The
foremost expert
on Emergency
Messaging

I recently heard a podcast where the guest described "common knowledge." They explained it this way: you know that I know, and I know that you know, and you know that I know that you know, and I know that you know that I know. Stated more simply: we all know something and we know that everyone else knows that same thing. And this is important when thinking about how we describe actions in warning messages. Not everything is common knowledge. In fact the words that you cho

Let's have a chat about closing the communication loop. I'm talking about the message that tells the public the situation is "all clear" and they can end the actions you recommended. In the warning research space, we've taken to call these "post-alert messages" because sometimes that second message may not be able to state conclusively that the area is safe, but it can provide an update on an investigation, a situation, or an environment and tell people how to go about thei

For more than five decades, warning researchers have been saying alerts must include five key contents: Source Hazard Location Time Guidance These contents, found in the Warning Response Model, have been identified as being the ones that motivate action and reduce delay. Around 2016, Dennis Mileti, the godfather of warning research, said you need to include hazard impact - that is, what the hazard is doing, or could do - along with the hazard name. This was echoed by researc

Anything you post to the internet lives forever. We see this with job-seekers who find their social media posts are being searched as part of an employment reference check. We see this with political campaigns when comments from 10 years past are resurfaced as evidence of racism, sexism, or personal ethics. There are countless other examples of this. Even a name and a picture online can become a problem for those who want to remain anonymous or get caught doing something

Photo by Cory Lum, AP Photo by Cory Lum, AP Post-alert messaging is getting a lot of my attention these days. For those unfamiliar with the term "post-alert message," these are the equivalent of "all clear" messages. But instead of simply saying "all clear" or "orders lifted", a post-alert message is written in plain language with a focus on communicating safety. We started thinking about the importance of these messages when we noticed how they are filled with jargon tha

Missing person alerts should be designed to motivate action. When they are missing actionable information, they will lead to delay.

For some time now, I've been thinking... "wouldn't it be great if someone could take all of this research on alerts and warnings and put it into one single volume, translated for practitioners?" I tell myself, "a useful workbook would include case studies, like the blogs I post every week. It would explain the Warning Response Model and show how researchers test messages. It would explain why we don't just measure compliance as an outcome." Also, I tell myself, "it would sh

Summer fun at a state fair can get dangerous quickly when bad weather enters the area. In today's example, we see a series of messages; one issued to prevent injury and the second to return fair-goers to their fun at the midway. In early September, the Evergreen State Fair issued a geo-targeted warning to persons within the fairgrounds, alerting them to "go indoors now" and to "SHELTER IN PLACE until further notice." Lightning had been detected within 10 miles of the fairgr

All clear messages are an important part of the communication lifecycle for alerts and warnings. When an alert is issued, it opens up a "conversation" by telling people about a hazard, its impacts, the location of the impact, and what people should do to protect themselves. Ideally, if a person is at risk, they will engage in protective action and remain safe until they are instructed to do otherwise. This can come as an additional notification as the event is ongoing, or

For several years now, I've been pondering how to better name a hazard in a message that describes an active police incident. We know that not naming the hazard affects message understanding (a key outcome measured by scientists who study the effects of warning messages) and this relates directly to feelings of self-efficacy, that is, feeling like you can take the right action to protect yourself, leading to protective action. We studied this in response to a message for civ