Developing a Scenario for Widespread Use: Best Practices, Lessons Learned

Abstract

The ShakeOut Scenario is probably the most widely known and used earthquake scenario created to date. Much of the credit for its widespread dissemination and application lies with scenario development criteria that focused on the needs and involvement of end users and with a suite of products that tailored communication of the results to varied end users, who ranged from emergency managers to the general public, from corporations to grassroots organizations. Products were most effective when they were highly visual, when they emphasized the findings of social scientists, and when they communicated the experience of living through the earthquake. This paper summarizes the development criteria and the products that made the ShakeOut Scenario so widely known and used, and it provides some suggestions for future improvements.

Toward Human-Centered Simulation Modeling for Critical Infrastructure Disaster Recovery Planning

“…We reviewed abstracts of papers published in and after 2000 in the journals Natural Hazards Review and Earthquake Spectra and identified articles that presented the experience and concerns of end-users. These studies investigate end-users via interviews and participatory studies, or by presenting frameworks for tools and usability testing [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75].…”

Who Participates in the Great ShakeOut? Why Audience Segmentation Is the Future of Disaster Preparedness Campaigns

“…In addition to the drill, a range of communication initiatives were launched in the months leading up to it to raise public awareness about the drill and earthquake preparedness in general. For instance, there was a dedicated website where participants could access the following items: a narrative booklet, video and audio recording describing a 7.8 earthquake scenario linked to California’s San Andreas fault [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]; a drill manual that included information about developing an organizational and household disaster plan; graphic materials that could be printed to promote participation in the drill; and links to two educational video games called Beat the Quake and After Shock. Other initiatives included the development of ShakeOut groups on social media websites, community outreach meetings, and a two-day tabletop exercise.…”

“…These interpersonal activities aimed to enhance community engagement in disaster preparedness, drawing on the notion that shifts in social norms accompany changes at the individual level. Advertisements for the drill were additionally disseminated via broadcast radio as well as posters, billboards and electronic billboards displayed throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area [ 13 , 14 ]. The “drop, cover and hold” message of these advertisements utilized a prescriptive approach for earthquake preparedness that aimed to elicit a very specific set of behaviors.…”