Dissemination as Success: Local Emergency Management Communication Practices

Abstract Local emergency managers are charged by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to increase the number of community members with emergency plans and kits. This outcome remains unrealized in part based upon in-depth interviews with 37 emergency managers in eight states revealing that emergency managers conceptualize communication as dissemination rather than as a process of research and evaluation. This study calls for local emergency managers to conduct outcome evaluations of risk communication campaigns to increase public participation.