If a tree in the forest falls and there is no one near, does it make a sound?
If the countryside is being chewed up by a tornado but the local radio station is on auto-pilot, will there be an alert?
I’d not want to be the GM of any radio station that did not respond in a real emergency. I’d have difficulty facing my listeners, and, particularly my advertisers. Your station depends on both for a living. Give-back cannot be any more important than the proper response to a real emergency.
How to make sure you don’t drop the most important ball?
Resolve now to get intimately involved with your local emergency services, first responders, city and county and regional leaders. Make sure they know how to reach several of your key people in a descending-order telephone tree — at home, on mobile, via close friends and relatives.
Make sure they know that your people will react … that they may have to send a helicopter, four-wheel-drive vehicle or snowcat to pick them up but that your people will respond and perform in the most vital link your listeners and your community can rely on.
Day-of-disaster is a poor time to try to get acquainted with the emergency leaders in your community. The new EAS CAP-capable gear will be only an expense if you don’t work now to get really close to the obvious people in your community.
If your tower is not on the ground, how will you face your public?
Dave Burns
Richmond, Ind.
