Averting the Tipping Point
Risk Communications for Swine Flu and Other Healthcare Emergencies

Suzanne L. Frew
Risk Communications Consultant
The Frew Group

May 13, 2009


Contents:
Live Meeting Recording (WMV) This is a large file and requires Windows Media Player or Windows Media Components for QuickTime, or a similar product to view.
Transcript (HTML)
Transcript (MS Word)
Slides (Adobe PDF)
Ratings
Reviews
Rate/Review This Session


Related Websites:
CDC Swine Flu page
World Health Organization Swine Flu page
PandemicFlu.gov



Up Arrow to Top of Page RATINGS
21 Ratings Submitted: 21 attended, 0 read, 0 viewed
3 (14%) Academia 4 (19%)
12 (57%) Business 6 (28%)
6 (29%) Government 9 (43%)
0 (0%) Volunteers 1 (5%)
0 (0%) Other 1 (5%)

Up Arrow to Top of Page

REVIEWS

"Suzanne is an excellent presenter!"
Rocky Lopes
National Assoc. of Counties


"Excellent use of the polling facility!"
Art Botterell


"Presenter had wide range of relevant experience."
Chris Saeger
American Red Cross


"The powerpoint will be very helpful as a reference."


"Thanks for incorporating the poll numbers as part of the Forum today----it was interesting to see the thoughts of the group at large."
Pat Hays-Moore
NM Dept. of Health


"Timely, informative and interactive - all very strong points of the presentation. Well done. Excellent format and use of technology."
Hank Straub
NJ Business Force at NJIT


"Great session that discussed the timely issue of risk communications in the wake of the Swine Flu."


"Good presenter, though I would hasten to add that many of the issues that were posed have been addressed by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Framework have set the platforms for critical incident management response and communications. We were all supposed to rehearse and practice for Pandemic years ago; Pandemic is one of the identified 15 National Planning Scenarios. Each jurisdiction was supposed to have a Pan Plan to support each State's Pan Plan in support of the Federal Pandemic Plan.

Nothing in A-H1N1 should have surprised us. Our states and municipalities have spent lots of money doing pandemic exercises. The inclusion of preemptive communciations with our constituents should have been practiced by establishing Joint Information Systems."
Brian Long





Up Arrow to Top of Page

SUZANNE FREW

Suzanne Frew is an international consultant, speaker, facilitator and instructor in emergency management throughout the United States, the Pacific Island and Southeast Asia. She brings almost 20 years of public and private experience spearheading, designing and evaluating pre- and post-disaster risk and strategic communications, emergency management plans and partnership initiatives.

Through The Frew Group, her consulting practice based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Frew works collaboratively with government agencies, business, community and faith-based organizations to develop solutions that meet the unique needs and circumstances of stakeholders at the national, regional and local community level. Ms. Frew specializes in the communication and strategic/tactical planning needs of multi-cultural, high-risk populations, addressing cultural, socio-economic and faith-based concerns of "communities within the community" to develop sustainable approaches that engage priority audiences.

Ms. Frew has been in private consulting since 1999, providing leadership for many key public-private partnership community resiliency and educational/informational initiatives. She is a published author, article reviewer, and a regular speaker for emergency management conferences and workshops. She has served as an adjunct instructor for a variety of clients, including FEMA's Emergency Management Institute, Orange County Sheriff's Department, FBI, California Office of Emergency Services/California Department of Public Health, and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. A member of IBM's Humanitarian Response Team, she worked closely with the National Child Protection Authority of Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean Tsunami to develop a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Training-of-Trainers Educational Program, and supported recovery efforts during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Ms. Frew has trained emergency management and public health workers on risk communications, developed and facilitated CBRNE exercises, and developed plans for local public health departments. In 2008, Ms. Frew provided expert advice on U.S. resiliency initiatives for the National Roundtable on Disaster Resiliency for the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Public Health Agency of Canada. She first experienced the challenge of public health concerns while in Thailand teaching risk communications to Asian emergency managers at the peak of the Avian Flu outbreak.

A prior FEMA regional official for nine years during the 1990s, Ms. Frew served in a wide variety of positions, including Marketing, Education and Partnership Development Coordinator, Public Information Officer and Mitigation Education Branch Chief on natural disasters throughout the United States and island jurisdictions..