WHO KILLED THE MESSENGER?
Emergency Mass Communications Risks–Then and Now
In centuries past, government officials called town criers or bellman were tasked with making public proclamations. Authors, playwrights, re-enactors and perhaps a few history teachers have kept the town crier legacy from slipping entirely into folklore. Still, it is hard to imagine that there was once a need for a uniformed official to march smartly into a town square, ring a bell, pound a drum or blast a horn, and call for silence and attention with a shout of hear ye hear ye.
As late as 1904, these proclamations could be heard in the City of Los Angeles. In large and small towns alike, the mission of the town crier was to communicate effectively and to the most number of people possible. A printed message would have taken far too long and it was believed that many people could not read or write. The town crier uniform provided assurances to the community that the message was delivered under government authority. The uniform also served as a reminder of the enhanced criminal penalties for harming a government official – especially the town crier. Don’t shoot the messenger was more than a cliché.
The advent of electric public alert sirens, which continue to be useful in areas at risk for tsunamis, tornados or the release of hazardous materials, sounded the death knell for the town crier. Beginning in about the 1960s, commercial radio and television began carrying the lion’s share of the emergency mass messaging capacity and continues to bridge an important communications gap to this day. When the telephone became commonplace in households across the United States, automated dialing technology allowed government and non-government organizations to message people at home or at work. However, the general public quickly grew weary of this type of marketing, diminishing its effectiveness for public safety purposes.
Cellular connectivity was arguably the single biggest game changer in emergency mass messaging history. Today, the vast majority of teenagers and adults in the United States carry a cell phone. Research tells us that the cellular phone is effectively replacing the wired home telephone. The tendency for some to become addicted to their communications gadgets has made them even more effective for emergency messaging. While it may appear that we have reached the pinnacle of emergency mass messaging, it is vitally important to consider the vulnerabilities that remain.
At present, the individual consumer can access their cell phone settings and easily disable most emergency messages. In fact, the only messages that cannot be disabled are those that are initiated by the President of the United States. Agencies overusing the system run the risk of relegating their messages to an easily ignored noise. In either case, be it the ignored message or the disabled message, the messenger is still dead.
Modern technology has made alerting the vast majority of the community simple and easy; but in emergency management, we do not train for simple and easy – we train for the exception. When we are satisfied with good enough, we risk abandoning an underserved community. In Hurricane Katrina, for example, almost all of the casualties were people with access and functional needs.
When selecting products and services for mass communications, adherence to inclusivity standards is an absolute must.
In Southern California, one percent of the population does not have access to any telephone – cellular or otherwise. Also, during a power outage, most cellular phones are only one or two hours from inoperability. An experienced field commander should exploit mass messaging technologies early in the event, while at the same time thinking about the exceptions and gaps. For example, in a physical evacuation, the ambulatory population is the easy part; whenever possible, incident commander should sends officers or rescue personnel door to door and room to room.
For hundreds of years, the “number of people reached” was the measure of success in mass messaging; reaching more was almost always considered better than less. Today, it is possible, if not probable, that the emergency message will reach too many people. An overzealous incident commander could message the entire city, when a two block area would have been adequate.
Today’s emergency mass messenger must be both well informed and a person of strong character. Suppose that a high ranking elected official insisted on issuing a non-emergency message, such as one that would encourage a large turn-out for a ballot measure or general election. To issue such a message would violate the public trust. Not only could the agency lose their emergency mass messaging license, but civil remedies could cost the agency millions upon millions of dollars.
Being the emergency mass messenger is a dangerous occupation. There may be little risk of being shot; but metaphorically, the message and the messenger can be killed in a hundred different ways. A single mistake by a messenger can result in widespread anxiety or panic. Failing to consider those with access or functional needs can result in serious injury or death to the most vulnerable segments of society.
Like thousands of agencies across the nation, the City of Los Angeles uses Nixle as its only portal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s emergency mass messaging systems.
If you live in the City of Los Angeles or in any jurisdiction using Nixle, you can text your zip code to telephone number 888777 and you will be subscribed for messages pertaining to that area. You can also navigate to Nixle.com to subscribe or to manage your account.
