Which came first, the classroom or the disaster? It doesn’t matter. They are interwoven and interdependent in a constant cycle of learning, executing, and learning more. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. I reached out to three highly-respected crisis communicators and asked them to share examples of how the classroom effectively informed crisis communications in a disaster and how the disaster experience then informed future classroom curriculum. While each of these individuals have different years and geography of experience, they all have one thing in common – a clear understanding of crisis communications in both the classroom and in a crisis.
From the Classroom to the Bridge in Eight Steps (Trahan)
On March 26, 2024, the historic Francis Scott Key bridge was destroyed by the M/V Dali killing 6 people and blocking all commerce in and out of the port of Baltimore.
The USACE Baltimore district and Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Chief Kurt Raushenberg, Public Affairs Specialist (PAS) Bobby Petty from the USACE Galveston district, and Public Information Officer (PIO) Kasey Thomas, representing Anne Arundel County, all were assigned to the unified command’s Joint Information Center (JIC) to support the Key bridge recovery efforts. All three recently completed the FEMA certified Master Public Information Officer (MPIO) program now called the Executive Public Information Officer (EPIO) course.
All three immediately used the eight step strategic communications model that they had been taught during their FEMA Advanced PIO course and reinforced during their FEMA MPIO/EPIO courses. They (1) assessed the current situation, (2) set communication goals, (3) identified intended audiences, (4) developed and pretested messages, (5) developed channels and activities, (6) developed an action plan, (7) re-developed and pre-tested materials and implemented, (8) evaluated and modified their plans.
Their proactive communication strategy of getting senior leaders to be the face and voice of their response at the local, regional and national level to provide the latest information to their direct publics during the recovery at least three times daily earned them trust from the public. Additionally, they recognized the need to communicate directly with their Spanish speaking public. The public affairs team’s three month content results were: 61 videos, 1,036 images, six stories, 15 graphics, five news releases, 6,300 downloads and 283,000 views from news outlets and the public on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). The FEMA PIO/EPIO course that Tom Olshanski and Phil Politano established years ago proved the value of highly trained MPIO/EPIOs for all organizations.
USACE Baltimore district commander Col. Estee S. Pinchasin observed, “Throughout this response, I saw the true value and reaffirmed my strong belief in our public affairs capabilities in times of crisis, especially in today’s ever evolving news media world, it’s the work that these professionals perform that can make the organization’s trust and transparency with the public a true success and I can’t thank them enough for their accomplishments.”
The classroom prepared them for the disaster. Their disaster experience informs the next classroom.
No “Thoughts and Prayers,” not in Nashville, not Anywhere (Thomsen)
A common theme in many public information officer courses is to deliver authentic statements of empathy for communities affected by tragedy or disaster, not the cliché “thoughts and prayers” that comes across as insincere.
In 2023, a student at a Nashville high school shot two other students, killing one, before turning the gun on himself.
At a news conference where police and other officials described the events and the investigation while trying to comfort a shocked community, the police chief found an effective way to deliver his faith-based support. The chief had been prepped for the news conference by a FEMA-trained PIO, who counseled him to avoid the cliché.
When he got to the podium, the chief said he knew that he wasn’t supposed to say, “thoughts and prayers,” but he believed in the power of prayer and was praying for the victims, their families and others affected by the shooting.
That chief accomplished a deep, authentic expression of empathy by demonstrating the faith behind his statement. He put meaning to it, rather than using what has become an emotionless throwaway line in so many instances.
The bottom line is that when expressing empathy, any lack of sincerity or authenticity will be recognized immediately. Such statements are actually worse than not saying anything at all. To be effective, PIOs and leaders put thought into what they say so they can genuinely offer emotional support for others. We cannot fake sincerity, nor should we ever try.
Again. The classroom taught this essential approach. This example from the Nashville shooting response will make that lesson even deeper for the next class.
Helene – The Right Message at the Right Time (Graney)
Within the PIO classrooms of the National Disaster & Emergency Management University (NDEMU) instructors often repeat an important phrase and approach, “get the right message to the right people, at the right time, so they can make the right decisions, to save lives.” While the initial ring of this PIO catch phrase sounds a bit like marketing and advertising, it actually became a key guiding principle of North Carolina Emergency Management’s JIC during the response to Tropical Storm Helene as it tore through Appalachia and left apocalyptic conditions in its wake across western North Carolina.
At all levels of government, members of the emergency response community were stunned at just how truly devastating Helene was. As nearly the entirety of the NC mountains saw an almost complete communications infrastructure degradation, getting the right message to the right people at the right time became a chorus in the NC JIC. Using non-traditional ways to get the message to disaster survivors was a substantive challenge. Partnerships between the entirety of state and local governments, non-profits, broadcast entities, and members of the community worked to implement scheduled daily opportunities for information sharing.
