The Use of Crisis Communication Strategies in Emergency Management

Abstract As emergency management evolved to encompass a focus on supporting safe growth and development for communities, the role and responsibilities of government became increasingly complex with aspects of emergency management becoming quintessential. Issues with communication uncovered the need to understand how managers collect, disseminate, and adapt critical information through understanding crisis type and local community needs. This paper examines the use of crisis communication strategies in emergency management practice and how these strategies have been impacted by Situational Crisis Communication Theory. This theory’s prescriptive approach connects leaders’ response to strategies emphasizing adaptation to local community needs and crisis type. Utilizing structural equation modeling and qualitative analysis, results from a nationwide survey of county, and county-equivalent, emergency managers in the United States is included. The survey focused on the relationship between crisis communication strategies, local community needs, crisis type, and perceived resilience. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significant indicators impacting use of crisis communication strategies by emergency managers along with critical importance of adaptation to local community needs and crisis type. In addition, the paper unveils practical recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in the field of emergency management and its counterparts.