Emergency Risk Communication for Public Health Professionals

Establish emergency communications roles and responsibilities for bioterrorism (BT)/emergency response.

Ensure, coordinate, or contribute to the development and delivery of accurate event-specific, science-based risk communication messages to the public, to health care providers, to the media, and to the response community during a BT/emergency event.

Use, coordinate, or contribute to event-specific information and scientific principles of risk communication to inform the public, the media, health care providers and the response community during a BT/emergency event.

Designate or serve as a media spokesperson during a BT event.

Generate a BT/emergency response plan for the public health information staff that is integrated with the emergency response plan for the agency by applying the following competencies:

• Establish emergency communications roles and responsibilities for BT/emergency response.
• Maintain an up-to-date directory of materials and resources on bioterrorism/emergencies.
• Maintain written plans for 24/7 availability of staff and specialists required during a BT event.