This article describes a model of communication known as crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC). The model is outlined as a merger of many traditional notions of health and risk communication with work in crisis and disaster communication. The specific kinds of communication activities that should be called for at various stages of disaster or crisis development are outlined. Although crises are by definition uncertain, equivocal, and often chaotic situations, the CERC model is presented as a tool health communicators can use to help manage these complex events.The anthrax attack of September 2001 was arguably one of the most public and disruptive public health emergencies of recent history. Although much larger and widespread health risks exist, such as the avian flu, the emergence of sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the upswing in skin cancer, and the recent West Nile virus outbreaks, anthrax was new in terms of the perceived threat and the intentional nature of the attack. Moreover, because anthrax was connected in terms of time and perception to the 9=11 World Trade Center disasters, it created heightened public concern and widespread public outrage. The event placed significant pressure on the public health community to communicate effectively within a context of immediacy, threat, and high uncertainty.Health professionals, including those in the health communication domain, often frame their messages regarding the possibility of serious public health harm as risk communication

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