Response 1: Effective risk and warning communication during natural hazards

Summary

The video script discusses the critical role of emergency warnings in disaster management, highlighting research funded by the Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC. Researchers from Queensland University of Technology investigate warning formation and impact, aiming to enhance public response. The findings inform disaster management coordinators like Cathy Buck, emphasizing clear, consistent, and behavior-driven messaging. The script showcases practical applications of the research in improving emergency communication strategies, including the use of visuals and templates for effective warnings.

Takeaways

• 🚨 Multiple flood evacuation orders and an emergency warning for a bushfire are in place, highlighting the need for communities to be aware of their risks and prepare accordingly.
• 🌟 Warnings play a crucial role in emergency management, with significant improvements in policy and practice over the past decade in Australia.
• 🔬 Researchers from Queensland University of Technology, funded by the Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC, are studying the formation and impact of warnings to improve their effectiveness.
• 👩‍🔬 Cathy Buck, disaster management coordinator at Sunshine Coast Council, emphasizes the importance of engaging with the community before an event to ensure they are informed and prepared.
• 🧠 Professor Vivienne Tippett's interdisciplinary team focuses on understanding how people make decisions under pressure and what type of messaging triggers effective responses.
• 🔍 The research examines how different messaging strategies, including language, structure, and visuals, influence people's actions during emergencies.
• 📊 The findings are used to create practical guidelines and templates for emergency managers, improving the consistency and clarity of public warnings.
• 🚒 Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) have integrated the research into their warnings protocols, using clear headers and dot points to make information easier to digest.
• 📱 The new Australian Warning System aims to provide consistent warnings for various hazards, including bushfire, flood, storm, cyclone, and extreme heat.
• 💡 Cathy plans to apply the insights from the research to her organization's communication strategies, ensuring messages are clear and actionable, both internally and externally.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of flood evacuation orders and emergency warnings?

The primary purpose of flood evacuation orders and emergency warnings is to alert communities of impending natural disasters, enabling them to take necessary action to protect lives and property.

Why is it recommended to shelter in place when it's too late to leave during a bushfire?

Sheltering in place is recommended when it's too late to leave a bushfire area because attempting to evacuate at that point can be more dangerous, and staying in a well-prepared and safe location might offer better protection.

What is the role of the State Emergency Service in disaster management?

The State Emergency Service plays a critical role in disaster management by issuing warnings, providing advice, and coordinating community responses to ensure people are aware of their risks and prepared accordingly.

How have recent emergencies in Australia influenced the evolution of warning policies and practices?

Recent emergencies in Australia have highlighted the importance of effective warnings in saving lives. This has led to a transformative evolution in policy and practice, with a focus on understanding why some warning strategies are more successful than others.

What is the significance of the research conducted by the Queensland University of Technology researchers?

The research conducted by the Queensland University of Technology is significant as it investigates the formation and impact of warnings. It aims to understand how to make warning messages more effective in prompting the desired behavioral response during emergencies.

What challenges does Cathy Buck face as a disaster management coordinator?

Cathy Buck, as a disaster management coordinator, faces the challenge of coordinating all emergency agencies and the council, engaging with the community to provide timely warnings and advice, and ensuring that the community is well-informed and prepared for disasters.

What prompted Professor Vivienne Tippett to start researching warning messages?

Professor Vivienne Tippett started researching warning messages due to frustrations associated with people not following official messaging, particularly regarding driving in flood waters. She aimed to understand why people don't act as expected when receiving official warnings.

How does the research team led by Professor Tippett approach the study of warning messages?

The research team, led by Professor Tippett, approaches the study of warning messages by combining expertise in marketing research, crisis communication, and psychology. They aim to identify the best triggers for behavioral responses, considering changes in decision-making under stress.

What are some of the key findings from the research on warning messages?

Key findings from the research include the importance of leading with behavioral actions in messages, using clear and consistent language, avoiding technical jargon, and utilizing visuals to enhance understanding and offset misperceptions.

How have the recommendations from the QUT research team been implemented in practical guidelines and templates?

The recommendations from the QUT research team have been used to create practical guidelines and templates for emergency managers, such as hazard notes, the Public Information and Warnings Handbook, and the Australian Warning System, which provide a national approach to information and warnings for various hazards.

What changes has the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services made based on the research findings?

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has integrated the research findings into its warnings protocols, focusing on effective communication principles, using clear headers, dot points in warnings for better digestibility, and considering the role of different agencies in issuing warnings for various hazards.

How does Cathy plan to apply the learnings from her experiences with the researchers and state agencies?

Cathy plans to apply the learnings by sharing the insights with her immediate team and working with the media and communications branch to improve their own messaging. She aims to ensure that they are giving the correct message and using effective communication strategies learned during her time with the researchers and state agencies.

