Defining Disaster Communication

Overview

Welcome to HLS/CAS 553. This course provides an integrative perspective regarding communication as part of Homeland Security and Public Health Preparedness. Many of you are or will be enrolled as degree or certificate students in the Public Health Preparedness program. Many of you are professionals or practitioners working in public health. A few of you are likely to be undergraduate or graduate students interested in learning about disaster communication. Students in this course thus will be coming from varied backgrounds which will enhance the educational experience.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Describe the overall course objectives
  • Define three core types of communication that comprise disaster communication and their role in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery
  • Identify historical trends in crisis, risk, and emergency communication
  • Discuss the roles, rules, and relations that distinguish several groups who will be key audiences to consider in disaster communication
  • Define disaster communication forms and functions
  • Discuss several barriers to effective disaster communication.