Working from the same page: consistent messages for CDEM
Published by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management
Version 1.0 June 2010
Working from the same page: consistent messages for CDEM Introduction Version 1.0, June 2010 3
Reference Documents for the Development of Consistent Messages in Civil Defence Emergency Management
This document is the product of a collaborative effort between individual professionals, agencies and organisations partnering with the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management.
Contributing agencies include:
• Earthquake Commission
• GNS Science
• MasseyUniversity
• MetService
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
• National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
• NZ Fire Service
• NZ Police
• The Insurance Council of New Zealand
• The University of Auckland
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is based on Talking About Disasters: Guide for Standard Messages, a document produced by the National Disaster Education Coalition, for which the American Red Cross provided project management.
Contents
Part A: General information
Pre-disaster preparedness
Household Emergency Plan
Emergency Survival Items and Getaway Kit (including Stocking and Storing
Food and Water and Emergency Supplies for Your Vehicle)
First Aid Kit and First Aid Kit for Pets
Evacuation, sheltering-in-place and post-disaster safety (including Emergency Sanitation)
Part B: Hazard-specific information (messages)
Natural hazard
Coastal storm inundation
Earthquakes
Floods
Heat
Landslides
Major storms
Snow
Thunderstorms
Tornadoes
Tsunami
Volcanoes
Pandemic and other hazards
Pandemic
Information is the key to understanding hazards, managing risks, and for helping people to take the appropriate actions in an emergency. It is important that the information and messages we provide are readily available to our wide audience and can be distributed in a timely manner.
It is absolutely crucial that those messages are accurate and consistent as people will always be looking for an authoritative source and particularly when public safety is involved. This reference document has been developed to help us all achieve those objectives.
If the information we provide be that directly, via websites, in the media, or any other way, is inconsistent, we create doubt and undermine the strength and importance of each others’ messages. Inconsistency will result in people being less likely to prepare before an emergency, or worse take some action during an emergency that is not based on the best advice.
The reference material provided in this document captures research that has been done for you by New Zealand’s leading experts. Science institutes, universities, government and non-government agencies, emergency services, insurance providers and others have spent three years researching, discussing and preparing this resource. We have all agreed that this is New Zealand’s standard reference for public messages about major hazards.
Any organisation involved in preparing for, responding to or recovering from an emergency, can confidently use these New Zealand-specific guidelines – they will be your key references for the messages you need to get to your particular communities. When we consistently give the same messages, we reinforce each others’ advice and generate better public confidence and promote faster, better co-ordinated and informed actions by the public.
I strongly encourage all organisations who are involved in helping people prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies to use this reference.
John Hamilton
Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is written to assist those responsible for developing and providing civil defence emergency management (CDEM) information to the general public. The document contains nationally agreed information on:
• specific hazards
• the impact of those hazards on the community, and
• the actions that individuals, families and communities can take to reduce, prepare for and protect themselves from the effects of major disasters.
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM should be consulted when developing public information related to an event or regional hazard. It also should be consulted when developing hazard-related educational material, displays and bulletin boards, print and electronic media, radio and television broadcasts and any other medium in which emergency safety is communicated to the public.
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is a ‘living document’ presented in a format that allows for continuous improvement based upon experience and evolving best practice. The content of this document is based on the consensus among many organisations that specialise in the area of emergency management, natural and other hazards and/or risk communication. This includes science institutes, universities, government and non-government agencies, emergency services, insurance providers and others. It has been carefully refined to ensure accuracy, consistency and appropriateness of key messages. To maintain its currency, individual chapters will be revised on a regular basis as new information becomes available.
Contradictory advice has, at times, been communicated to the public by different agencies, even when science or other specialist institutions have been consulted. This has created confusion and criticism of the agencies involved, and has ultimately undermined the credibility of official advice. The CDEM sector recognised the need for a detailed reference document that would enable the development of consistent emergency-related advice by all agencies involved. In this way, public assurance would be reinforced through hearing the same message from a variety of sources.
