Emergency Communications Planning for Airports (2016)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

32 chapter nine CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH SUCCESSFUL PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED One of the most successful management practices discovered at an airport in this study is the use of field operations guides (FOGs) that direct the nature and sequence of activities that specific individuals with communications duties need to carry out in typical emergency situations. FOGs turn a comprehensive airport emergency plan (AEP) or crisis communications plan (CCP) into actionable items, typically in checklist format. Appendices D through L present a typical array of such FOGs. The array shown pertains only to the public informa- tion officer (PIO) and PIO staff; similar FOGs can productively be used for other personnel with communications functions in the airport’s emergency operations command, unified command struc- ture, incident command post, or elsewhere in the airport’s organiza- tion for emergency response and recovery. Another pertinent model for an easy to use tool is the “Emergency Event . . . Initial Actions” checklist shown in Case Example 4: Watsonville Municipal Airport in Appendix C. The checklist of essential and desirable elements for enhancing the planning processes and out- comes for AEP/CCP can be found in Appendix M of this report. It addresses nine stages of the plan- ning process: 1. Pre-planning 2. Planning 3. Nature of the plan 4. Internal aspects of communications to include 5. External aspects of communications to include 6. Training 7. Exercises 8. Evaluation 9. Continuous improvement. Examination of items in the checklist reveals the overwhelming importance of pre-planning in having a successful emergency/crisis communications plan. Most importantly, an airport needs to know itself, its partners, and the possible hazards they face. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of the data for this synthesis led to 12 major findings: 1. An effective AEP/CCP needs to be nimble enough to deal with fast-evolving technological change. 2. Many benefits are gained from the process of emergency communications planning, not just from having a plan. The benefits are greatest when the planning process is inclusive of stake- holders (on and off the airport) and is based on an honest hazards analysis that includes both The Initial Actions document is a one-page tactical/ operational tool for airport employees. Laminated copies are in every airport vehicle, fuel truck, fire department rig as well as in the Unified Command room and at various on-field locations. Addition- ally, each employee has a copy in his or her personal vehicle. (WVI Case Example)

33 emergencies and “mission-critical” systems failures and events. This is supported by Schraagen and van de Ven (2011), who found that planning “good communications supports human adap- tation and decision-making in crises” (p. 184). 3. An effective AEP/CCP is to provide simple, clear, scalable, implementable procedures that will promote the accurate and timely passing of information within the airport and between the airport and its partners and customers. 4. A communications or crisis communications plan is not a static document. It requires exer- cising, evaluation, and an application of lessons learned from actual incidents, exercises, and reviews. This application of the continuous improvement process is essential, and the review process works most effectively when it is purposeful and scheduled periodically. 5. Training on the coordinated and effective use of communications tools is essential. 6. Airports benefit from doing more emergency communications planning than required in an AEP (or comparable for non-Part 139 airports). 7. Many airports in the study are moving in the direction of a single comprehensive plan. This trend will probably increase pressure for clear, effective use of airport EOCs with regard to communications. 8. It is important that a single comprehensive stand-alone plan be incorporated in the airport’s AEP by reference and be firmly anchored in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) with a strong focus on the role of the Joint Information System, Joint Information Center, and PIO. 9. An airport’s PIO can manage the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement effort of the comprehensive emergency plan and CCP, but this requires close collaboration and cooperation with operations, emergency management, and first responders. This will most effectively mobilize knowledge of the tools and coordination while helping the airport keep up with technological innovation in communications. 10. Redundant and interoperable means of communications are essential. Effective emergency communications enhance the resiliency of airports and their communities. 11. Airports of any type or size can profitably leverage the communications capabilities of their emergency partners; NIMS and ICS are the essential tools for coordinating with partners. 12. Effective emergency communications can make a conduit from safety to improved customer service. This is especially true in regards the fast-evolving use by airports of social media for emergencies and other crises. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Based on the results of this synthesis, there are a number of topics that could be investigated to assist airports in creating and improving CCPs: 1. The use of social media in airports for communicating emergency information and mission- critical crisis information to passengers and the public. ACRP Synthesis 56 stated this research need as “identifying crisis management strategies and policies for social media” (Perry et al. 2014, p. 143). 2. Data-mining techniques that could be applied to social media for situational awareness by airport emergency managers. 3. Automated methods of maintaining and updating contact lists and making them consistent across all airport plans and standard operating procedures. 4. Training doctrine and materials for the development, implementation, and evaluation of com- prehensive AEP/CCPs. 5. PIO roles and the training is required to be able to fulfill these roles. 6. Models of AEP/CCP language or plan sections for the accommodation of people with dis- abilities or those who speak languages other than English. 7. Development of a performance scorecard or other metrics for airport emergency/crisis communications.

34 8. Methods of identifying capable and interested airport employees and partners who can be trained to perform back-up and supplemental roles in emergency communications during prolonged or large incidents. 9. Methods to promote ADA compliance for all emergency communications including websites and social media. 10. Customer service-related benefits will accrue if airports make intentional efforts to plan emergency management including emergency communications into their strategic or business plan. Such intentional efforts might include budgeting for strategic training efforts, or acquir- ing assets, or both.