Training program and exercise helps provide risk communication to underserved communities

The Community Connectors program is a model for how emergency response planners can develop relationships and open lines of communication with diverse members of their community prior to an emergency. Multnomah County Health Department used an internal resource to conduct this program: staff who had already established relationships with an underserved community and were willing to strengthen the relationship between the community and the health department. The main role of Community Connectors is to support public information and risk communication measures under the director of the Public Information Officer (PIO). Trained Community Connectors may also assist with distributing influenza vaccine, planning community outreach initiatives, providing emergency preparedness information at community events, communicating feedback from their community to the public health department, and reviewing materials for cultural appropriateness. Components of this practice include a description of the program, activation and notification procedures, and a sample exercise to allow employees the opportunity to practice collaborating with each other and with their communities.

This project offers community members an opportunity to develop relationships with health department employees and provide sustained input into decisions and programs that will ultimately affect them. As part of their initial research, project developers took into consideration research suggesting that the American public will not follow instructions given by emergency responders. The motive behind this project was that community members will engage in the planning and response process if they are given the opportunity to offer feedback and insight into the development of emergency planning activities. Their involvement, in turn, may result in effective plans and a coordinated community response in event of an emergency.