Presentation delivered to the Maryland Emergency Management Association on May 30, 2017.

1. Mary Jo Flynn
Sacramento County OES
@MaryJoFly

2. Public
Information
Officer
Information
Gathering
Information
Dissemination
Operations
Support

3. Face to face communication
Coordination with agency partners
Unified message
Focused workflow
Distributed work

4. Assigning
spokespersons
Identifying message
lanes
Ensuring unified and
approved talking
points

5. • Morning weather
briefing
• Operations field
reports
• Review of
personnel and
roles
• Media monitoring
reports
• Critical messages
• Work assignments

7. 30
Normal Water Year (14-15)
Atmospheric Rivers

15. Prior to the incident
the JIC plan had been
exercised twice
One exercise was a
derailment where we
met rail partners

16. Public
Information
Officer
Website
Management
Social Media
Posts,
Graphics and
Videos, Media
Monitoring
Press
Releases,
Media
Relations, and
Board Letters

18.  Failed early on to
make adequate
contact with Field
PIOs
 JIC sometimes
had better info
than some field
PIOs were getting
from Operations

19. After nearly 60
days of
continuous
activation, it
was challenging
to find PIO staff

20. Text readers won’t work
Text is too small
Alt text wasn’t used

21.  During the
incident our flood
information
pages crashed
 Social media
allowed for
alternate
dissemination

23. Agency PIOs were
added to a text group
Critical talking points
were distributed here
first

24. It’s ok if you look
exhausted - because
it’s authentic.

25. Google Maps
allowed for
real-time
updates of
evacuation
areas and road
closures

27. First video had a great
message, but filmed
sideways

28. Controlling which groups
should see and approve
messages

30. Building out
PIO groups who
receive public
communications
Field PIOs
have same info
as public and
reporters

31. Mary Jo Flynn
Sacramento County OES
@MaryJoFly