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MASSCRISCOM

Welcome to Masscriscom

MASSCRISCOM

www.masscriscom.eu

"With the support of the Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence Management of Terrorism and other Security-related Risks Programme''
"European Commission - Directorate-General for Home Affairs''
"The sole responsibility lies with the author and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein."

MASSCRISCOM addresses the need for improved protection of the public and infrastructure and two way crisis communication between authorities and the public. It will build on the high risk conditions in the County of Uppsala, i.e. the main highway and rail transport chains between Northern Sweden and Stockholm, a nuclear power plant, several Seveso sites and advanced biochemical and chemical research laboratories.

Final Demonstration/Seminar in Uppsala, Sweden, of the Mass Crisis Communication with the Public EU Project

Friday, April 15, 2011

Objectives

The concrete target of the Project has been to achieve an increased common capability in society to communicate between competent authorities and the public in crises.

How the different actors in the crisis communication system can have access to the national capacity for this and how new media or technology can be used for warning and provision of information was to be demonstrated.

Other objectives were to define how the information from the public can be gathered and analysed and then disseminated to the crisis management actors and how the burden on the common EU 112 Emergency Call Number can be reduced.

Results

MASSCRISCOM proposes a coherent generic crisis communication model based on an all-hazards approach and existing conditions. The model consists of a ”Crisis Communication Centre” (CCC) and separate information number(s) from the 112 emergency call number.

The information number is available to the public for seeking information and help and for providing information to the crisis management actors. Communication channels available for warning and communication including social media have been identified and analysed.

General Background

The duration of MASSCRISCOM was only two years and during this period a number of very significant events requiring mass crisis communication have occurred affecting the Baltic Sea Region including Iceland. These include pandemic diseases, storms and flooding, exceptional severe winters with very much snow and a volcanic eruption with consequences for many European countries.

There has also been the deepest financial crisis since the 1930ties, natural disasters with global consequences and major political changes in areas near the EU with enormous human suffering. Experiences of commu-nication from these events and others in the last few years have been studied.

Participation
Partners in MASSCRISCOM have been the Estonian Emergency Response Centre, the Finnish State Department of Åland and in Sweden the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), SOS Alarm and the Swedish Meteorological Institute (SMHI).

The County Administrative Board of Uppsala has been coordinator and a dialogue has been conducted through seminars with relevant experts from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany (City of Hamburg), Iceland, Latvia, Norway and the autonomous Åland.

Development of Crisis Communication

In the partner countries there have in recent years, or are on-going, important structural changes of the public administration which affect crisis management and communication.

MASSCRISCOM has also been under strong influence of the immense paradigm shift of crisis communication which has taken place, from the traditional way governmental organisations have worked with crisis communication, which is becoming more and more obsolete. This is due to globalization, the technological development, a new media landscape, new communication needs and demands and increased transparency, which leads to a need to rethink on how to conduct the communication.

There has been a move from one radio channel for distribution of messages to both direct and indirect communication to multiple channels, i.e. media, web sites, telephone services, social media, etc.

Comments by the MASSCRISCOM coordinator Stig Ekberg:

- The Crisis Communication Centre (CCC) and the information number will provide individuals in society valuable help and increase their security in crises. The CCC can also be an important service for the public if it is availble and put into everyday practical use, which experiences from Estonia indicate clearly. Through regular use the CCC will also maintain its capability and preparedness for prompt and efficient use immediately when there is a crisis

- The needs of the public should be met by the authorities with different available and used communication channels, for instance SMS, mobile telephony, e-mail, Websites, other Web-based Social Media, etc. These can and should be used for early warning and providing emergency information to the public and but also for making it easy for the public to get in contact with the authorties

- We can expect a continued development of crisis communication with the public and most probably this will encompass the whole of the European Union. The incoming Polish Presidency of EU is expected to make the question of how to increase the effi-ciency of crisis communication as one of its prioritized issues, which in my view is very welcomed and most important for all EU citizens.

Links to documents and movie

Seminar in Tallinn, Estonia, the 19 - 20 october 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Seminar within the framework of the European Commission – Directorate-General for Home Affairs Project, under the Specific Programme Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence

Management of Terrorism and other Security-related Risks (CIPS), Tuesday 19 – Wednesday 20 October 2010 in Tallinn , Estonia on Mass Crisis Communication with the Public (MASSCRISCOM) hosted by the Estonian Emergency Response Centre, Estonia Rescue Board.

MASSCRISCOM addresses the need for improved protection of the public and infrastructure and two way crisis communication between authorities and the public.

The Project will focus on nuclear accidents and other very serious emergency situations or crises, which lead to mass crisis communication situations, i.e. situations:

	- when the public needs to be warned and receive far more information than in connection with everyday accidents - when a great number of people may require immediate help at the same time and - when many people are seeking information from the emergency services about the event and what action to take.
Silvio Mascagna, European Commission DG HOME - Commission crisis management system

Requirements will be analysed and identified for ensuring efficient communications, also by implementing new media, for warning of people in defined affected geographi-cal areas and providing information on adequate action to take.

The objective is fur-thermore to improve the reliability of risk communication and mass crisis communica-tion in general. A model for the introduction of a separate information service number and managing a service for exchanging information with the public will be considered with the aim of lessening the burden on the 112 Emergency Call services in crises situations. The received information from the public can provide an input to the situation awareness of the involved crisis management authorities.

Read more about the seminar

Pictures from the seminar

Improving the capacity for two way crisis communication between authorities and the public

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The European Commission Project on Mass Crisis Communication with the Public (MASSCRISCOM) within the area of Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence Management of Terrorism and other Security-related Risks.