A document (Talking about Disaster – Guide for Standard Messages) had already been developed in the United States, based on the experience of similar agencies. This is a comprehensive document that took over ten years to produce. It was created through the collaborative efforts of hundreds of professionals, practitioners, scientists and researchers in the US. Contributors came from a variety of federal agencies, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and other not-for-profit entities that formed the Coalition of Organisations for Disaster Education.
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM emulates the US model in its form and structure, and to a large degree, in its content. It has, however, been developed by leading New Zealand researchers and practitioners from many institutions who used Talking about Disaster as a template. The hazards addressed and the corresponding public safety information messages in Working from the Same Page are specific to New Zealand. Some of the information may not adequately apply to other countries or regions.
This document is indebted to the American Red Cross and all the organisations who contributed to development of Talking about Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages (Washington, DC. 2006), available at The Ministry gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by the (U.S.) National Disaster Education Coalition’s project management leader in development of this publication
This document is aimed at emergency managers and CDEM officers, public information managers, educators, risk mitigation specialists, media personnel and communicators. It provides information to support the development of specific emergency and disaster prevention-related messages or training programmes and materials.
The messages/information provided in this document may be freely disseminated. It is expected that the information will be referenced by citing Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM (
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is divided into two parts – Part A and Part B – each comprising several chapters.
Part A contains general information. These chapters contain core preparedness messages common to all hazards.
Part B contains hazard-specific information. These chapters address the most common hazards in New Zealand and provide key public information messages related to these hazards. It is recommended that these chapters are read in conjunction with the chapters in Part A.
In general, all chapters are divided into awareness messages, core action messages and hazard-specific general information sections. The messages are presented in a question and answer format and the core messages are introduced in a box at the beginning of each chapter.
Awareness messages provide a description of the hazard and threats/risks presented by that hazard. Where appropriate, examples of warning messages are included (for example, see Tsunami section). Awareness messages are found at the beginning of each chapter.
Core action messages are overarching messages describing essential actions to be taken to prepare for and survive a disaster and/or a major emergency. All core action messages for each chapter are grouped together on the contents page for quick reference. Core action messages should always be read in conjunction with the remaining text in the chapter, particularly with specific action messages.
Action messages are sets of possible actions individuals and families/households can take to prepare for, mitigate and respond to a disaster or a major emergency. They are numbered for ease of referencing when developing material based on this document. The hazard-specific general information section contains media and education ideas, common misunderstandings (fiction) and corresponding facts, and useful links to more detailed information on the subject.
Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is available for download from the Ministry’s website in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. To open these files you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available as a free download from Adobe’s website (
A limited number of printed copies are available and can be ordered from the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. As Working from the Same Page: Consistent Messages for CDEM is a ‘living document’ it is important to check the date and version of each chapter (provided as a footnote on each page) to ensure you have the most recent version. The latest versions are posted on the MCDEM website, in the Publications area, accessible from the homepage.
Household emergency plan
Be prepared for disasters – make a plan
Please note: Core Action Messages should be read in conjunction with the rest of the text in this chapter.
CORE ACTION MESSAGES IN THIS CHAPTER (pp5-14)
Find out what could happen.
Create a Household Emergency Plan.
Complete a Household Emergency Checklist and put together your Emergency Survival Items.
Have a Getaway Kit.
Practice your plan and keep it up-to-date.
If you or anyone in your household has a disability or a mobility problem, make special plans.
Know in advance how to care for your pets in a disaster situation.
Awareness messages
Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighbourhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services, such as water, gas, electricity, or telephones, were cut off? Emergency services will be on the scene after a disaster, but in the immediate aftermath of an event, they will not be able to get help to everyone as quickly as needed. This is when individuals and communities are at their most vulnerable. This is why it is important for everyone to plan to be able to look after themselves for at least three days in the event of a disaster. Don’t forget to include pets/livestock in your plan.