Some disaster survivors shared how they would get in their vehicle every day and tune into local radio stations to listen to the State Emergency Response Team’s press conference. It was from those broadcasts and from community briefings and updates daily, that they learned their community wasn’t the only one impacted. As dam failures were reported to be imminent, evacuation orders were directed, and community resource locations were stood up, getting the right message to the right people at the right time was more critical than could have ever been imagined by anyone sitting in the historical classrooms in Emmitsburg.
In addition to getting the right message to the right people at the right time, was the need to get clear, concise, and short messages to disaster survivors. This was a mission that couldn’t rely on traditional government speak or corporate jargon. The right mode of communication was added to the series of “rights” and exposed the need to talk like a normal person, one that understands the culture and audience to truly reach survivors with critical, sometimes life-saving information. In a dire, life and death situation, where communications channels are severely wounded, short, to the point, messages are necessary. Disaster survivors do not have the time or the bandwidth (literally) to receive a government communications narrative and then must decipher it.
In the JIC, a focus was placed on talking to the audience as if they were family and friends which, for many working this disaster, it was. With cell service, internet, landlines, and radio systems damaged, the ability for people to recall the critical message and to share it verbally with members of their community became a crucial component of the strategy, taking from the Forest Service’s use of community trap lines. Short one-page documents were created and posted in impacted communities for survivors to receive information using this methodology. In the end, one term worked best as communications products were generated and sent out – simplify.
The school’s concept of right message, right people, right time clearly set up crisis communicators for success. Adding the right voice from this devastating disaster will help the next cycle of students to be even more successful at life-saving communications.
Speaking with One Voice Makes a Difference (Thomsen)
Speaking with one voice is a staple for emergency communications training. When trusted sources provide conflicting information, it creates confusion and damages the reputations of all the agencies involved. Recent fires in Southern California demonstrate how impactful this can become.
In both the Mountain Fire of November 2024 and the Palisades Fire in January 2025, firefighters were challenged by hydrants at higher elevations that lost water pressure. This is not surprising. No water system is built to support hundreds of fire hydrants being opened at the same time. It’s not a question of water supply. It’s a matter of how much water the system can push into the pipes.
Extreme use during a massive fire is likely to cause a drop in water pressure, reducing or eliminating the flow of water at higher elevations. Fire departments plan for such situations, using water tenders and other resources to continue firefighting efforts. When homes are lost, those challenges can become targets for tough questions and harsh criticism.
In Ventura County during the Mountain Fire, fire officials explained the situation and what they did to overcome the challenge of hydrants losing pressure at the top of the hill in the burn area. Elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the chief. Everyone presented the same description. Loss of water pressure was noted in the media coverage, but did not dominate it. The media focused on firefighters’ heroic efforts to save lives and put out the fire, and the resources available to people affected by the fire.
During the Palisades Fire, just 50 miles to the south in Los Angeles, firefighters faced the same challenge with fire hydrants losing water pressure. And they faced a bigger challenge with maintaining one, consistent message in a larger community with more stakeholders and elected officials. With the loss of thousands of homes, reporters pressed questions about the hydrants, a water reservoir that had been emptied for maintenance and city funding for the fire department.
Among the many voices talking about the fire, including comments from some elected officials who were not directly engaged in the response to the fire, conflicting views emerged. It turned into a blame game, covered daily by the media and amplified on social media.
At its height, the fire chief gave an interview to a reporter who repeatedly asked, “Did the city of Los Angeles fail you, and your department and our city?” The chief initially deflected the question, but after being asked a third time, she said the city had failed. An uproar ensued. The chief was called to a closed-door meeting with the mayor. Speculation grew about whether the chief would be fired. Afterwards, both made obvious efforts to present a unified front, attempting to mitigate the damage to the city’s image while recovery efforts were getting started. Eventually, the fire chief was fired.
Relationships matter. Alignment among all the agencies and elected officials involved in any incident reinforces public trust and encourages the public to heed calls to action, such as evacuation orders, blood donations or fire prevention measures. Building relationships with stakeholders and elected officials should be a 365-day effort. When the next incident happens, the scrutiny will either expose any gaps in those relationships or demonstrate their strength. Your community will be much better off with leaders who will stand together behind a consistent, honest message.
One community spoke with one voice. One did not. Future students will learn from both the success and failure of each disaster.
Conclusion
John F. Kennedy once observed, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”
These crisis communicators and NDEMU recognize the essential cycle of preparing communicators and leaders for each disaster and taking lessons learned from each disaster to inform and update the next classroom.
It is more than just an opportunity. It is life-saving work.