Outlines

00:00

🚨 Emergency Warnings and Public Preparedness

The script begins with a focus on the critical role of emergency warnings in disaster management, with multiple flood evacuation orders and bushfire emergency warnings in place across the state. The State Emergency Service emphasizes the importance of community awareness and preparedness. The evolution of warning policies and practices is highlighted, with a narrative on the transformative impact of significant emergencies in Australia over the past decade. Research funded by the Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC is underway at Queensland University of Technology to understand the formation and impact of warnings. The research aims to improve warning messages by investigating psychological responses under pressure and the effectiveness of different message structures, language, and visual triggers. The goal is to enhance public behavior during emergencies, with insights from disaster management coordinators like Cathy Buck, who coordinates emergency agencies and community engagement.

05:00

🔍 Improving Emergency Warnings Through Research

This paragraph delves into the research led by Professor Vivienne Tippett, which seeks to understand why people may not act as intended despite receiving official warnings. The team explores psychological factors influencing decision-making under pressure and investigates the impact of language, message structure, and visual elements on comprehension and action. The research considers the changes in decision-making processes during stressful situations, such as the 'fight or flight' response and its influence on behavior. The findings are intended to guide the creation of more effective warning messages that can elicit the desired behavioral response from the public during emergencies. The importance of consistent messaging across various communication channels and the use of visuals to counteract misperceptions are also discussed.

10:02

📘 Applying Research to Enhance Emergency Communication

The narrative continues with Cathy meeting Associate Professor Amisha Mehta to discuss the research findings and their implications for emergency warning messages. The advice given includes avoiding technical jargon, leading with clear behavioral actions, and providing specific instructions to support those actions. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of consistent messaging from various sources during a crisis and the role of visuals in conveying the severity of a situation. Practical guidelines and templates for emergency managers, such as hazard notes and public information handbooks, have been developed based on the research findings. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has integrated these findings into its protocols, focusing on clear, easy-to-understand warnings. The paragraph concludes with Cathy reflecting on the value of the research and considering its application in her own organization, with an aim to improve communication strategies both internally and externally.

Keywords

💡Evacuation Orders

Evacuation Orders are directives issued by authorities to move people out of a threatened area to safety. In the context of the video, these orders are critical for managing emergencies such as floods, emphasizing the importance of timely and clear communication to save lives.

💡Emergency Warning

An Emergency Warning is a high-level alert issued when a situation is imminent and potentially life-threatening. The video discusses the necessity of such warnings for bushfires, highlighting the need for people to shelter in place when it's too late to leave.

💡Shelter in Place

Shelter in Place is a directive to stay where you are, especially during a dangerous situation like an approaching fire, rather than evacuating. The script mentions this as the only option when the time to leave has passed, underscoring the severity of the situation.

💡State Emergency Service

The State Emergency Service (SES) is an organization responsible for emergency management and disaster response. The video emphasizes the SES's key message about community awareness and preparedness, demonstrating their role in coordinating responses and issuing warnings.

💡Disaster Management Coordinator

A Disaster Management Coordinator, like Cathy Buck mentioned in the script, is responsible for coordinating emergency agencies and council efforts during disasters. This role is pivotal in engaging with the community and disseminating warnings and advice.

💡Interdisciplinary Research

Interdisciplinary Research involves the collaboration of experts from different fields to address complex issues. The video describes how a team from the Queensland University of Technology conducted such research to understand and improve warning messages, integrating knowledge from marketing, crisis communication, and psychology.

💡Behavioural Response

Behavioural Response refers to the actions people take in reaction to certain stimuli or messages. The research in the video aimed to identify triggers that would elicit the desired behavioral response during emergencies, such as evacuating or sheltering in place.

💡Fight or Flight

Fight or Flight is a physiological response to perceived threats, preparing the body to either confront or flee from danger. The script discusses this concept to explain how stress can affect decision-making during emergencies, influencing how people respond to warnings.

💡Crisis Communication

Crisis Communication is the process of exchanging information during emergencies to guide and reassure the public. Associate Professor Amisha Mehta, featured in the script, specializes in this area, emphasizing the importance of clear and consistent messaging during crises.

💡Public Information Officer

A Public Information Officer is responsible for disseminating information to the public during emergencies. In the script, the role is highlighted as part of the State Operations Centre, where they manage the communication of warnings and instructions to the community.

💡Australian Warning System

The Australian Warning System is a national approach to standardizing information and warnings for various hazards. The script mentions this system as an example of how research findings are being implemented to improve the clarity and effectiveness of emergency messages.

Highlights

Multiple flood evacuation orders are in place across the state.

An emergency warning is in place for a bushfire, with the only option to shelter in place as the fire approaches.

