Spanish Public Information to Bridge a Crisis Communication Gap

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

One function of the County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services (OES) is to coordinate the region’s overall response to disaster by alerting the appropriate agencies, developing plans and procedures to respond and recover, and notifying San Diego County residents immediately with critical information when disaster strikes. In the past, much of the information provided to the public by OES was only available in English. In an effort to reach out to an increasingly diverse population, OES staff spearheaded the development of a team of bilingual (English/Spanish) County employees, along with translation and internet platform contractors to produce and successfully launch updated Spanish versions of the County’s preexisting Emergency Portal public website and free SD Emergency app. As of August 17, 2015, these platforms are now completely available in English and Spanish.