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USCG Cmdr. Adm. Thad Allen Designated National Incident Commander on May 1, 2010
As part of the designation of the BP Oil Spill as a Spill of National Significance, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced that U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will serve as the National Incident Commander for the administration’s continued, coordinated response—providing additional authority and oversight in leveraging every available resource to respond to the BP oil spill and minimize the associated environmental risks.
What I like about this guy is... well, he has a blog :O). The Coast Guard is also using PIER (crisis communications management) for official incident updates: USCG 8th District PIER.
• Incident updates
For me, it's a relief incident updates are available for the public, and that Cmdr. Allen describes the response to the BP Oil Spill as "way beyond" worst-case scenario:
As the complexity and the asymmetry and anomalous nature of this event continue to reveal itself, we continue to adapt and make sure that we are leaning forward and capable of responding to the worst-case scenario. At the outset, when we realized that the unit had sunk, we made preparations to stage equipment for a worst-case scenario. The deployment of our equipment was not related to any of the early estimates related to 1,000 barrels a day or 5,000 barrels a day, and in fact, any exact estimation of what's flowing out of those pipes down there is probably impossible at this time due to the depth of the water and our ability to try and assess that from remotely operated vehicles and video.
Our preparations were for something way beyond that, and we continue to stage large amounts of equipment, and direct BP to do the things that they're responsible for.
Researching this diary came across this by Gerald Baron, founder of PIER Systems, Is ‘official’ crisis communication in a crisis of its own?
The poor public information officer or crisis communicator thinks he or she is the encyclopedia writer as the public breathlessly awaits the latest release. What they don’t seem to realize is that by the time they get their release out, everyone who doesn’t have a smart phone has been talking to those who do, and four different information cycles have been completed in the time it took to send one release. Information is like a flashflood. It will take the route of least resistance.
Don't know whether BP crisis will become a Twitter event, but it's interesting the USCG might be prepared for that too.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
President Barack Obama is briefed about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill, at the Coast Guard Venice Center, in Venice, La., Sunday, May 2, 2010. Pictured, from left, are U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.