Cal U students creating crisis plan for area boroughs
California Mayor Galvie Gardner said he never thought of the possibility of a serious disaster like a train derailment in his corner of the world. But after a meeting with a group of public relations majors from California University of Pennsylvania who are working to create a “crisis communication plan,” for the boroughs of California, Brownsville and Bentleyville, a number of possible disasters that could plague the borough came up.
“I never thought of a train derailment, but it could happen. And if it did, we could have a large number of fatalities,” Gardner said.
According to Gardner, other disasters such as snow, flood and water contamination were discussed.
If such disasters did occur, with the crisis communication plan in place, the local mayors would know exactly how to respond.
Dr. Sylvia Sholar, assistant professor in the communications studies department, said the “crisis communication plan” would provide the local mayors with a variety of information to help them effectively respond to disasters.
She said the crisis plan would “identify their primary public” and provide a portfolio of contacts to reach in the event of a disaster. The plan will tell them the best way to disseminate information and to whom.
“The plan would help the mayors identify their primary public in each category of emergency …This way they will already have in their hand a scenario of different disasters such as a train wreck and the ways to communicate with their primary public.”
She said the plan will also include the methods to reach the public, such as through the media, telephone, fax, email or face-to-face contact.
Sholar said the idea of involving Cal U faculty and students in helping areas respond to emergency situations particularly related to terrorism came after she attended a luncheon and heard a public information officer from New Jersey speak on problems he faced after 9-11.
According to Sholar, the information officer had to quickly respond to fatal threats to the local Muslim community after people called into a local radio station and falsely reported Muslims celebrating in the street after the terrorist attacks. She said quick response from the public information officer stopped a group of Hell’s Angels en route to take action against those Muslims, who in fact were afraid to leave their homes and open up their local businesses.
She said an article about a New Jersey mayor who had to deal with an anthrax scare after 9-11 also made her think of the importance of a crisis communication plan.
“I realized that some of our local people don’t have the experience or background to deal with situations like these,” she said, noting that many of the local mayors are part-time and also hold jobs.
“Our cities’ mayors don’t have public information officers. It would be a challenge to deal with riots or people lashing out in the community,” Sholar said.
Two local mayors said they are welcoming the crisis communication plan with open arms.
Gardner said he is looking forward to receiving the plan, which Sholar said should be completed by April.
“With this plan, every officer will know what to do in the case of different emergencies,” Gardner said.
Gardner said he and California’s emergency services coordinator met with the Cal U students to discuss the plan.
“The students came in with great ideas. We had a great meeting,” Gardner said.
Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan said the plan comes right on time for Brownsville, which must update its emergency service plan by June.
Sholar said about 15 Cal U seniors majoring in public relations are working to develop the plan. She said the plan will also outline how to work with the media in the case of emergency.
She said the plan is really an experiment. She hopes to add to the plan each year.
“In the future, maybe we can hold coaching seminars on how to organize yourself (mayors) and leadership to interact with the mass media.”