National Capital Region

National Capital Region

Emergency Preparedness and Public Awareness and Education Campaign

March 2005 – October 2005

James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA) was part of the project team that was chosen for the National Capital Region's (NCR) Emergency Preparedness Public Awareness and Education Campaign. The $4.7 million campaign was funded through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Urban Areas Security Initiative. This project served as a model for other high risk regions.

The project team conducted extensive research through surveys, focus groups and interviews to determine the most effective messaging. Community events and outreach occurred in the summer months and advertising, media buys and public relations efforts were held in September, National Preparedness Month. The campaign concluded in October with a final survey that determined whether or not the campaign had achieved its goal to motivate 50 percent of NCR residents to be prepared.

JLWA's responsibilities included writing training manuals, supporting community outreach efforts and serving as the project's subject matter experts. JLWA's experts were on-call to provide subject matter advice throughout the project. Also, JLWA compiled and presented national best practices on emergency preparedness and public outreach.

JLWA interviewed selected stakeholders, including state and local elected officials; the senior policy group of homeland security advisors for the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia; the chief administrative officers of the NCR jurisdictions; and local emergency management directors. These in-depth interviews were conducted to provide insight on current efforts for emergency preparedness, outreach and education in the NCR. JLWA authored train-the-trainer and citizen preparedness manuals. The jurisdiction-specific manuals included information from the interviews with local stakeholders.

JLWA team members worked with the Washington Board of Trade to develop public-private partnerships and help secure corporate partners for local preparedness events and for the publication of the training manual. One of the signature outreach pieces was the Z-Card, a credit card-sized document that unfolds into a mini-information sheet and contains individualized contact information as well as a preparedness checklist.

JLWA participated in community outreach events throughout the campaign, particularly during National Preparedness Month activities. Once the project formally concluded, JLWA experts continued to contribute to the goals of the NCR Preparedness Campaign with op-ed pieces, media interviews and public appearances.

Visit National Capital Region webpage