SPRINT emergency communications checklist
In the first 24-48 hours
 Identify staff responding
 Spokespeople/email/phone contacts
 What is happening/assessment of response/scene and state of emergency
 Press releases- when can we issue/ what is the message
 Assess what communications tools are available/appropriate
 Notify/call/email CO if it is a priority country or large-scale emergency ( risk to
life/disease/staff at risk)
 Map journalists online covering emergency- check twitter and online news
 If required a communications staff from even CO can attend the scene (budget and time
criteria)
48 hours and counting:
Situation note: – At different stages these may be daily, or once every few days, or weekly.
Establish with the representative the outline of the site. Better to have short and frequent
information than long pieces.
 HIGHLIGHTS: Name/ country/locality/
 GENERAL SITUATION Nature of crisis: Natural disaster, outbreak of fighting, refugee influx…
Political: Major developments (if applicable) Humanitarian: Nature of humanitarian crisis:
refugee influx, IDPs, loss of shelter etc…
 Location of affected populations Estimated number of affected populations, of children
 Security: Descriptive of the security situation, Security incidents reported
 What is the key programmatic intervention?
Emergency brief or Fact Sheets- It is important to have the best of current information, as well
as ‘baseline’ facts on clients – services, population, malnutrition rates prior to the emergency,
access to water etc.
Photographs – In an emergency it is vital that programme staff travelling to the field are
equipped with digital cameras.
Video footage – Do what you can to obtain video footage of the emergency. If you have no
time, or the office has no video camera, then hire a local TV journalist, or hire a friend who has
a video camera. Contact CO for help and advice on this (they can identify freelancers). If not
short bursts of video no more than 1 min long for a quick interview over Skype, phone is useful
for social media alerts too.
Press releases – Press releases define our actions and to let the public know we are THERE,
with our eyes on the emergency. A press release should be issued as early as possible – within
hours. Liaise closely with CO to for further press release opportunities.
News Notes – These lie somewhere between a press release and a human interest story. They
can be very short – 150 words or so. They explain an immediate news development doesn't
have to include IPPF action.
Media – compile a contact list. Establish an e-mail list of all journalists who contact you for
information. look online at who is filing stories from your emergency.
List of spokespeople – Define who these are. Take into account foreign languages spoken. The
list will change as the emergency changes. Who are the staff on the ground- one must be a
senior SPRINT staff, then MA staff, then partners.
Human interest stories – In an emergency, a photograph with a paragraph explaining the text
will do. Do an interview with a staff member who has been to the field. Get as close as you can
to the emergency, then write about it.
Visibility/Branding-Ensure you have visibility materials – any photo where possible should
show IPPF/Sprint/Aus Aid branding.
Healthkits, Staff in T-shirts in action not staged shots is very important. Photos need to show
the realities of the emergency- tents, vehicles, environment, people and the energy of the
situation.
Anything that adds colour to the scene so that someone sitting in their sofa is compelled by the
image.
Blogs- need to be no more than 650 words.
Films- Deployment of freelancers are extremely important. (Please earmark budget in advance for
priority countries)