BCC CRISIS PUBLIC INFORMATION PLAN (Revised 6/8/07)

Emergency communications procedures for the Incident Response Communication Coordinator named in the BCC Disaster Response Plan.

I. Communications Objectives

A. Provide accurate, consistent, useful and timely information to the public and the campus.

B. Convey that the college that is properly managing the emergency and cares deeply about its students and employees.

Hallmarks of communications meeting these objective are:

• Honesty • Caring and concern • Timeliness • Accuracy • Thoroughness • Consistency

II. Basic Rules of Crisis Communications

A. ALL public communications regarding the incident will be handled by a single spokesperson. As stated in the BCC Disaster Response Plan, this "Incident Response Communication Coordinator" should be the Director of Public Information or, if necessary, another person appointed by the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

B. Information will be released only AFTER authorization from the Incident Response Commander.

B. Factual information on injuries or casualties will be provided publicly only AFTER the victims' families have been notified.

C. Facts concerning the incident will be provided to the media and authorities in as timely a manner as possible, but only AFTER facts are thoroughly verified.

D. All appropriate interested publics will be informed fully and as quickly as possible, in coordination with other members of the incident response team.

Updated 10/15/2007

E. There will be NO SPECULATION to the media or other groups about cause, liability, losses or estimated duration of the incident.

F. Access to the site for members of the media will be managed by the incident spokesperson.

Ill. Action Steps for the Incident Response Communication Coordinator

A. Assess the situation

1. Confer immediately with the incident commander.

2. Determine answers to key questions, including:

• Whathappened? • Were there any injuries or deaths? If so, who? Have their families

been notified? • Is there any continuing danger to students/employees/visitors on

campus or in nearby areas? • Where, when and how did it happen? • What is the extent of the property damage? • What is/will be done to respond to the situation? • How are campus operations ( or other students or employees) being

affected?

3. Identify special communications needs or challenges.

4. In consultation with the Incident Commander, determine where the media should/should not be allowed to go on the incident site.

5. Consult with the Incident Commander regarding the public relations aspects of various options being considered for handling the situation, including arrangements for media entry to campus, parking and boundaries for access to emergency site;

6. Establish a schedule for continuing consultation with the Incident Commander.

7. Appoint three or four emergency public information assistants (to answer phones, carry messages to other emergency response personnel) and make names known to Incident Commander. [People with public information experience to consider from current staff as of 6/8/07: Bart Becker, Rebecca Morris, Andrew Johnson, Sharon Berg]

Updated 10/15/2007

8. Assign a Public Information advisor to be with President Floten at all times.

9. Establish contact and coordination with Police and Fire Department Public Information Officers.

B. Release initial statement

1. Release a statement to the media, campus and SchoolReport.org as soon as basic facts can be confirmed. Should include:

• Date, time and location of the incident • Basic scope of the emergency • Number of people involved/injured • College ' s immediate actions and/or plans to control or resolve the

situation • Actions required of faculty, and staff • Promise ofregular updates (even if there is no new information to

report) • Fact sheet: BCC at a Glance (Institutional Research) and/or Discover

BCC brochures (Institutional Advancement)

2. Coordinate messages with phone operators, web site emergency page

3. Inform press ofrestrooms and other physical facilities available.

4. Ask about any special needs media may have.

C. Establish a communications headquarters

1. Staff: If not already done, appoint three or four emergency public information assistants (to answer phones, carry messages to other emergency response personnel) and make names known to Incident Commander. [People with public information experience to consider from current staff as of 6/8/07: Bart Becker, Rebecca Morris, Andrew Johnson, Sharon Berg]

2. Location: If the College Relations office cannot be used for this purpose, the site selected should: • Be as near as possible to incident command center (K Building) and/or

the actual emergency site. (Possibilities: R Building or Athletics offices)

• Have sufficient telecommunications resources ( e.g. , phone, fax and data lines; computers and printers) .

Updated 10/15/2007

3. Phones: Public Information team should transfer their office phones to a desk in the communications headquarters.

4. If media representatives converge on campus for an extended period, a media room should be provided near the communications headquarters.

• The media room should offer sufficient communications and computer resources to handle the needs of the media.

• Temporary help may be needed to staff the media room. • As time permits, provide coffee and snacks.

D. Begin assembling a chronology of events leading up to and following the incident.

E. Continue media response, providing ongoing updates to media and the campus.

1. Determine and maintain a running list of the media to be kept informed.

2. Prepare fact sheets, news releases and other materials as needed to provide consistent information simultaneously to all media and the campus

3. Make an initial round of media phone calls, if necessary, to establish contact and position the college as the best source of ongoing information. Post information on SchoolReport.org (login: badams@bcc.ctc.edu; password: bccemergency), on website and on college phone system.

4. Schedule media and campus updates at regular intervals (keep to schedule even if there is no new information to report).

5. Maintain a log of media contacts, content of interviews or conversations.

6. Review news clippings and TV/radio tapes and provide the Incident Response Commander with timely summaries of coverage, including story angles, concerns and unanswered questions that need to be addressed.

F. Contact and respond to non-media audiences, as appropriate.

1. Identify interested agencies, organizations and other audiences. These may include the following:

• ASG, other students • Government agencies • Environmental groups • Employee unions • Elected officials

Updated 10/15/2007

• BCC and BCC Foundation boards • SBCTC, OSPI and community college PIOs • Donors

2. Make phone calls as needed to provide updates to these groups.

3. Facilitate communications between these organizations and the College's incident response team, as needed.

4. Summarize the concerns and attitudes of these groups as needed for the Vice President of Institutional Advancement and the Incident Commander.

V. Information Release Guidelines

In general, only the following information should be released in the initial moments of a crisis:

• Brief description of what happened and when. DO NOT SPECULATE AS TO CAUSE OR FAULT.

• Names of those injured or killed, but ONLY after the families have been notified and permission has been received from the person involved or next of kin.

• General nature of the injuries, but no details as to the extent of injuries.

• The name of the hospital to which the injured parties have been taken.

• Brief description of damage to property, including a brief statement as to the estimated impact on college operations (to the extent it is certain). Do NOT speculate on dollar value of damage or environmental impact.

• Measures being taken to control the situation ( e.g., notification of appropriate fire and law enforcement agencies; roping off the area; evacuation procedures; cleanup measures).

Do NOT make any public statements regarding the following:

• Liability for the incident

• Underlying cause of the incident

• Estimates of damage expressed in dollar amounts

Updated I 0/15/2007

• Estimates of the time required to clean up or repair the damage

• Estimate of cleanup or repair costs

• Promises that property or anything else will be restored to "normal"

• Statements about the appropriateness or effectiveness of other organizations' or agencies' response to the incident

• Any statement made "off the record"

VI. Essential preparation

The college's Public Information Officer should obtain the following equipment and have it available in an accessible place at all times:

• Two-way radios ( 4) that work on the Public Safety frequencies and also have their own frequency assigned to the Public Information response team.

• Vests (6) and/or badges that identify the Public Information response team as part of the overall college emergency response team.

• Heavy duty flashlights and batteries (6) • BCC logo podium sign

Updated 10/15/2007