The State Emergency Service emphasizes the importance of community awareness and preparedness for risks.

Research funded by the Bushfire and Natural Hazard CRC aims to understand the formation and impact of warnings.

Cathy Buck, disaster management coordinator, discusses the role of engaging with the community and issuing warnings.

Professor Vivienne Tippett leads an interdisciplinary team to improve warning messages by understanding decision-making under pressure.

The research explores psychological aspects of how people respond to information during emergencies.

The team investigates the use of language, message structure, images, color, and triggers to enhance warning effectiveness.

Understanding the 'fight or flight' response and its impact on decision-making during stressful situations is crucial.

Cathy meets with Associate Professor Amisha Mehta to discuss the research findings on crisis and risk communication.

Recommendations include avoiding technical jargon, leading with behavioral actions, and using visuals to convey crisis narratives.

The QUT team's findings have been incorporated into practical guidelines and templates for emergency managers.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has integrated research findings into its warnings protocols.

The importance of clear, easy-to-understand information in warnings is emphasized for community digestibility.

Cathy reflects on the research outcomes and considers their application in her own organization's emergency warnings.

The new Australian Warning System is discussed, which will apply warning principles more closely to various hazards.

Cathy plans to share insights with her team and work on improving communication strategies within her organization.

Transcripts

- [Reporter 1] Multiple flood evacuation orders

are in place across the state.

- [Reporter 2] An emergency warning is in place

for a bushfire.

- It is too late to leave

and the only option is to shelter in place

as the fire approaches.

- Key message from the State Emergency Service

at this time is all communities need

to be aware of their risk and plan and prepare accordingly.

- [Narrator] Warnings are a critical component

of emergency management

and the evolution of both policy

and practice over recent years

has been transformative.

A series of significant and tragic emergencies

across Australia over the past decade

has highlighted the power of warnings to save lives

and a need to learn more

about why some warning strategies

were more successful than others.

With funding and support from the Bushfire

and Natural Hazard CRC,

a multidisciplinary group of researchers

from the Queensland University of Technology

have be investigating the formation

and impact of warnings.

The findings of the research are important

for people like Cathy Buck,

disaster management coordinator at Sunshine Coast Council.

Cathy is part of a growing cohort

of organisations that are being tasked

with greater responsibility in the public information space.

- So my role entails the coordination

of all emergency agencies, as well as Council.

So it's about engaging with community prior to the event

to let them know okay, this event's coming.

Putting out warnings and advice to community

to know A, what's gonna be happening,

what it's going to look like on the ground,

whether it's likely to affect

and what they would be doing in preparation to that.

- [Narrator] Cathy is meeting

with Professor Vivienne Tippett

from QUT's School of Clinical sciences.

Professor Tippett has been leading

an interdisciplinary team of researchers

in an effort to understand

and improve warning messages.

- So I guess for me,

trying to understand how this research came about

and what prompted you to start looking into this,

what was the actually issue we're looking at to begin with?

- We found ourselves in a meeting

about seven and a half, eight years ago

where we were talking about some

of the frustrations associated with,

particularly people driving in flood waters

and we got to wondering,

we'd not met each other before

but we got to wondering whether or not there were things

about our different positions in science

that could help us to understand why people don't do

what we think we've asked them to do

or they should do

when they've had official messaging.

So we got together and spent a bit more time

and wrote a proposal that would help us

to explore from a psychological point of view

what sort of things happen

when people are asked to make decisions under pressure.

How do they respond to information?

And then put all of our subsequent effort

into what sort of language can we use,

what sort of message structure?

Do images, do colour,

do other types of triggers make a difference

to what people actually hear?

And does that inform what they actually do?

- [Narrator] By bringing together expertise

in marketing research, crisis communication

and psychology, Professor Tippett's team set about trying

to identify the best possible set

of triggers to create behavioural response.

In doing so, they had to take into account changes

in normal decision making

that occur when people are placed

in stressful or unfamiliar situations.

(dramatic music)

- I think most of us have heard about

and understood the fight or flight science,

which suggests that when you put human beings

and many mammals under pressure,

that a lot of their behavioural actions

are driven by changes in their hormonal structure.

It's that primary.

And that forces us to make decisions

about whether or not we're going to stay and fight

or run away basically.

And whether you do that physically or you do it

from a psychological standpoint,

the drivers are very much the same.

(dramatic music)

We also know that people

don't process complicated information necessarily

in the same way that they do

when their mindset and their environment is different.

And it's a very fine line between being able

to apply the added value of an adrenaline surge

that comes with that fight or flight,

which sometimes can actually result

in human beings doing the most remarkable things

in a good way.

