EOC Information Officer tips for newbies

I was talking to a friend yesterday who was preparing for her vacation. She was going to be away from her community for two weeks and was nervous that there could be an EOC activation while she was gone.

If the EOC is suddenly activated a staff member with no experience might have to be the information officer until experienced help arrives. That is pretty rough on everyone.

 I was thinking it might be helpful if she had a little tip sheet that told them what to do. So last night I wrote down what I think would be helpful. I really thought I could do it in only one page but it isn’t. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on what is missing from this.

My thought is that the communications manager could add some internal bits to it like the password to the website, here is where we keep our logo and news release template, and the contact list for media–all of the things they need. In the absence of a crisis communications plan (so important to have one!) which would have all of this information, what else would you add to this tip sheet? I welcome your ideas.

This is just to help someone inexperienced to get through the first 12-24 hours