You and the other members of your household could be separated during a disaster without any means of contacting each other as phone services are likely to be affected. Having a plan will help you work through where you will meet, who will pick up the kids from school, etc. Families can and do cope better with disaster by preparing in advance and working together as a team. Knowing what to do beforehand is your best protection and your responsibility. Learn more about Household Emergency Plans by contacting your local civil defence emergency management office or visit
A Household Emergency Plan is a personalised action plan that lets each member of a household know what to do in particular disaster situations and how to be prepared in advance. A functional Household Emergency Plan helps alleviate fears about potential disasters, makes actual disaster situations less stressful, and saves precious time in the face of disasters.
You can find an example of a Household Emergency Plan on the Get Thru website, on the ‘downloads’ page.
Parents and caregivers should:
• Tell children that a disaster is something that happens that could hurt people, cause damage, or cut off essential services such as water, telephones, or electricity. Explain to them that nature sometimes provides “too much of a good thing” – fire, rain, wind, snow. Talk about typical effects that children can relate to, such as loss of electricity, water, and telephone service.
• Give examples of several disasters that could happen in your community. Help children recognise the warning signs for each. Discussing disaster ahead of time reduces fear and anxiety and lets everyone know how to respond.
• Suggest that parents have a look at the What’s The Plan Stan? ( information about hazards in New Zealand and what to do. This resource is used by teachers in New Zealand schools and has been written for a younger (8-12 years old) audience. It presents information in a user-friendly language aimed specifically at a younger audience.
• Be prepared to answer children’s questions about scary things that they have heard about or seen on television, such as earthquake or tsunami damage. Give constructive information about how to be prepared to protect themselves and how to respond.
• Teach children how and when to call for help. Teach them to call 111 or your local emergency telephone number. At home, post emergency numbers by all telephones and explain when to call each number. Include the work numbers and cell phone numbers of household members. Even very young children can be taught how and when to call for emergency assistance. If a child cannot read, make an emergency telephone number chart with pictures or icons for 111, “daddy,” and “mummy” that may help the child identify the correct number to call.
• Tell children that in a disaster there are many people who can help them. Talk about ways that an emergency manager, police officer, fire-fighter, teacher,neighbour, doctor, or utility worker might help after a disaster.
• Teach children to call your out-of-town contact in case they are separated from the family and cannot reach family members in an emergency. Tell them, “If no one answers, leave a voice message if possible and then call the alternative contact.” Help them memorize the telephone numbers, and write them down on a card that they can keep with them.
• Quiz children every six months so they will remember where to meet, what telephone numbers to call, and safety rules.
• Explain that when people know what to do and practice in advance, everyone is able to take care of themselves better in emergencies. Tell them that is why you need to create a Household Emergency Plan.
• Allay children’s fears by emphasizing that, in an emergency, a parent or caregiver will be there to help.
• Many children now carry cell phones. Teach them how to include an ICE (In Case of Emergency) number on their cell phone, explain why there could be times when others may need to know how to contact mum or dad in an emergency.
Action messages
CORE ACTION MESSAGES
Find out what could happen.
Create a Household Emergency Plan.
Complete a Household Emergency Checklist and put together your Emergency Survival Items.
Have a Getaway Kit.
Practice your plan and keep it up-to-date.
For general preparedness:
1. Every household should create and practice a Household Emergency Plan.
2. Every household should have Emergency Survival items/Emergency Survival Kit at home to be able to look after themselves for at least three days.
3. Every household member should have a Getaway Kit with the essential items in case they have to leave home in a hurry or have to evacuate.
4. In addition, every household should take precautions specific to the types of disasters that could affect the local community and plan for and practice what to do when these disasters occur.
By learning what emergencies could occur in your community and what your risks may be (for example, living in a floodplain or near a volcano), you can prepare for the emergencies most likely to occur in your area. You should be prepared wherever you may be in case disaster strikes and learn steps you can take to prevent or avoid disasters. Learn more by contacting your civil defence emergency management office at the nearest local council. Be prepared to take notes.
Ask the following questions:
5. What types of emergencies are most likely to happen in your community?
6. What types of human-caused or technological emergencies could affect your region? Ask about chemical emergencies, which can occur anywhere chemical substances are stored, manufactured or transported.