What is Emergency Preparedness Week?
Emergency Preparedness Week (EPW) is a national event led by Public Safety Canada. It has been held during the first full week of May for the past 27 years. This annual initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of being prepared for emergencies and to encourage proactive measures to safeguard individuals, families, and organizations. During EPW a broad coalition of stakeholders - including all levels of government, emergency management organizations, Indigenous organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector - collaborate to support activities that increase individual, family, and organizational preparedness.
EPW serves as an opportunity for organizations to review and enhance their emergency preparedness plans. Companies often use this week to conduct drills, update emergency procedures, and engage their employees in preparedness activities.
Why is Emergency Preparedness Week Important?
Disasters and emergencies can strike unexpectedly, and the ability to respond effectively can significantly reduce their impact. Being prepared helps ensure the safety of employees, continuity of operations, and the resilience of your organization. An organized campaign during EPW can raise awareness, educate employees, foster a culture of preparedness, and strengthen resilience against potential disasters.
5 Steps to Planning an Emergency Preparedness Week Campaign
Every company needs to take proactive steps to promote awareness and build resilience. Here are five steps your company can implement to enhance emergency preparedness within your organization:
Step 1: Take Time to Plan for Emergency Preparedness Week
Determine the main goal of your campaign and the best way to connect with your target audience. Break the main goal down into specific objectives and divide your target audience into segments such as office staff, remote workers, clients, etc. as this will allow you to tailor your messages accordingly. Identify the resources at your disposal, including finances, personnel, and time. Remember to include physical resources such as meeting spaces, technology such as projectors, computers, and existing educational materials. Ensure that you leverage any external resources that you may have available to you such as local emergency management agencies, community organizations, or experts who could provide training sessions or materials. Consider the following:
- Theme: Choose a theme, such as a specific type of emergency (fires, floods), recovery steps post-emergency, or a more comprehensive theme such as “Preparedness for All Seasons” which can address different types of emergencies that occur throughout the year.
- Communication: Decide how you will communicate your emergency preparedness messages and the frequency of the messages you will deliver. Do this by determining the most effective ways to reach your audience and then outline the frequency and type of messages being delivered across all platforms. Options include social media posts, radio spots, events (like a preparedness fair), and printed materials (posters, brochures). Tailor your communication method to your audience demographics.
- Budget: Plan your campaign within your budget. Do this by creating a detailed budget that includes the cost of all activities and materials. Remember to allocate funds for unexpected expenses and to utilize materials from sources like provincial/federal governments or businesses such as Alertable to help keep costs down. Consider partnerships to offset costs. Visit the resources page of the website for information.
- Schedule: Create a timeline for campaign decisions, resource availability, and event planning, and assign responsibilities for your emergency preparedness activities.
Step 2: Produce Emergency Preparedness Material
Developing your emergency preparedness campaign materials involves these four steps:
- Key Messages: Develop up to three key emergency preparedness messages. These messages should be clear, concise, and actionable. For example, “Know your evacuation routes,” “Prepare an emergency kit,” and “Stay informed during a crisis.” Each message should include a strong call to action. For instance, “Download the emergency app today,” or “Follow our emergency updates on social media.” Ensure that your key messages are consistent across all materials and communication channels as this will reinforce the message and make it more memorable. Use our guide for tips to craft an effective message.
- Drafts and Proofs: Create drafts for social media posts, website content, radio spot scripts, news releases, and graphic designs for print and digital media. Remember to include multimedia content, such as videos and a script for a podcast, as these can be used to explain your topics in an engaging and easy-to-understand manner.
- Engagement Tools: Develop interactive activities to help motivate your team to participate such as checklists, surveys, and quizzes. These can help employees assess their preparedness levels and identify areas of improvement.
- Review and Approval: Have your materials reviewed internally for accuracy and clarity. If necessary, obtain necessary approvals from relevant departments or stakeholders.
- Finalization and Publishing: Make any final adjustments based on any provided feedback, conduct thorough proofreading to catch any remaining errors or typos, and publish your materials.
Step 3: Measure Emergency Preparedness Week's Success
Evaluating the success of your Emergency Preparedness Week campaign is crucial for understanding its impact and identifying areas for improvement. To do this you need to establish metrics to evaluate your campaign's success. Include both quantitative and qualitative metrics, such as:
- Social media engagement: Track metrics such as the number of likes, shares, comments, and clicks on social media posts. High engagement indicates that your messages are resonating with your audience.
- Website traffic: Monitor the volume of traffic to your emergency preparedness content. Use tools like Google Analytics to track page views, time spent on pages, and the sources of your traffic (e.g. direct visits, referrals, search engines).
- Attendance at events: Keep a record of the number of attendees at your events such as workshops, training sessions, and fairs. Compare attendance figures to your initial targets.
