Ebola crisis response in the USA: Communication management and SOPs

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis research focuses on the 2014 Ebola crisis response by emergency managers in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metropolitan region in the State of Texas, U.S.A. It examines the patterns of crisis communication and the use of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during the first month of the crisis. Primary data collected from 24 faceto-face interviews and 12 online surveys are analyzed. The research identifies elements contributing to organizational failures, which by their very nature gain public and media attention, and also explicates the less mentioned successful decisions made by response agencies in the DFW region. It is important to investigate both failures and successes to help inform organizational learning for better preparedness to future health crises. Findings suggest that, although there was a breakdown in communication between small city governments/ municipalities and higher levels of government at the State and Federal levels, prior training and collaborative relationships helped in improvised decision-making. Takeaways for practitioners include reiterating the importance of establishing SOPs, merits of flexibility, and improvisational decisions for shared learning.

Evaluating Crisis Communication. A 30-item Checklist for Assessing Performance during COVID-19 and Other Pandemics

“…Due to the virus' dissemination across geographical boundaries and sectors, there is no clear direction about who owns the crisis (Andrew et al, 2018). This requires stakeholder management and getting in touch and fine-tuning tasks and competencies across fields, including governmental parties, general practitioners (Andrew et al, 2018), media (Chen, 2008;McMonagle, 2020;Park, Boatwright, & Avery, 2019;Rossmann, Meyer, & Schulz, 2018;Saxon, Bass, Wright, & Panick, 2019), laboratories and hospitals (Dickmann, Biedenkopf, Keeping, Eickmann, & Becker, 2014) and healthcare workers. From the SARS outbreak, we know that communicating with domestic and international policymakers, financial markets, travel industry, and other key sectors is relevant as well (Smith, 2006).…”

“…In their analysis of a case of Ebola in Texas, Andrew and colleagues (2018) describe how some agencies perceived the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) response as slow and inadequate, while other agencies reported that the CDC did the best they could under the circumstances and were able to distribute guidance documents in a timely manner. We should resist the tendency to assess only the things that went wrong, as there is a need to ensure that as a crisis unfolds, successes are noted and praised as well (Andrew et al, 2018). Many outcomes of crisis management will lie somewhere in-between "failure" and "success," given that the real world is often messy (McConnell, 2011).…”

Coordination Effectiveness During Public Health Emergencies: An Institutional Collective Action Framework

“…Coordination requires task interdependencies and mechanisms such as partner-specific communications, rules and procedures, routines, liaison, integration of roles, and interim authorities (Hartgerink et al, 2014), which foster interorganizational coordination (Kozuch & Sienkiewicz-Małyjurek, 2016). Coordination is often required when legally independent entities such as local governments in an MSA need to work in concert to address complex and wicked problems such as a health crisis (Andrew et al, 2018; K. Kim et al, 2017).…”

“…The political autonomy of governments often leads to confusion about who owns a public health emergency and who should oversee the response effort (Andrew et al, 2018; K. Kim et al, 2017).…”

“…Like COVID-19, the number, severity, and rapidity of the Ebola disease required coordination among organizations seeking ways to stop the disease from evolving and spreading across boundaries. The United States was unprepared during the Ebola outbreak of 2014, which first reached the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, threatening multiple local governments and exposed their vulnerability to the contagion (Andrew et al, 2018; Benavides et al, 2017).…”