Communicating Emergency Preparedness: Strategies for Creating a Disaster Resilient Public

Recent events worldwide have made disaster preparedness and disaster communication to the public a crucial concern. September 11th, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and other mega-disasters have highlighted not only a woeful lack of community awareness of vulnerability but also the absence of a clear protocol for what to do as events unfold. The first book dedicated solely to the topic of pre-disaster communication, Communicating Emergency Preparedness: Strategies for Creating a Disaster Resilient Public presents the best ways to inform communities about disaster risk factors, response plans, and emergency procedures without fomenting panic or paranoia.

A public awareness campaign is the critical tool to help communities prepare themselves and to mitigate the human and economic impact of disasters. The authors provide an overview and history of public disaster preparedness education and then proceed to explore risk management and the development of a campaign strategy. They include specific instruction on how those charged with developing these programs can obtain funding from donors, foundations, and government grants.

Real Examples of Successful Programs

The second half of the book features a series of case studies which identify various public awareness campaigns that have been successfully conducted in different communities. The text provides program facts and contact information for those who designed and executed the campaigns to enable communities to model their own efforts based on what has worked in the past.

Recognizing that knowledge is the best defense, this comprehensive, practical resource provides public administration officials, emergency managers, evacuation coordinators, and community leaders at the local and national level with the background and tools needed to plan, design, and carry out effective public disaster preparedness campaigns.

Damon P. Coppola is the author of several leading emergency management academic and professional texts, including Introduction to Emergency Management, Introduction to Homeland Security, and Introduction to International Emergency Management. Mr. Coppola is also the co-author of several FEMA Emergency Management Institute publications, including Hazards Risk Management, Emergency Management Case Studies, Comparative Emergency Management, and NIMS and Incident Management Systems. As an independent consultant in the emergency management sector, Mr. Coppola has provided planning and technical assistance to emergency management organizations at the local, state, national, and international levels, and in both the nonprofit and private sectors. Mr. Coppola's clients have included FEMA, The World Bank, Save the Children, The Humane Society, ACORN, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Corporation for National and Community Service, Marriott International, and more. Mr. Coppola received his masters in Engineering Management (MEM) in crisis, disaster, and risk management from the George Washington University.

Erin K. Maloney holds a masters in communication from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and is working toward her doctorate of philosophy in communication with a specialization in environmental science and policy at Michigan State University. Ms. Maloney's practical experience and research focus primarily on health communication, media, and research methods. Her research generally has implications for communication campaign message design and public processing of messages. Ms. Maloney consults on grassroots communication projects, most recently on a campaign that succeeded in passing a millage to preserve farmland and open space in the State of Michigan. Ms. Maloney is also an instructor and a research assistant in the department of communication at Michigan State University.