Media Operations and Family Assistance in Mass Disaster

Chung, Nak Eun

Abstract

The level of initial media response will depend on the type of incident and the location of occurrence. Mass fatality incidents that occur in easily accessed areas will probably attract more and longer media visibility than an incident that occurs in a remote and possibly inhospitable climate. The actions the participates take should be based on doing what is right regardless of who is watching. However, we prepared for the problems the media can cause and have the ability to solve them. Many agencies have learned the hard way that no matter how well they managed the response to an incident, if the media coverage is unfavorable, the perception will be that they did a poor job. Having a good media-management plan is also something that does not just happen. Pre-incident coordination is key, as well as having trained spokespersons who can get along with the media and understand the media's role. The quality of our response will in large part be judge by the public's perception of our actions. No matter the cause of the incident or the size of the response force, the success of any incident response will depend on how well the families were cared for. So, the family assistance operations are very important. The quality of our overall response will, in large part, be judged by our response to the families. Mistakes should not happen, but when they do, we cannot undo them. Therefore, it is critical to listen to the families, provide them with what we can, and do our best.