But it's a very fine line between that

and not behaving, not being able to problem solve,

not being able to conduct an action

in the way which maximise your safety.

(lively music)

- [Narrator] Next, Cathy is meeting

with Associate Professor Amisha Mehta,

a chief investigator on the research team

who specialises in crisis and risk communication

to get a better understanding

of some of the research findings

and what these might mean

for her emergency warnings role.

- So as far as I guess cumulative with your research,

if you were to give me your top tips,

if I'm developing messaging for my community,

what would your recommendation be

and those top tips for me?

- The first thing I would do

is look for where you might be biassed

to use operational or technical language and flip it.

Think about what a community member may

or may not know

and stand in their shoes

and think about what you need them to do.

Our advice is lead with that behavioural action,

whatever the more abstracted behavioural action is

and then supplement that with the specific instructions

that support that behavioural cue.

Be it prepare, be it leaving.

Everything's contained within that one go-to piece.

There's multiple players that are communicating

during a natural hazard.

Media, but also people on Facebook

and different kinds of groups and organisations as well.

So thinking about how they work together

and generally consistently is great

but when there is inconsistency in the messages,

it can trigger concerns, misperceptions.

And the use of visuals to tell part

of a broader crisis narrative is really important.

So when agencies can, show what the fire looks like.

Or show videos of what the fire looks like

and that can help offset some

of the misperceptions that can arise

as a result of conflicting cues.

(lively music)

- [Narrator] Recommendations from the QUT team

have been used to produce practical guidelines

and templates for emergency managers,

such as hazard notes

from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC,

the public Information and Warnings Handbook

produced by the Australian Institute

for Disaster Resilience,

and the Australian Warning System,

which is a new national approach

to information and warnings for hazards,

such as bush fire, flood, storm,

cyclone and extreme heat.

One organisation that has integrated the research findings

into its warnings protocols

is Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

Cathy's on her way to meet QFES information

and warnings manager, Kath Ryan

to get an understanding

of how they use effective communication principles

in their work.

- So this is the State Operations Centre,

which is where we run our State-level Queensland Fire

and Emergency Services operations I guess.

So you can see that it's set up

so that we've got all

of the functional roles represented in here.

So operations, planning, logistics,

and of course, we've got public information.

So when this centre is activated,

we would have a public information officer based in here.

The research that's been done over the past couple

of years has been so valuable to us

as emergency services organisations

to really shape what we're doing

in the public information and warnings world.

The world is changing, our communities are changing,

the technologies are changing,

our understanding of what is required

from emergency messaging is definitely getting better.

So we've got a mindset of continuous improvement

and all of that research really gives us the opportunity

to make sure that we're continuously evolving

what we're doing in the warnings space

and really meeting the needs of the community.

- [Narrator] Cathy is shown where the warning messages

are generated, and the templates that are used

to help ensure that information

is provided in ways that are easy to understand

and act on.

- So the research has been really useful to us

in figuring out how we're going to move forward

with warnings, and we've been able

to take some really key concepts

and apply them to our warnings template.

So for example, you can see that our warnings

are broken up.

So that chunking is really important

with clear headers and our information

in our warnings will be displayed as dot points

because that research tells us

that that makes it really easy

for the community members to digest and retain.

- So you do warnings for all events,

not just fire or anything like that?

- So at the moment, in Queensland,

QFES is responsible for warnings

for bush fires, hazmat incidents

and also structure fires.

With the new Australian Warning System coming into play,

we're having really active conversations

about which agencies should take that responsibility

for issuing the new type of warnings

for those other hazards,

so floods, storm, cyclone and heat.

We'll see those warnings principles applied

much more closely into the future.

- [Narrator] Having spent time with the researchers

and seen how the research outcomes

can be applied at a practical level,

Cathy is now able to reflect on her experiences

and consider how she might apply some

of her learnings to her own organisational setting.

- Mainly for me, it's about understanding

there's a lot of research that goes on behind the scenes

that we don't know about.

And just seeing the culmination of that research,

as well as working with those state agencies,

it's really good to see

that it's actually happening.

So it's really good.

They get information from community,

from agencies and put it all together

and it fits really well.

So my immediate team,

I'll be certainly giving the information

and the insight

as to what I've experienced over the last few days.

But certainly working with our media department

and our communications branch

to let them know okay,

this is what's actually being done

and then being able to work with them

to say let's look at this differently.

Yes, ordinarily, if we're not the lead agent,

we will just retweet, repost everything

that word for word what QFES or those agencies do

but certainly, when we are crafting our own messages,

we understand now that we can put those elements

into our work as well

and really work hard with our own communications

within our own organisation,

as well as external to us

to make sure we are giving the correct message

and using those tips and tricks

that I have picked up throughout this time.

(lively music)