Amy Sebring: Welcome to the EIIP Virtual Forum! Amy Sebring: For the benefit of our first-timers, when you see a blue web address, you can click on it and the referenced Web page should appear in a browser window. Amy Sebring: After the first one, the browser window may not automatically come to the top, so you may need to bring it forward by clicking on a button at the status bar at the bottom of your screen. Amy Sebring: We will start with a presentation, and then follow with a Q&A session for your questions and comments. Right before we begin the Q&A portion we will review the procedure. Amy Sebring: Please do NOT send direct messages to the speaker or moderator as it makes it difficult for us to follow the discussion. Amy Sebring: Today we are going to be learning about the Emergency Planner's Companion CD-ROM Series, and specifically the Public Information & Education CD. Background information for today's session may be found at http://www.emforum.org/vforum/000216.htm ... Amy Sebring: We are especially pleased to have John Sorensen and Barbara Vogt with us from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Amy Sebring: Dr. Sorensen is Director of the Emergency Management Center there, and among his numerous accomplishments, he served as the Team Leader for Prediction, Forecast and Warning subgroup for the Second Assessment which we talked about last spring when the summary volume was published. Amy Sebring: Dr. Vogt is currently a research associate in the Environmental Analysis and Assessment Center of the Energy Division at ORNL, but has been involved with emergency planning and risk communication for many years. Please see the background page for further biographical information on both of our guests. Amy Sebring: John will start off with the presentation, and then both he and Barbara will be available to answer your questions or respond to comments. Welcome to both of you and thank you for taking time to be with us today. John Sorensen: Let's begin. John Sorensen: The Emergency Planner's Companion CD ROMs were developed for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program. We would like to acknowledge the support of FEMA, including Kay Goss, Russ Salter, Phyllis Thompson, Peggy Stahl and Robert Norville for making this possible. John Sorensen: CSEPP is a program to provide maximum protection for civilians living in the vicinity of Army depots that store chemical warfare agents, among the most toxic substances in the world. There are 8 sites and 10 states involved in this effort. John Sorensen: Through State/FEMA/ Lab partnerships a number of technical reports and training products have been developed in support of CSEPP. These may be accessed at : htttp://emc.ornl.gov John Sorensen: Slide One: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide01.htm John Sorensen: CSEPP has a 400 page planning guidance document that defines the state of the art in emergency preparedness and response for a toxic chemical accident. It was too long and complex for most to comprehend. John Sorensen: The solution was to develop CD ROM based training on the PLANNING GUIDANCE that would be self-paced and could be done outside the classroom setting. John Sorensen: The primary audience of this training is planners in CSEPP. Even though it was developed for CSEPP, most information on the CD is relevant to any type of threat. John Sorensen: That is why it is knowledge based training. It does not offer a cook book approach. It does so in recognition that local agencies have their own approach to writing plans. The Emergency Planner's Companion CD ROMs allow a local planner to obtain the information needed to develop plans within the context of their own planning environment. John Sorensen: Experience has shown that planning is a process and not an endpoint in a document that sits on the shelf. John Sorensen: Slide 2: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide02.htm John Sorensen: The Emergency Planners Companion CD ROMs cover what is in the CSEPP Planning Guidance as well as the underlying rationale, that is the why of planning. John Sorensen: The planner's companions contain two tracks: one is comprehensive for the planner; the other is an abbreviated version designed for the decision-maker or casually interested party. John Sorensen: Taking advantage of multi-media technology the CD offer interactive exercises at the end of each unit. A 20 question quiz is also provided for self review or certification should a state decide to use it in that capacity. John Sorensen: Other features include a bookmark, a glossary, and extensive resource materials including references and pdf files. John Sorensen: On completing this course the student should be able to: 1) describe the basic logic behind providing public information, 2) prepare sections of site emergency plans related to public education and information, 3) assess and revise as necessary those sections of emergency plans and operating procedures related to public education and information, John Sorensen: 4) develop and disseminate educational and informational materials to target audiences, 5) prepare plans and procedures for implementing the JIC in an emergency, and 6) address activities to be evaluated in emergency exercises that involve the dissemination of information to the public in an emergency. John Sorensen: Slide 3: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide03.htm John Sorensen: Public Information and education is one title in this series. Other titles include: Command and Control, Protective Actions, Emergency Support Operations, Communications, Reentry & Recovery. John Sorensen: Slide 4: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide04.htm John Sorensen: This screen depicts the main user interface for the CD. Users would click on one of the two notebooks to access the instructional materials, or on the evaluation clip board to take the test. Also accessible are the text of the CSEPP Planning Guidance, a glossary, help screens, and related information resources. John Sorensen: Slide 5: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide05.htm John Sorensen: This screen shows the user interface