The year 1988 saw the ratification of the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. This act requires all states to have a written emergency operations plan (EOP) to qualify for some federal funding.

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But after 20 years and amidst all the fatalities swamping workplaces across the country, nearly half of the U.S. states have no adequate EOP. This is a fact discovered through a recent study by Carl Botan, a communication professor in George Mason University and Paul Penchalapadu, an alumnus in the same university.

Rankings of EOP

Titled “Using Sense-Making and Co-orientation to Rank Strategic Public Communication in State Emergency Operations Plans”, the study showed that 22 states either don’t have a state-level emergency plan or fail to provide it readily to the public.

“While most Americans will have access to some important state-level information during emergencies, many may not,” Botan said. “When minutes may make the difference between life and death in an emergency situation, the population should not have to waste precious time looking for answers or who to turn to,” he said.

The study also graded and ranked the state EOPs of all the U.S. states and the District of Columbia based on their communication components.

There were three criteria used in analyzing the accessible state emergency operations plans:

• if the plans had a two-way communication component

• if they addressed communication needs of vulnerable publics (the aged, differently abled, etc.)

• if they gave importance to public communication by specifically addressing it in the plan

Specific Findings

The 29 states found to have available EOPs make provisions for public communication. This includes public broadcasts and news releases. Yet only 16 of these 29 states make provisions for two-way public communication like focus groups and community forums. Botan stressed the importance of two-way public communication, saying that this is a way for the state to understand the needs raised by residents in relation to emergency situations.

Only two among the 29 states with plans received a perfect score of eight for communication. These are New Mexico and Washington, D.C. Only 13 states included in their emergency operations plans a discussion of specific communication strategies for vulnerable publics.

Botan and  Penchalapadu are scheduled to present their study at the National Communication Association annual conference in San Diego on Nov. 22.

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