Vincent T. Covello - Communicating in Risk, Crisis, and High Stress Situations - Evidence-Based Strategies and Practice

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IEEE Press445 Hoes Lane Piscataway, NJ 08854

IEEE Press Editorial BoardEkram Hossain, Editor in Chief

Vincent T. Covello

Center for Risk Communication

New York City and Washington, DC

IEEE PCS Professional Engineering Communication Series

IEEE PCS Professional Engineering Communication Series

Copyright © 2022 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data is applied for

Paperback: 9781119027430

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © Austin Goodwin

By Series Editor, Ryan K. Boettger Ph.D.

As our world continues to fundamentally change, I have started (and restarted) writing this editor’s note several times.

Whatever I write about the COVID‐19 global pandemic today (June 2021) will have changed by the time you read this. Every day, we learn about new science, new insights, and new challenges that we will no doubt continue to grapple with for decades to come. However, we appear to be on an optimistic and upward trajectory with three vaccines in circulation and the decline of new COVID‐19 cases in many parts of the world.

When Dr. Vincent Covello and I first met about this project in 2019, we discussed the value of creating a book that relayed evidence‐based strategies for risk, crisis, and high stress situations. Rather than lecturing to readers, Dr. Covello wanted to share his experiences – successes and failures – with other leaders besides offering materials and resources that he has developed or adapted over the years. Neither Dr. Covello nor I predicted the 2020 pandemic and its very real implications for the foundations and principles outlined in this book.

The global impacts of the pandemic motivated a complete reconceptualization of this project. In fact, we delayed the production of this manuscript because Dr. Covello’s expertise in risk, high concern, and crisis communication was needed. During the pandemic, Dr. Covello worked nearly full time with the State Health Directors and Governors on their COVID‐19 communications. It was important, challenging work that required nearly daily adjustments to account for changes in knowledge and policies. When he returned to working on this manuscript, Dr. Covello detailed many of those experiences for readers.

Each chapter contains at least one case diary, or a personal account of Dr. Covello’s extensive tenure and experiences in the areas of risk, high concern, and crisis communication. These are stories and experiences that Dr. Covello hasn’t detailed in previous works. Many of these cases are COVID‐19‐related and account for the various communication failures and successes our world has experienced over the last year and a half. Dr. Covello has written a timely text that you will draw insights from over decades to come. As our understanding of COVID‐19 continues to grow, Dr. Covello’s recommended principles and response techniques become even more relevant to our responses to the next crisis.

Vincent Covello is the leader in the areas of risk and crisis communication. He is the founder and Director of the Center for Risk Communication besides being a nationally and internationally recognized trainer, researcher, and consultant. As you read this book, you’ll discover more about Dr. Covello’s extensive professional experiences. For example, he was the founding director of the NSF program on decision‐making communication about technology risks. His work here also led him to become one of the first presidents of the Society for Risk Analysis, and he helped launch the journal Risk Analysis , one of the leading scientific publishers of original risk communication research. In short, there is no one better to learn these strategies from than Dr. Covello. And it was a privilege to work with him on this important project.

On a personal note, this is the last title under my editorship for the Professional Engineering Communication series. I strived to deliver quality content for your professional development. The series, backed by Wiley‐IEEE Press, remains an impressive collection of communication and professional insights from scholars. In particular, I hope the last three titles heightened your thinking about the future of STEM education.