To have the best chance for success, public communications campaigns for chemical incidents must include more than just the delivery of protective action and other response information to the public. Effectiveness of communications throughout all stages of response and recovery will be fostered by the development of comprehensive and flexible communications plans, strategies, and content before an incident occurs and by cultivating and maintaining relationships with the public throughout response and recovery. This section discusses several considerations, strategies, and activities that can promote effective communications activities during planning, response, and recovery, as follows:
- Understand your audiences
- Conduct pre-incident preparedness campaigns
- Secure technical assistance
- Communications considerations for large-scale, intentional, and/or unattributed incidents
