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Response

Procedures for the activation and use of the emergency dark site during public health emergencies must be integrated with the existing response operations.

Within the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the PIO is on the Command Staff at the City, County or Departmental EOC. In large metropolitan areas, including Santa Clara County, a PIO may work full time for a health agency, public hospital system or Public Health Department. In this case, the Public Health PIO coordinates with the County PIO and PIOs from other jurisdictions and agencies at the Joint Information Center (JIC).

In smaller communities (rural and frontier areas) the role of the PIO may be undertaken by other Public Health emergency preparedness staff or other government official.

In Santa Clara County, the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System (which includes the Public Health Department), activates the Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) plan. Depending on the nature of the event, this plan describes Public Health PIO operations with the Department Emergency Operations Center (DEOC) or PIO operations with the County at a Joint Information Center (JIC). The NACCHO APC Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) on-line toolkit provides detailed information on establishing a JIC and includes job action sheets and other tools.

At all times, the management and use of the emergency dark site must comply with existing JIC and Crisis Information Management procedures, approvals and policies established in existing response plan.

The Santa Clara County Incident Command System shows the Public Information Officer on the Command Staff:

ICS Organization

 

The Santa Clara County PIO organization is shown below:

 

Activation of the Public Health Emergency Dark Site is part of the County’s Crisis Information Management System. This diagram illustrates the coordination needed to manage crisis and risk information. Local government officials at the EOC and PIOs at the JIC activate the Crisis Information Management System. The outside circle illustrates the many recipients of situational announcements (dynamic content) posted to the emergency dark site.

 

Response Roles

CONTENT TEAM – PIO Tasks When the Emergency Dark Site is Activated

  • Convene the Risk Communication Team (RCT).
  • Designate Risk Communication Team staff to oversee emergency dark site content management.
  • Designate Risk Communications Team staff to monitor information, guidelines and updates from the CDC, WHO and State Health Department.
  • Dedicate trained support staff to post announcements only after they are approved by the PIO (and Incident Commander, depending on the procedure outlined in the response plan).
  • Access prepared static content (guides, fact sheets, FAQs, press release templates) and prepare situation-specific information to enter in or to cut and paste into the emergency dark site.
  • Assist translation staff in preparing translations of dynamic content. Static content should be pre-assembled as HTML documents or optimized PDFs.

TECHNICAL TEAM – (IT/IS) Staff Tasks When the Emergency Dark Site is Activated

  • Upon activation of the emergency dark site by the PIO, re-direct viewers to the emergency dark site URL.
  • Monitor use of the dark site and provide technical assistance during activation.
  • Assist with the site navigation design.
  • Assist with posting of information, when needed.
  • Provide technical support for language translation.
  • Maintain the infrastructure of the County Portal and Public Health networks.
  • With the County EOC Incident Commander and staff, assist to activate the County notification system(s).
  • Assist with setting up email subscription groups and social media links, badges, or widgets.

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