Information & Communication – When You Need to Know What’s Happening

During a serious incident, access to accurate information is an important part of your preparedness.

What has happened? Which area is affected? Should you stay at home or leave the area? Is the water safe to drink? Where can you get help and what instructions are the authorities providing?

In everyday life, we receive almost all our information through mobile phones and the internet. But during an extended power outage or a major disruption to society, internet access, mobile networks and our ability to charge devices may all be affected.

Your preparedness therefore needs to include ways to receive important information even when the usual communication channels are unavailable.

Build your information preparedness around three things:

✦ Be able to receive important information
✦ Be able to keep essential equipment running
✦ Have a plan for how you will communicate

During a crisis or major disruption to society, Sveriges Radio P4 plays a particularly important role. Local P4 stations serve as emergency information channels and are used to communicate important information to the public.

This may include information about what has happened, which areas are affected, where water can be collected, evacuations or other instructions from the responsible authorities.

It is therefore a good idea to know in advance which P4 station and frequency applies where you live or where your organisation is located.

A radio is a simple and reliable way to receive information when other communication channels are unavailable. But naturally, it needs to work during a power outage.

Additional features can be useful, but from an information preparedness perspective, the ability to receive radio broadcasts is what matters most.

In the event of serious accidents and other incidents, authorities may issue a Viktigt meddelande till allmänheten (VMA), Important Public Announcement.

A VMA contains information about what has happened and instructions on how people in the affected area should act.

Radio is therefore not just a way to follow the news. It can be a direct channel for information that affects what you need to do.

As long as internet access and mobile networks are functioning, there are several important sources of information. The key is not to become dependent on a single channel.

Even if the mobile network is working, your phone is not particularly useful once its battery is dead.

One or more charged power banks can therefore be a simple part of your preparedness. For longer outages, a larger battery backup or another source of backup power can provide additional resilience.

But backup power does not replace a radio.

A widespread power outage can affect the infrastructure your phone depends on, regardless of how much battery power you have left. It is therefore wise to have both a way to charge essential electronics and an alternative way to receive information.

Communication is also about being able to find and reach each other.

If something happens in the middle of the day, family members may be at work, at school or elsewhere. If phone services are disrupted at the same time, a simple plan can be valuable.

Decide, for example, where you will meet if you cannot reach each other and who you will contact if someone does not return home as planned.

For businesses and public-sector organisations, the same principle forms part of continuity planning. Who needs to be able to reach whom? What communication channels are available if normal systems are down? Which people, functions and phone numbers need to remain accessible offline?

During major incidents, information spreads quickly. So do false information, old images, rumours and deliberately misleading claims.

Therefore, try to distinguish between verified information from authorities, journalistic reporting and unverified information on social media.

Check who is behind the information, when it was published and whether the claims are confirmed by other reliable sources.

Effective information preparedness does not need to be complicated. Start with three backup measures.

The right equipment provides alternative ways to receive information and keep essential electronics running when normal infrastructure is disrupted.