Realistic Risk Communication: The Case Against Cute

October 10, 2018 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT BY DESIGN Realistic Risk Communication: The Case Against Cute Cute Cats Make Fluffy Failures There is a place for humor and comedic relief — but public education is not always one of them. Using cartoons or funny illustrations to describe threats and hazards removes negative risks associated the impacts and outcomes of those hazards. For instance, an emergency manager gives a public seminar on hurricanes. To convey the difference in Saffir Simpson wind speed categories, they use a cute cat meme. The intention is to get people to understand that Category 1 storms are weaker and Category 4 storms are stronger. Instead of conveying seriousness of deadly storms, emergency managers are treating the hurricane as a joke. The audience now follows suit. While the audience surely understands the scientific basis, they do not gain understanding of the dire nature. In real life, there is not a flying cat in the air of a Category 5 storm. In reality, the cat likely died during the cute, fluffy Category 3. Or could have drowned during a tropical storm. And using that for a public seminar is, of course, not even funny. © 2018 by Cascia Consulting LLC The Case Against Cute Disasters are ugly. Living without electricity, clean water, or food for weeks is a dire but realistic fact in post-impact communities. Emergency Management has struggled in communicating potentially fatal realities of hurricanes, floods, and wildfires in lieu of safe but lacking information. When talking to the public about hurricanes, do not use funny or cute clip art and memes. Sure, you might get a laugh and people might remember funny flying cats supposed to convey hurricane wind categories but you’re damning people’s ability to understand the seriousness of disaster preparedness. Physicians do not use “cute” cancer clip-art when talking to patients about their diagnosis. Paramedics do not finish their education by bandaging dolls. Law enforcement officers do not practice life-saving skills using memes. Emergency managers create an industry lacking credibility and seriousness when they use unrealistic and comedic scenarios to describe disasters. If you can’t explain it using factual examples, you are telling the audience that you do not understand it yourself. Not only that, but these practitioners do a massive — potentially fatal — disservice to their audience. If people believe that hurricanes are cute and funny, they will not understand their risk and therefore will not prepare adequately. www.casciaconsulting.com