Adecuación, Instalacion y Montaje 1 Alcances

SECTION

10:PUBLICINFORMATION

10.1 Overview

The purpose of Emergency Function (EF) 15 – Public Information, is to provide accurate, coordinated, timely and accessible information to affected audiences, including governments, media, the private sector, and the local populace including those with access and functional needs. This may be achieved by using accessible means and accessible formats on the incident’s cause, size and current situation to the public, responders and additional stakeholders (both directly affected and indirectly affected).

Public information must be coordinated and integrated as part of the Multiagency Coordination System (MACS) across jurisdictions, agencies and organizations among federal, state, tribal and local governments and with the private sector and Non-

Government Organizations (NGOs). Public information includes processes, procedures and organizational structures required to gather, verify, coordinate and disseminate information.

The County has a Public Information Officer (PIO) who acts as spokesperson for the County as directed. The PIO directs, plans, organizes and coordinates a public relations and information dissemination program for the County. The San Bernardino County Fire and Sheriff’s Departments also have full-time PIOs and teams of PIOs to respond to all emergencies for the dissemination of information.

10.2 Government Responsibility

The media provides the public with hazard warnings, safety instructions, official

announcements, notice of emergency regulations, evacuation procedures, directions on getting to medical and mass care facilities, status reports on the condition of lifelines, and damage assessment information. Radio and television stations are required to maintain and test emergency communications equipment.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governs the Emergency Alert System (EAS), and local emergency managers are responsible for getting emergency

information to EAS as well as ensuring that the information is translated for non-English speakers and made available to those with visual and hearing disabilities.

Accurate and timely information is critical to saving lives and protecting property in a disaster. Coordination between the media and the EOC and other official

communications systems contributes importantly to rumor control and assessments of report validity, and strengthens coordination generally among Local, County, State, and Federal information officials. Coordination with the media can also improve the quality of status reports about response efforts.

Although this Plan addresses public information and media relations in the context of emergency response, the basis for the success of that effort occurs long before the disaster. Public awareness and education prior to any emergency are crucial to

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successful public information efforts during and after the emergency. The pre-disaster awareness and education programs must be viewed as equal in importance to all other preparations for emergencies and receive an adequate level of planning.

10.3 Function

The coordination of public information in a disaster will require a high level of

coordination between Cities and Towns, Special Districts, private organizations, and the County. For purposes of this Plan, the EOC will provide overall coordination of County and OA public information during a disaster. This coordination will be initiated when there is a Level II activation of the OA EOC. The EOC PIO will perform the public information function under the management component of SEMS.

It will be the responsibility of this public information function to coordinate the collection of information from field, local, and zone locations and formulate an accurate and comprehensive picture of the disaster situation for release to the public. Dissemination of information may occur in the form of press releases, public service announcements, situation summaries, EAS, media interviews and press conferences.

In addition to the functions generally described for the public information function, the political, economic and social impacts of the statements released must be considered. A high level of coordination will need to occur with elected officials to ensure that the message(s) provided the public reflects public policy as it relates to the particular disaster event.

Depending on the type of event, the EOC PIO may perform his or her function from a field location collocated with the Mobile Communications Center, Command Unit, at a Joint Information Center (JIC), or other field support location designated by an Incident Commander. The EOC PIO’s primary role is established and maintains positive working relationships with the media in attendance to ensure that the public receives accurate, comprehensive and timely reports of the event.

10.4 Joint Information Center (JIC)

The Joint Information Center (JIC) is a central location that facilitates operation of the Joint Information System (JIS). It is a location where personnel with public information responsibilities perform critical emergency information functions, crisis communications and public affairs functions. JICs may be established at the OA EOC, at incident sites, or can be components of Federal, State, tribal, territorial, regional, or local MACS (e.g., MAC Groups or EOCs).

Typically, an incident−specific JIC is established at a single, on-scene location in

coordination with Federal, State, and local agencies (depending on the requirements of the incident) or at the national level, if the situation warrants. Informational releases are cleared through IC/UC, the EOC/MAC Group, and/or Federal officials in the case of federally coordinated incidents to ensure consistent messages, avoid release of

conflicting information, and prevent negative impact on operations. This formal process for informational releases ensures the protection of incident-sensitive information.

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Agencies may issue their own releases related to their policies, procedures, programs, and capabilities; however, these should be coordinated with the incident-specific JIC(s). A single JIC location is preferable, but the system is flexible and adaptable enough to accommodate virtual or multiple JIC locations, as required. For example, multiple JICs may be needed for a complex incident spanning a wide geographic area or multiple jurisdictions. In instances when multiple JICs are activated, information must be

coordinated among all appropriate JICs; each JIC must have procedures and protocols to communicate and coordinate effectively with one another. Whenever there are multiple JICs, the final release authority must be the senior command, whether using Unified or Area Command structures. A county JIC may be used when an incident requires County coordination and is expected to be of long duration (e.g., weeks or months) or when the incident affects a large area of the County.

10.5 Public Awareness and Education

The public’s response to any emergency is based on an understanding of the nature of the emergency, the potential hazards, the likely response of emergency services, and knowledge of what individuals and groups with and without access and functional needs should do to increase their chances of survival and recovery. Pre-disaster awareness and education programs are viewed as equal in importance to all other preparation for emergencies. The County places a high priority in public disaster education by providing citizens emergency training such as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training.

10.5.1 EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION

During an emergency, the County is responsible for the dissemination of information about the emergency to the public to keep them informed about what has happened, the actions of the emergency response agencies and to summarize the expected outcomes of the emergency actions. The Public Information Officer’s (PIO’s) primary role is to disseminate emergency instructions and critical information to the media and the public and to provide approved messages that are accessible to all sectors within the access and functional needs population, including those who are deaf, blind, or require messages in a different language.

The County has various systems in place for disseminating warnings and emergency information to the public. The following primary systems may be utilized by the County in an emergency.

10.5.2 EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS)

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is designed for the broadcast media to disseminate emergency public information. This system enables the President, and federal, state and local governments to communicate with the general public through commercial broadcast stations.

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This system uses the facilities and personnel of the broadcast industry on a volunteer basis. EAS is operated by the broadcast industry according to established and

approved EAS plans, standard operating guides and within the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). FCC rules and regulations require all participating stations with an EAS operating area to broadcast a common program. Each broadcast station volunteers to participate in EAS and agrees to comply with established rules and regulations of the FCC. For additional information, see Riverside–San Bernardino County Emergency Alert System FCC EAS Plan. 10.5.3 TELEPHONE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM (TENS)

The County acquired the TENS to provide rapid emergency notifications to residents of the County. TENS, also referred to as a Reverse 9-1-1 Public Warning System, is a public warning system that may be used to warn or advise County residents of the potential for fire, flood, or other emergency circumstances in the County.

An emergency may require varied responses, depending on the type of incident,

whether it is an act of nature, human caused, or a technical event. The primary purpose of TENS is to improve notification of persons within a geographic area in the event of a life-threatening incident or threat. This may include evacuation notices, shelter in place orders, and/or special instructions for an imminent threat.

The TENS system uses a database of phone numbers and addresses which are

geocoded with the County’s street network to identify phone numbers in a specific area. The notification system can complete both small and large-scale notifications. The system is a notification option for public safety officials to make emergency notifications in a timely manner. For additional information, see San Bernardino County

Operational Area Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) ConOps.

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