Terrorism & Risk Communications

摘要

Risk communications is more than giving safety briefings to disaster responders and updates to the media. A risk communications strategy is vital to effective response planning and execution, especially when hazardous materials are present. Under that circumstance, risk communications has two components because it has two distinct audiences: the responders and the public. Both must be informed, and kept informed, of the hazards surrounding the incident as rapidly and as accurately as possible. However, the extent of information given to each is different. Rockwell's article (above) stated that the responders and their leaders were not aware of the hazards posed by the relatively small amount of radioactivity released during the drill. Consequently, unnecessary protective measures were put in place and the responders were diverted from their tasks. The drill demonstrated that the response organizations had not prepared for such a hazard.