Hawaii Communications Review Committee Submits Recommendations for Improving Emergency Response

A committee convened by Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle following the October 15, 2006 earthquakes has released a report outlining 15 key recommendations to improve emergency communication procedures to ensure residents and visitors receive accurate and timely information during natural disasters and other emergencies.

The final report released Monday by the Governor's Comprehensive Communications Review Committee offers recommendations to enhance procedures for distributing information to the public as well as the media on a more frequent basis. They include:

• Considering alternative means of communicating messages on a mass scale, such as text message emergency alerts through cellular phones;
• Facilitating the transmission of messages through the Emergency Alert System, which breaks into regular radio and television broadcast programming;
• Setting up a media center with phone, Internet and electrical lines where reporters can work as well as receive updated information from civil defense officials;
• Exploring ways to assist in providing backup power generation to key media outlets;
• Increasing bilingual capabilities to disseminate information to non-English speaking individuals;
• And increasing public education about emergency preparedness.

"Many of the committee's recommendations are already being implemented, as evidenced during the earthquake on Thanksgiving Day when important information was broadcast by radio and television stations via the Emergency Alert System just minutes following the earthquake," said Major General Robert Lee, state adjutant general and director of State Civil Defense, who co-chaired the committee. "We will continue meeting to implement the recommendations set forth by the committee, as well as identify additional ways to accelerate the distribution of timely and accurate information to the public. In addition, it is important for the public to know what they can do now to prepare their families for an emergency," added Lee.

The committee included more than 70 government officials from federal, state and county agencies; owners, general managers and publishers from print and broadcast media organizations statewide; representatives from cellular phone providers; and editor and reporters from print, broadcast and Internet media who were "on the ground" gathering information and reporting on the day of the earthquake.

"We appreciate the candid comments and forward-looking pro-active ideas by the committee members, who focused on how we can all work together to communicate vital information to the public in the event of an emergency in a timely and efficient manner," said Lenny Klompus, co-chair, governor's senior advisor -- communications.