New emerging risks and threats for instance the consequences of climate change, terrorism and organized crime are challenges to the protection of the public and infrastructure. MASSCRISCOM addresses in an all hazard approach the need for improving the capacity for two way crisis communication between authorities and the public.

The present means i.e. sirens, mobile loudspeakers, RDS, radio and television important messages to the public, fixed telephone and cellphone need further development and to be supplemented with new media such as SMS and Cell Broadcast, Voice over IP and Internet. New media and technology can improve and enhance the reliability of the risk communication but also provide means for reaching all persons in a defined affected geographical area with sufficient but limited information through a GIS system with selected base stations, to enable them to take appropriate action.

These persons including vulnerable groups with for instance handicaps can be warned and receive necessary information also in different languages. These means have capacity for allowing people to seek information or help under all conditions.

Experiences from crises when 112 has become overburdened and blocked demonstrate the need for a separate call number and centre for information exchange. The received information from the public through the call centre can provide an input to the situation awareness of the involved crisis management authorities.

An overall situation awareness will build on compiling and analyzing all the received information from different sources and will form the basis for presenting information on consequences. To handle critical mass crisis communication and to avoid blocking of 112, a separate call centre and number for exchanging information with the public will be considered by MASSCRISCOM.

MASSCRISCOM will analyse and identify requirements to ensure communications with emphasis on new media and warning of persons in a defined affected geographical area. Also the requirements for the operational management and presentation and distribution of information from the situation awareness or parts of it will be analysed and identified.

Advanced information for instance needs to be distributed through secure channels of communication and general information has to be compiled and prepared for distribution to the public through available media channels as well as common press conferences.

Security standards will be developed and know-how and experience of the protection of people and critical infrastructure exchanged, in order to establish best practices with a view to coordinate the response measures and to achieve cooperation between various actors of crisis management and security actions.

MASSCRISCOM will build on the high risk conditions in Uppsala i.e. the main highway and rail transport chains between Northern Sweden and Stockholm, a nuclear power plant, several Seveso sites and advanced biochemical and chemical research laboratories.

Demonstrations will be made of a call centre function for handling masscall information exchange and ambulance and disaster medicine management communication. An open dialogue with other organisations in the Baltic Sea Region will be conducted through presentation of progress for instance at thematic seminars. Final results will be presented in a demonstration and disseminated to other EU countries.

MASSCRISCOM (www.masscriscom.eu) is a two year project which started on 10th May 2009.

Stig Ekberg
Project Coordinator and Manager
County Administrative Board of Uppsala

Friday, September 04, 2009

Press Release

Disasters in recent years such as the storms and floodings as well as the experiences from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 have demonstrated clearly the need for improving the capacity for crisis communication with the public. Also terrorism and international organised crime and the consequences of climate change create increasing challenges, as examples from a number of countries have shown.

The County Administrative Board of Uppsala together with Estonian, Finnish and Swedish partners have responded to a call from the European Commission and made a proposal for a two year project to develop mass crisis communication with the public (MASSCRISCOM). The present implemented means for instance warning sirens, mobile loudspeakers, important messages to the public in Radio including RDS and TV and SMS messages will be improved and supplemented. New media and technology can also provide opportunities for reaching vulnerable groups for instance persons with handicaps of different types and dissemination of information in different languages.

Experiences from recent crises show clearly that the public actively seeks information and calls the 112 emergency call number, which can then become overburdened and blocked. It is therefore necessary to find other solutions for responding to these calls from the public i.e. calls not from persons needing immediate urgent help but from persons wanting information or assistance in general.

Through this two-way communication with the affected public, it is however also possible to receive valuable information which can provide an essential input to the situation awareness of the authorities. Such information will facilitate for the involved crisis management authorities to take the most adequate measures in their response to the disaster situation and offer the best possible help to the affected public.

The County of Uppsala has a number of high level risks, for instance main national road and rail transport chains pass through the County and there is a nuclear power plant at Forsmark. Several hazardous industrial activities, so called Seveso sites, and major hazardous research laboratories can also be found in the County. In the County’s well coordinated preparedness for dealing with these risks, crisis communication with the public is of significant importance.

The County Administrative Board of Uppsala has therefore given crisis communication matters high priority and is in an excellent position for also coordinating the EU MASSCRISCOM Project. The project proposal submitted by the Board was accepted by the European Commission, which means that there will be a contribution of almost 1 million euro to the estimated total MASSCRISCOM budget of about 1.35 million euro.

The other MASSCRISCOM partners are the Estonian Emergency Response Center and the Åland State Provincial Office as well as in Sweden SOS Alarm, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and the Swedish Civil Contingen-cies Agency (MSB). Other relevant authorities in the Baltic Sea Area will be invited to participate in the two MASSCRISCOM seminars, held in the course of the project in Estonia and Åland respectively.

Contacts

In Estonia: Janek Laev, Director, Estonian Emergency Response Centre Director, Tel +372 6287 401
In Åland: Peter Lindbäck, Governor, Åland State Provincial Office, Tel + 358 18 635290
In Sweden: Stig Ekberg, Civil Defence Director, Uppsala County Administrative Board, Tel + 46 18 19 52 55

MASSCRISCOM reports

	MASSCRISCOM PROJECT RESULTS
	MASSCRISCOM BACKGROUND DOCUMENT
	Film demonstrating the MASSCRISCOM Model
	Final work package three report
	Final work package four and five report