BSDP-576
Disaster Communications & Media Relations

This course will provide an overview of crisis communication challenges associated with disasters, including basic human communications and communication needs, the impact of stressors in communications, risk communications to communities and to crisis responders, command and control, publicly accepted crisis communication techniques, and the technologies related to crisis communications.

Students will learn the theoretical foundations of risk communication, how to apply those principles during a public health crisis, and how to formulate and institute appropriate communications plans for a variety of audiences and disaster response organizations.

Course Number: BSDP-576
Classification: Required
Credits Earned: 3
Term Available: Spring/Fall
Faculty: Shannon Parker

Course Description:

This course will provide an overview of crisis communication challenges associated with disasters, including basic human communications and communication needs, the impact of stressors in communications, risk communications to communities and to crisis responders, command and control, publicly accepted crisis communication techniques, and the technologies related to crisis communications. Students will learn the theoretical foundations of risk communication, how to apply those principles during a public health crisis, and how to formulate and institute appropriate communications plans for a variety of audiences and disaster response organizations.

The course will begin by exploring the issues and complexities of human communications in crisis scenarios. It will expand on that learning to explore the nature of humans operating as a system and how communications allow the system to accomplish system-level goals. It will then begin to apply that understanding to various crisis situations to build a better understanding of the underlying effects and patterns of communications in crisis situations. Finally, the course will focus on issues particular to healthcare and first responder communications within the context of bio-security and national response situations. All of this will be accomplished through a set of readings, threaded discussions and assignments.

Although there is an overall building-block structure to the course, there will be many topics that overlap. This is to allow practical exposure at all levels of the discussion. Throughout the course, assignments will be provided which will assist students in absorbing the theoretical principles, and in understanding the practical applications.

Course Objectives:

At the conclusion of this course a student will be able to:
• An understanding of the impact disaster situations have on baseline communications capabilities at the human, organizational, command, and technology layers.
• An understanding of and sensitivity to the unique requirements of communicating ongoing bio-security risk to different stakeholders including responders, care-givers, the local and national media, and the public
• Knowledge of communication expectations in existing national, state and local response plans for disasters and biological incidents in particular, including political realities and technical capabilities
• Ability to synthesize all of that communications knowledge into actionable recommendations for organizations that need to respond to a biological incident.

Course Format:

Lectures, threaded discussions, and readings.