If you want to successfully educate the public about emergency preparedness, learn a lesson from advertisers and be clear, consistent and constant. So says Dr. Dennis Mileti, professor emeritus at the Institute of Behavioral Science/Natural Hazards Center, Colorado University at Boulder.

Viewed as one of the foremost scholars in disaster and emergency management in North America, Mileti was at Royal Roads University to deliver a timely and dynamic presentation to learners in the MA in Disaster and Emergency Preparedness program.

The focus was on results from a mega study completed in 2008 dubbed The Manhattan Project for Public Readiness.

Undertaken in the wake of the 9-11 terrorism attacks to support household and public preparedness for terrorist events in the U.S., the richly-funded research encompassed the entire geographic United States as well as a comprehensive range of racial and ethnic groups.

Results were compelling in that they were the same across all groups, all areas and for all hazards.
 
“The findings are impeccable in that they are clear, consistent and replicable. It’s as good as it gets in social science,” said Mileti.

What the results showed is that the relationship between information and public readiness is linear – that is, the more information, the more action. However, information must come from multiple sources and multiple channels and it must be explicit in what actions people should take and describe how those actions will help cut their losses in the wake of an emergency. It must also be consistent across messages from different sources.

. . . on pandemics   When a threat is from the outside - such as a natural disaster - sometimes it brings out the best in humanity. When the threat is from inside, the way it is in a pandemic, it splinters us. They are two fundamentally different sociological phenomena.   A pandemic is more equivalent to war than to a tornado or a flood. RRU’s influenza web update . . . on earthquakes   A recent scenario exercise in my home state of California drew attention to problems we hadn’t anticipated. For example, fire will destroy as much as the earthquake because Los Angeles is going to burn the way San Francisco burned in 1906. Water pipes will be so broken they will not be repairable and some areas will without water for six months. Areas outside cities will experience seven to 10 days of isolation so 72 hours of supplies will not be sufficient.

Perhaps surprisingly, the results also show that there is no relationship between readiness and perceived risk. In fact, Mileti said, people can tune out if the message focuses on risk.
 
“Don’t try to motivate with risk and probabilities,” he said. “Information is the key factor. It works everywhere for everyone. Provide information from as many sources as possible. Use multiple channels to provide the same information in different ways and provide it constantly. People do more after receiving the same message many times.”

Mileti said the key, above all, is to provide specific information.

“If we use the analogy of teaching a child how to tie her shoelaces, we don’t say ‘do it or you’ll get frostbite going outside in the winter without shoes.’ We say ‘cross this lace over the other’ and so on. It’s the same for adults. Tell them exactly what you want them to do and tell them where to find out more about how to do it.”
 
This information imperative, as Mileti calls it – makes it particularly important for different agencies to work together to provide consistent messaging.

“Stop providing unique messages. Branded readiness messages work best,” said Mileti.

He also dismisses the notion that public emergency preparedness campaigns may engender panic.

“Panic is a myth – it’s hogwash,” he said. “The public doesn’t even panic when disaster is happening. They panic in very limited circumstances. For example, it’s chilling to think that, given how much education has gone on, there is no difference in earthquake preparedness in California than in other areas of the United States.”
 
As a result, Mileti said it’s time to get public readiness out of the closet and into the streets. He cited as examples erecting a huge banner on a building undergoing renovation saying “retro-fitting for earthquake preparedness” and encouraging public discussion as California did with its Let’s talk about our faults earthquake preparedness campaign.

“We have to sell readiness the way they sell Coca Cola! Coke has spent millions of dollars over decades selling its product. Why? Because that’s what it takes to change people’s behaviour.”
 
Presentation slides can be viewed at http://iec.lacity.org/PDF/presentations/Mileti.pdf

The first students in RRU's inaugural MA program in Disaster and Emergency Management graduated at spring convocation in June. They specialized in assessing, mitigating, responding to and recovering from natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods and droughts; human-induced disasters such as pandemics and other health risks; as well as new, emergent threats such as bio-chemical, nuclear and cyber-terrorism.