Hazard Awareness the Federal Government

Hazard Awareness

The Federal government recently made a report (Report by the Working Group on Natural Disaster Information Systems Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction, National Science and Technology Council Committee on Environment and Natural Rresources) called Effective Disaster Warnings. Neal Lane, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology observed that:

Although the technology presently exists to build smart receivers to customize warnings to the users' local situation whether at home, at work, outdoors, or in their cars, substantial improvement can be made with better utilization of emerging opportunities provided by existing and new technologies. Current warnings can target those at risk at the county and subcounty levels and it should also be possible to customize the information for trucks, trains, boats and airplanes. One high priority that needs to be addressed concerns agreeing on data information standards and dissemination systems to be used (Effective, 2000, p. 4).

Each community must make a budget for the contingency of disasters that usually strike their particular area. Cities should have a budget to use in creating disaster warnings. A community alarm system, such as a siren on a fire station, may already be in place, but warnings in the forms of signs, information hotlines, transportation assistance, mass care facilities, and security and property protection usually have not been budgeted for.

Each city or community must determine what is the amount that they can afford, or must afford in order to prepare their community for a disaster. The budget may be a few dollars to be used for radio spots or millions of dollars used in creating flood gates, setting up towers for transmitting information, creating hotline programs, developing and preparing drivers for transportation programs and so forth.

Even though federal and state governments encourage hazard mitigation at lower levels by offering the incentives of technical assistance, often communities do not take advantage of them. These are available at no cost. The federal and state also promise reduced administrative oversight and limited regulation, all attractive to local governments.

Government funds may not be used, but public messages are formulated and packaged for use on local media. These include radio, TV, newspaper, print and broadcast media packages produced by arms of state and federal government. The information sources for hazard awareness programs have been categorized as auathorities: federal, state and local government, news media (print and broadcast), and peers (friends, relatives and neighbors. These sources differ in their ability to influence an individual's willingness to pay attention to and accept the information.

OSHA has software systems that helps corporations and communities identify and understand common softy and health hazards in the work place. It prepares unique, customized reports that describe likely hazards and the OSHA standards which address those hazards. But OSHA admits that it is not designed to identify all hazards and is not a substitute for personnel who are more familiar with the site. (OSHA, 1999)

FEMA has designed specific internet interactive sites for professionals preparing communities for various disasters, such as floods, where city engineers are given assistance in reading and submitting mapping. They then make a determination based on the information submitted by the licensed professional that allows them to receive a determination from FEMA within minutes. (FEMA, 2006)

Official sources are the ones most believed. Existing research seems to indicate that hazard awareness programs increase in effectiveness when they rely on multiple sources who repeatedly transmit a variety of messages through many different outlets.

Therefore, it is important that a hazard warning should be broadcast on the local weather stations, the local news, the newspapers, printed leaflets, radio news programs, official break-through hazard warnings on all local radio stations and any local sirens or warning services in communities.

Messages sent out over different media have different characteristics. Different channels contribute to this difference in information processing by the listeners. Radio and television spots are best at initiating and maintaining through printed warnings across the bottoms of television programs and break-through warnings periodically transmitted over radio stations, or spoken by the radio personnel in radio shows at frequent intervals. Radio or television spots are best at initiating or maintaining hazard awareness, while printed materials are best at providing detailed information about how to act, where to go, how to get there and what to do in case of immediate danger. Radio spots should be broadcast every five minutes in order to hit the maximum audience.

The characteristics that the messages contain differ in amount of material presented, the speed of the presentation, the number of arguments, the repetition, style, clarity, order of events, forcefulness, specificity, accuracy and extremity of the position advocated. Some characteristics can be measured objectively as to effectiveness.

Hazard awareness programs in a community can have different themes. Some programs are designed to attract the attention, others designed to give additional information may have an animal or cartoon mascot or utilize celebrity endorsements.

The content of the messages attract differing audiences. When one wants to address adults, scientific information programs may give technical data about a hazard. This information is processed only by those familiar with the terminology used. Practical instructions on exactly what to do in case of an approaching danger, may focus more on protective responses than on the hazard itself. The simplest instructions are a prompt, a sign that tells the reader or listener a simple action to take in case of danger ("Do not take elevator in case of fire.") These prompts are more likely to be noticed and are easier to remember than technical or detailed instructions. They are also remembered for future situations. Other message styles portray strategies, such as "Remain calm and stay in line for safety." These emphasize the advantages of recommended hazard adjustments and fear appeals. They attract attention and motivate action by describing the potential personal consequences of disaster (Mileti, p. 154).

Those who see hazard messages may miss their importance as they become used to signs in public or repetitious messages that never have to be followed up on. The "cry wolf" syndrome is common. People do not pay attention in airplanes when the stewardesses give detailed demonstrations of what to do in case of emergencies. But is easier and cheaper to simply post signs or use the same old message on the radio.

Researchers have emphasized the important of tailoring messages to the audience. Only a few hazard awareness programs have heeded this advice, and there are few guidelines as to how to do this. The Bay Area Regional Earthquake Preparedness Program, the Southern California Earthquake Preparedness Program of the California Office of Emergency Services and the American Red Cross have each published guides and manuals for special groups. Schools, hospitals, corporations, city managers, emergency personnel and the media are all special groups that would need individually tailored instructions on how to prepare for an emergency. Very few attempts to utilize individual treatments for individual groups have actually been done.