This is not a test: Communicating during a multi-day campus emergency

Becky Barnard

Michigan Technological University

@beckybarnard or rbarnard@mtu.edu

Accessible version

Background

On June 17, 2018, Houghton, Michigan, got a surprising summer storm. Heavy rains triggered flash floods that ripped through parts of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Roads became rivers. Homes and businesses were severely damaged or destroyed by mudslides, flooding, and cave-ins.

Michigan Tech's Administration Building - which housed the primary Emergency Operations Center, critical electrical junctures, and our emergency response kits - flooded up to eight feet in places.

Questions about campus safety. Worries about employees and students caught in the flood. No electricity. Classes to cancel. Decades-long lab experiments at risk of ruin if their (now powerless) freezers got above -80 degrees.

Buses en route for Summer Youth Programs. A new president starting in a week. The nearest news station 100 miles away. The list of unexpecteds accumulated as fast as the rain...

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Our administration building

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HALF PAGE IMAGE SIZE EXAMPLE

NIMS, PIO, and ICT

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

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It’s #4 on the poster, but it’s 100% the biggest takeaway from our emergency. If you don’t know what these things stand for, and if you’re on your university’s emergency comms team, GET TO KNOW NIMS.

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NIMS: National Incident Management System

• A program run by FEMA, it makes sure emergency response teams across the country are trained in the same techniques and using the same terminology
• NIMS is modular – one ICT (Incident Command Team) of just a few people can handle a small issue. Multiple ICTs can combine to form an Emergency Operations Center. So if your on-campus issue is part of a larger issue, you can combine with local, state, and federal teams to work the problem.

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The best part of ICT

• If an emergency is declared and your ICT is officially engaged, the Incident Commander is the leader of the show. They make the calls as decisions happen.
• Your Incident Commander should establish, before an incident, that precedent with your president, your board, etc.
• There’s a lot of stress to get comms out quickly, and your executives will want input. Input takes time. In an ICT, there’s a Liason officer who is responsible to get input from all of these parties and relay it to the Incident Commander. But in the heat of the moment, when you have a message that needs to be sent, it’s you and your laptop and a “hey, can you review this?” with your Incident Commander. It saves incredible amounts of time.

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Accessible version: Thesis panel

• KNOW YOUR RESOURCES
• Find your crisis comm team. Who's gathering information, who's writing, and who's pushing send? When do you use your emergency alert system and when do you use social?�
• PREPARE YOUR RESPONSES
• Have some "worst case scenario" meetings. Write boilerplate. Stick to the facts and don't think about brand language. Find some photos that will work when reporting news that's not ideal.
• PACK AN EMERGENCY KIT
• Keep your boilerplate, photos, contact lists, and passwords in multiple locations, on- and offline.�
• NIMS. PIO. ICT.
• If these terms aren't familiar, talk to your public safety office or check fema.gov. They can save you headaches and, more importantly, TIME.

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Accessible version: Tips for social

Use your emergency communication software in the heat of the moment.

Use your social for that time between emergency and back to normal.

• TONE: Brief and factual
• Time is an important asset in an emergency. Tell them what you know, and where to get more information. No "we think," no "we hope," no conjecture.
• Brand Goes out the window
• Emergencies aren't your brand, so don't use your branded language in the heat of the moment. You can get back to brand when things return to normal.
• Images: Feed the algorithm
• We all know posts with images get more views, so try to use images when possible. Remember that they'll be used by the media, so stock up on generic campus photos, your school seal, and solemn photos of leadership.
• Updates Edit and update thoughtfully
• Don't delete your posts - that will confuse users who have shared them. As new information comes in, update your last post with something like "new information is available as of time/date. See this page/informational site/etc for more details."

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Tips for social, image description

IMAGE: A Facebook post screenshot, featuring a photo of a building with water up to the first floor windows.

CAPTION: The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for Houghton County. Heavy rain has caused several flooded roads, making travel dangerous. Campus is closed. Please do not try to drive to campus until further notice. As it becomes available, more information can be found on mtu.edu/alert. If you are in the area of danger, please call 911. (Edit: posted 9:06 a.m. on 6/17/2018. For the latest information, please check our Facebook page or mtu.edu/alert.)

Accessible version: The Power of Sisu

IMAGE: a silhouette of the upper peninsula of Michigan

(Pronounced see'-soo) Finnish for "persistence and

determination" or "true grit with grace."

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Accessible Version: The Power of Sisu (cont’d)

Seven inches of rain in four hours. On June 17, 2018, Houghton, Michigan, got a surprising summer storm. Heavy rains triggered flash floods that ripped through parts of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Roads became rivers. Homes and businesses were severely damaged or destroyed by mudslides, flooding, and cave-ins.

Michigan Tech's Administration Building - which housed the primary Emergency Operations Center, critical electrical junctures, and our emergency response kits - flooded up to eight feet in places.

Questions about campus safety. Worries about employees and students caught in the flood. No electricity. Classes to cancel. Decades-long lab experiments at risk of ruin if their (now powerless) freezers got above -80 degrees.

Buses en route for Summer Youth Programs. A new president starting in a week. The nearest news station 100 miles away. The list of unexpecteds accumulated as fast as the rain...

We came together as a team, as a university, and as a community. We dug deep and relied on the power of sisu. We were, and are #coppercountrystrong

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Accessible version: The power of Sisu, image description

Three-image panel: a road that has been torn apart by flooding, a van up to its wheel wells in standing water, and an aerial shot of a lighthouse with a plume of dirty water headed out into a clean blue bay

Logo: Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University (mtu.edu) is a public research university,

home to more than 7,000 students. Founded in 1885, the University offers

more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Our campus in

Michigan's Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a

few miles from Lake Superior.

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Thanks, HEweb

If you’d ever like to talk, hit me up at @beckybarnard or email me at rbarnard@mtu.edu and we can email or Skype or whatever works for you. For real. The more people learn about emergency management, the more people we can help.

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