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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