TURBIDITY IN CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS: Not Just a Load of Hot Water Laurie Dawkins, ABC, Director, Public Affairs Viviana Zanocco, Senior Media Relations Officer

Turbidity in crisis communications  Over 2 million affected!  How the issue unfolded  The action plan  Relationships  Challenges  Lessons learned & Best practices  Can we still have sex in the shower? – funny stories, anecdotes, tales from the front lines

How the issue unfolded  Decision to issue water quality advisory:  Turbidity hits 70 NTUs in chief reservoir  Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and Greater Vancouver Regional District’s Water District compare notes  Safety of water cannot be guaranteed due to increased agitation, high sediment that interferes with chlorination  Schedule established for continued monitoring  Schedule established for continued and constant communication  Advisory issued on November 16 by GVRD on recommendation of MHOs

The action plan – getting the word out  Media  Scope of story meant ALL media interested  Daily updates hosted by regional district  VCH supplements with one-on-one interviews  Website  Up-to-date information  Maps of areas impacted, clear boundaries for those not  Internal mechanisms  blasts and memos  Meetings  Issues summary  External stakeholders  MLAs  Contracted agencies (DTES, home support)

The action plan – using relationships  Relationships  Communications and Medical Health Officers (MHOs)  Communications and Senior Administrators  MHOs and GVRD  Communications/MHOs and media  VCH and contracted food staff  VCH and suppliers

The issue unfolds further…  Boil water warning lifted for 1 million in Greater Vancouver (November 18)  Do we REALLY have enough water for the weekend? (November 18, ~2:00 pm)  Patients  Staff  DTES residents  Home support and mental health clients

Challenges  Demands of media  New story angle every day  How are hospitals and fragile seniors coping?  What is the impact on restaurants?  How much is this costing the health authority?  Reinforcement of key messages  Boil tap water for one minute before drinking, cooking or washing produce  VCH is supplying patients, clients and marginalized populations with bottled water  MHOs are waiting for a downward trend in turbidity before lifting the water advisory

Challenges  Insatiable demand for expert comment  When will it be lifted?  What about pets?  Can we drink coffee?  What will you wear to the Oscars? Dr. Patricia Daly Medical Health Officer and Medical Director, Communicable Disease Control

Challenges  Climbing a steep learning curve, internally  Why aren’t conventional and commercial filtering systems adequate?  Why is my water clear, but across town my family member’s is cloudy?  If tests for E coli and bacteria are negative, why can’t we drink the tap water?  How does the water distribution system work?

I mean, how complicated could it be? -

“BC water warning could last weeks”

Challenges  Working with another agency and staying on the same page  Treating media equally without exhausting your experts  Speaking to what you know  Setting expectations and avoiding political pitfalls  Remembering internal communication  Staying out of operations  Updating the web site on the weekend!

Lessons learned & Best practices  You can never be too clear or simple  Straight forward instructions can still confuse. Think of every possibility and focus on what people NEED to know  Relationships are key  Solid footing with our MHO, GVRD before the advisory helped us maintain flow of information back and forth  Be as responsive and timely as you can  Rumour and fourth hand information fill the vacuum when your spokespeople are not available  VCH provides 24/7 media coverage  Daily issues summary ensures message consistency  Be respectful of your partners and acknowledge strengths/weaknesses beforehand

Lessons learned & Best practices  And most important… find humour in your day to day functions  Share crazy questions from the public/media  Keep up morale and energy  Sing to one another  “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?”  Sign off all s with “YOU ROCK!”

Stories from the front lines “No ma’am, nylon stockings are not an effective water filtration system”

November 27, 2006 Turn on the taps, water’s good again! Rain induced turbidity but public urged to learn lesson And the headlines conclude…

THANK YOU! Questions anyone?