Working from the same page: Consistent messages for CDEM
"Information is the key to understanding hazards, managing risks, and for helping people to take the appropriate actions in an emergency. It is important that the information and messages we provide are readily available to our wide audience and can be distributed in a timely manner. It is absolutely crucial that those messages are accurate and consistent as people will always be looking for an authoritative source and particularly when public safety is involved. This reference document has been developed to help us all achieve those objectives.
If the information we provide be that directly, via websites, in the media, or any other way, is inconsistent, we create doubt and undermine the strength and importance of each others’ messages. Inconsistency will result in people being less likely to prepare before an emergency, or worse take some action during an emergency that is not based on the best advice.
The reference material provided in this document captures research that has been done for you by New Zealand’s leading experts. Science institutes, universities, government and non-government agencies, emergency services, insurance providers and others have spent three years researching, discussing and preparing this resource. We have all agreed that this is New Zealand’s standard reference for public messages about major hazards.
Any organisation involved in preparing for, responding to or recovering from an emergency, can confidently use these New Zealand-specific guidelines - they will be your key references for the messages you need to get to your particular communities. When we consistently give the same messages, we reinforce each others’ advice and generate better public confidence and promote faster, better co-ordinated and informed actions by the public.
I strongly encourage all organisations who are involved in helping people prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies to use this reference."
Download the complete document (3MB)
Download a Word version of the complete document (500kB) Introduction and purposePart A: General information - Pre-disaster preparedness
Household Emergency Plan Emergency Survival Kit & Getaway Kit (including Stocking and Storing Food and Water and Emergency Supplies for Your Vehicle) First Aid Kit and First Aid Kit for Pets Evacuation, sheltering-in-place and post-disaster safety (including Emergency SanitationPart B: Hazard specific information (messages)
Coastal storm inundation Earthquakes Floods Heat Landslides Major storms Snow Thunderstorms Tornadoes Tsunami VolcanoesPandemic and other hazards
Pandemic