for accessing the glossary. When one clicks on a term in the scrollable column of the left the definition is given in the box on the right, John Sorensen: Slide 6: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide06.htm John Sorensen: If one clicks on RELATED INFORMATION, the screen ON SLIDE 6 appears. One can access a number of useful information including relevant web sites, examples of preparedness publications, reference documents, and relevant training videos. John Sorensen: Slide 7: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide07.htm John Sorensen: If one choose Multi-hazard Preparedness Publications a list such as the one depicted in slide 7 would appear. Included in the list are relevant FEMA and Red Cross publications. John Sorensen: Slide 8: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide08.htm John Sorensen: When one clicks on one of the notebooks they are presented with the notebook menu as shown in slide 8. From here they can access each of the 8 units, a help function, the bookmark, or the course map. John Sorensen: Following an introduction, the units cover the following topics: Basic Concepts, Planning a Pre-emergency Information Program, Methods for Disseminating Information, Effective Communications, Disseminating Warnings, The Joint Information Center, and Evaluation in Exercises. John Sorensen: Under basic concepts we discuss the differences between pre-emergency and emergency information programs including different program objectives, such as awareness versus guidance; John Sorensen: different timeframes, such as non-immediate versus immediate; John Sorensen: different channels of communication, such as brochures or calendars versus the emerency alert system; and John Sorensen: different social context, such as normal versus emergency situations. John Sorensen: In Planning a Pre-emergency Information Program we emphasize the need for targeting information because our society is quite heterogeneous and different groups are influenced by different information sources and channels. John Sorensen: In Effective communications we discuss the style, format and content of informational materials as well as the need for sustained communications. John Sorensen: The Joint information Center stresses the critical need to control rumors and provide consistent information to the media and public. John Sorensen: Slide 9: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide09.htm John Sorensen: Slide 9 shows the interface at the sub-unit level. This screen shows the graphics associated with the style of the notification message in Unit 5, effective communication. It reinforces the concept that information should be clear, accurate, certain, consistent and specific. John Sorensen: Students navigate through the course by clicking on the green highlighted arrow. Alternatively they can access the bibliography, summon help, or review the objectives of this unit (light bulb). Choosing the menu takes one back to the Unit Menu. Clicking on map takes one to the course map. John Sorensen: Slide 10: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide10.htm John Sorensen: Slide 11: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide11.htm John Sorensen: A map is a very useful navigational device in a training CD. This allows the user to navigate at the sub-unit level without needing to scroll through many screens. This is useful when using the CDs as a reference document. The buttons have the titles of the sub-units and approximate playing times. John Sorensen: Slide 12: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide12.htm John Sorensen: These are the minimum specifications for the CD ROM. It is recommended to have a Pentium Processor, Windows 95 or later, 32 MB of RAM, a 6x or faster CD ROM Drive, SVGA monitor or greater, 256 colors, a 16 or 32 bit sound card, and QuickTime for Windows. John Sorensen: Slide 13: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/PIE/Slide13.htm John Sorensen: So how does one obtain these CDs? John Sorensen: There are 3 ways: 1) From FEMA HQ or Regions with CSEPP programs; 2) From NTIS, or 3) by emailing John at: jhs@ornl.gov John Sorensen: That concludes our presentation. Barbara and I would be happy to try to answer any questions you may have. Amy Sebring: Thank you very much John. We hope our audience members will make good use of this opportunity to ask you and Barbara questions about this topic, or others in related areas. Amy Sebring: Audience please enter a question mark (?) to indicate you wish to be recognized, go ahead and compose your comment or question, but wait for recognition before hitting the enter key or clicking on Send. Amy Sebring: We will have time at the end for announcements from the audience, so please hold them until the appropriate time. We now invite your questions or comments. [Due to a technical problem at the server, the Q&A portion of the program was not recorded.] Amy Sebring: Thank you very much for being with us today John and Barbara, and for your valuable contributions to this field. We will watch for the other titles in the series as they become available. Amy Sebring: Please stand by for a moment while we take care of some business. Avagene, can you tell us what's on for next week please? Avagene Moore: Thank you John and Barbara for an excellent presentation. Next Wednesday we will have Troy Armstrong with ecorp.com Inc. demonstrating a new Emergency Management Software application in the Tech Arena. Please be with us then. Amy Sebring: Thank you Ava. Are there any announcements from the floor? Now is the time. Amy Sebring: Another excellent piece on Public Education in the context of earthquakes is the latest issue of the Natural Hazards Informer which is available online at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/informer/infrmr2/infrm2wb.htm Amy Sebring: Thanks again John and Barbara, and thank you audience. As usual, we will have a text transcript posted this afternoon, and reformatted versions available next Monday. Amy Sebring: We will adjourn the session for now, but you are invited to remain for open discussion. You no longer need to use the question marks.