- Total the number of listeners or viewers for TV and radio spots.
- Engagement actions: Keep a record of phone calls or emails related to emergency preparedness.
- Participation in interactive activities: Track participation rates in interactive activities such as quizzes, surveys, and preparedness challenges. High participation suggests strong engagement.
- Feedback: Ask for feedback from participants and stakeholders assessing the campaign’s impact. This could be done by utilizing surveys, focus groups, or informal conversations. Ask for opinions on the clarity, usefulness, and relevance of the campaign materials and activities.
Step 4: Execute Your Emergency Preparedness Week Plan
The execution phase is where all your planning and preparation come together. This step involves implementing the activities, distributing the materials, and engaging with your audience to ensure that the campaign is successful. Implement your emergency preparedness plan by:
- Hosting emergency preparedness week events and interactive activities such as drills, workshops, and fairs. Invite experts, such as emergency responders, safety officers, health professionals, or other appropriate individuals to speak at your events if appropriate. Their insights can add credibility and depth to your campaign. Remember that including interactive activities such as hands-on demonstrations, Q&A sessions, and simulations can make learning more engaging and memorable.
- Posting messages on social media platforms. Use a mix of content types, including videos, infographics, and live streams to keep your audience engaged. You can also provide preparedness tips, updates, event announcements and highlight employee stories if available. Use campaign-specific hashtags and encourage employees to use the hashtag and share your messages.
- Releasing radio and TV ads during times when your target audience is most likely to listen or watch.
- Distributing print media such as posters, brochures, and other materials. Place these materials in high-traffic areas within your workplace such as break rooms, lobbies, and bulletin boards. Consider sending printed materials to employees’ homes as this ensures that remote workers, or those who may not frequent certain areas of the office, also receive the information.
- Update your website with new content related to emergency preparedness that employees can easily access for resources and updates. Include links to additional resources and encourage employees to share the information with their families if appropriate.
- Use your company intranet, if applicable, to post regular updates and reminders about campaign events.
- Monitor engagement with your materials. Track metrics such as website traffic, social media interactions, and attendance at events. Use analytics tools, spreadsheets, or specialized software to collect and organize the data. Where possible, use real-time data tracking to monitor engagement and participation as the campaign progresses as this will allow for timely adjustments if any are needed.
Step 5: Wrap Up Your Emergency Preparedness Week Campaign
Wrapping up your emergency preparedness campaign is essential to understand its impact, celebrate its success, and identify areas of improvement. Evaluate your emergency preparedness campaign's success:
- Gather statistics based on your predetermined metrics. This could include social media engagement statistics, website traffic data, email open and click rates, attendance records for events, and participation in interactive activities.
- Use a survey or feedback form for employees, participants, and stakeholders. Ask specific questions about what they found useful, what could be improved, and their overall experience with the campaign.
- Debrief your team. Conduct a post-mortem meeting to review results, and identify successes and areas for improvement.
- Document lessons learned. Include insights into what strategies were most effective, which areas need improvement, and any unexpected challenges or outcomes.
- Develop a list of actionable recommendations based on the evaluation and feedback. These should address specific areas for improvement and suggest concrete steps to enhance future campaigns.
- Create detailed reports summarizing the outcome of your campaign. Include charts, graphs, and tables to easily visualize the data and make it easier to understand.
- Write an executive summary for senior management, highlighting key findings, successes, and strategic recommendations.
- Recognize participation. Recognize and reward employees who actively participated in the campaign. This could be accomplished through certificates, public acknowledgment, or small rewards.
- Share success stories and positive outcomes from the campaign with the broader organization. This can help reinforce the importance of emergency preparedness and encourage ongoing engagement.
- Begin planning for the next campaign by using the insights and recommendations compiled for this campaign. Set new goals that are realistic but stretch your organization. Aim to build on the successes and address any shortcomings identified.
To support your company's campaign in promoting awareness and increasing resilience, PEASI offers a variety of emergency preparedness materials. These resources can be easily integrated into your campaign and include things such as a variety of images, videos, and guides. Additionally, Aletable provides customizable templates for creating emergency notifications to ensure that they meet the needs of your organization. This can dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to produce notifications that may be used in running an exercise or a drill. Utilizing these materials can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your campaign, providing valuable information and practical tools that empower your employees to act confidently in the face of an emergency.
By following these steps, your company can effectively enhance its emergency preparedness, ensuring a safer and more resilient organization. Implementing a comprehensive emergency preparedness campaign not only equips your employees with the knowledge and tools they need to respond effectively to emergencies but also builds a sense of community and shared responsibility within your organization. Ultimately, a well-executed emergency preparedness campaign strengthens your company’s resilience, minimizes the impact of disasters, and safeguards the well-being of your employees and other assets.
