Information Management and Communication in Emergencies and Disasters: Manual for Disaster Response Teams

This book from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Regional Disaster Response Team is part of the effort to improve technical capacity in the region of the Americas and has been developed from lessons learned and practical experience gained in many disaster situations. The manual provides recommendations on dealing with the context and conditions where information is needed, guidelines on producing reports and distributing information for different audiences, how to manage communication media, and planning the work of communication during emergency response. It complements other PAHO/ World Health Organization (WHO) efforts in communicating for risk management.

The resource addresses the need recognised by multi-disciplinary disaster response teams for specialists in the fields of information management and communication. The role of these specialists is to produce quality information which can be shared with the people and agencies that need it. The information must be produced on time, in the proper format, and distributed through the most appropriate channels.

Summary of the content:

Chapter 1 Communication and information management during emergency and disaster response Chapter 2 Planning communication and information management for emergencies and disasters Chapter 3 Managing information during an emergency or disaster Chapter 4 Working with communication media Chapter 5 Developing messages and communication materials Annexes: Checklists, situation report format, examples of situation reports and press releases, websites, acronyms, and bibliography