EPR-Public Communications WS -03

1. EPR-Public CommunicationsWS-03 Spokesperson

2. Objectives • To apply advice from the lecture • To gain experience through simulated interviews with different types of media

3. Media Interview Scenario 1 • You are the spokesperson for the responsible authority. • A local hospital has reported possible over exposure of some patients during radiation treatment with a Cobalt 60 teletherapy machine. The radiation protection officer at the hospital has contacted the manufacturer and an investigation is underway. As a precaution, no further treatments are being done and patients recently treated are being contacted by the hospital. A reporter at a local radio station has heard about some problem with the machine and is reporting that the hospital is investigating a possible radiation accident. • You have been briefed that Cobalt-60 emits gamma radiation. Over exposure to this source could result in serious injury to a patient undergoing treatment, but would not affect anyone else. The hospital is monitoring for radiation in the treatment area as a precaution. • Media are now contacting your authority for information about the so-called accident.

4. Media Interview Scenario 2 • You are the spokesperson for the authority responsible for radiation protection. • A truck carrying an Iridium-192 radiography source was stolen from a construction site overnight. The loss was reported at 08:00 UTC and local authorities are now trying to track down the stolen truck. At 10:00 UTC an alert was issued by police to the media that a stolen truck may contain dangerous radioactive material. By 12:00 UTC local TV and radio were widely reporting the theft of the truck. • At 14:00 UTC, a nurse from a school in the vicinity of the construction site has called local health authorities to report that many young children appear to be sick with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Some children are being taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution. • Having been monitoring emergency dispatchers, a local radio station reports that children from a school near to where the truck was stolen are sick with symptoms that may be due to radiation poisoning. The report includes statements from a local environmental activist about the dangers of radiation and condemning local authorities for downplaying the risks of the lost source.

5. Reflecting on the two scenarios from this session, who do you think would be an effective spokesperson and with which audiences?