Establishing community shelters;

Providing care for those affected, including food, emergency supplies and medical treatment;

Providing ongoing to the local community during the recovery phase of the emergency;

Managing long term economic impacts on local tourism, industry and property values.Slide5

Local authorities – continued

Community organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, such as the Red Cross, may also provide assistance to local

authorities;

Depending on the scale and duration of the emergency, some of these responsibilities may be assumed by another level of

government.Slide6

Local authorities – public information

Citizens will look to their local governments for information about any emergency in their

community;

Local authorities will expect and be expected to communicate about what they are

doing;

Media and public interest will be most intense if there is an evacuation or during the recovery

phase.Slide7

Local authorities – public information

Media may also seek out local officials to comment on the effectiveness of the

response;

Local authorities will be an important source of information about the community and any unique

concerns;

These authorities may also have useful methods and tools for providing information to the community or specific

groups.Slide8

National authorities

National response plans should include the roles and responsibilities of the different organizations involved in a response to a radiation

emergency;

The response plan should include how information to be provided to the media and public will be coordinated between the different organizations, including the operator, and levels of government that may be involved.Slide9

National authorities

Response structure, using Incident Command System or similar structure, should be used to coordinate public communications functions between the response

organizations;

Public communications must be coordinated at the national level to avoid any contradictory messages or misinformation between national

organizations;Slide10

National authorities – public information

National authorities should develop the following, which will be important for preparing for public information activities in the event of a radiation emergency:

Emergency response organization—roles and responsibilities;

Contacts for information;

Information for the public, including URLs and phone numbers;

Monitoring, surveillance and laboratory services;

Dose assessment capacity;Response planning (medical capacity, protective and response actions);National intervention levels and explanation of countermeasures;Slide11

International authorities

Member States are required to notify the possibly affected states directly or through the IAEA of any radiation emergency, when a release of radiation may cross national

boundaries;

The IAEA, in turn, will notify all State Parties and Member States and offer assistance to National Authorities in response to a radiation emergency affecting their

territory.Slide12

International authorities

Member States party to the Early Notification and Assistance Conventions must provide a point of contact and competent authority to the

IAEA;

In the event of an emergency the reporting forms (for fax or on the web) have a section where contact details for media calls and links to news releases can be provided to the IAEA for further dissemination to Member

States.Slide13

International authorities

There is a plan to coordinate international response activities of several United Nations organizations and other relevant international or multinational

organizations;

The Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations describes the objectives of response, the organizations involved, their roles and responsibilities, interfaces, operational concepts and preparedness

arrangements;

The various organizations then reflect these in their own emergency plans.Slide14

Roles in public communications

Communicating during an emergency is fraught with challenges:

highly motivated media and public looking for information quickly;

Response organizations requiring time to confirm details and plan their response;

Pressure from political level to provide information.

Any organization involved in responding to an emergency should provide information ONLY about their role and responsibilities;

All involved in the response—local, national, international must follow this guiding principle to avoid providing contradictory information.Slide15

Coordinating public communications

Within the Incident Command System,

PIOs

from different organizations involved in the response can work together in a unified

PIO

group;Each organization should provide a liaison officer to the PIO group, so that information released and activities planned can be coordinated in advance;The lead responding organization could chair this group and report to the Incident Commander.Slide16

Coordinating public communications

An emergency specific website or web portal should be

established;

Need to plan in advance, particularly for website or portal to handle high level of

hits;

Links to sites of responding organizations could then be

made.Slide17

Coordinating public communications

Need to consider how to best coordinate beyond the response organization—with local and national authorities;

Develop arrangements to coordinate in advance;

These arrangements should be included in organization specific plans;

Exercise the arrangements.Slide18

Coordinating public information

Include public communications contacts when providing notification to the IAEA through the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies (

USIE

);

Provide website links and media contacts as soon as possible should an emergency

occur;

Request for international assistance can include for public information support.Slide19

Summary

Organizations must plan their public communications activities in advance;

Roles and responsibilities between the organizations involved in the response – at the local and national level – must be established.Slide20

Summary

Organizations must plan how they will coordinate their activities and information provided to the public and

media;

In the event of a radiation emergency, notification to the IAEA should include national media

contacts;

Consideration should be given to providing public communications contacts as well, so that further coordination of activities between affected states can be

undertaken.Slide21

Final Thought

When your are not responding, you should be planning how to respond.