emergencies


Get your crisis toolkit packed


Cash, pencils and wind-up radios can help you work if disaster strikes. Francesca Marchese gets prepped


T


hings like these come unannounced,” says Graham Keeley, a British freelance journalist based in


Madrid. “You don’t know about them until they happen.” On April 28, during the most severe


blackout in Europe in the past 20 years, Keeley was still able to work for the main UK news outlets. He was travelling in his car when the power failed, leaving 55 million people in Spain, Portugal and southern France without electricity. He still covered the news. Could we have done the same? How


many of us – reporters, photographers and other media professionals – would be able to work safely and effectively in case of power outrage or another major disaster here in the UK? Imagine a day or more of disruption:


no internet, no telephone connection, chaos in transport links and no online payments. Most of our UK phones received the emergency test alarm from the government on September 7 so perhaps we all will be informed if a calamity occurs. But when digital systems fail, putting millions in the dark, how can journalists continue to work and possibly get the best out of it? The answer could be a media prep toolkit for an emergency. Keeley had cash, a radio and batteries.


“I had enough cash on hand to buy petrol for my car,” he recalls. “I was travelling towards Seville and I had a long journey in front of me when the blackout started. I was lucky to find a garage accepting cash, as card payments were not working.”


Keeley has been living in Spain for the past 20 years so he was far from stranded: “I had a radio I could listen to and I had enough battery in my computer and phone. Otherwise, things would have gone very differently.” The UK government set up a webpage for the public with guidance in case of sudden emergencies, Get Prepared (https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk), which advises keeping essentials such as bottled water, food, a torch, medicines and batteries in a ‘grab bag’. Those in the media need to go further than households planning for a sudden emergency caused by a storm, flood, cyberattack or a health crisis. I am familiar with it. In my native


Sicily, I have a similar sack in case volcano Etna erupts or a big earthquake hits. The European Central Bank suggests we hoard banknotes and coins, too.


A professional grab bag should have


lightweight pieces of equipment so it is possible to work in volatile conditions: simple tools such as a notebook, pencils instead of pens (as pencils last longer and never leak but this debate is still not settled), spare glasses or lenses and a printed list of contacts with emails and phone numbers of editors, plus old-fashioned tools such as a wind-up radio and more innovative ones such as a foldable solar charger (I recently bought one – I tell myself it is for sunny days at the beach). Once you have a full power bank,


social media can be useful. “It is the fastest route for verified updates,” says Nika Talbot, journalist, content creator and social media officer at the NUJ London freelance branch. She suggests checking X for breaking news and Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp for


@BBCSounds: live radio Alerts on X


@metpoliceuk @mayoroflondon: London safety alerts


@UKHSA: health updates


@envagency: flood warnings


@metoffice: weather warnings


@cabinetofficeuk and @govuk: national emergencies


@BBCBreaking @BBCNews @PA @Reuters


local community support. “Always stick to official channels and fact-check information is legit before you repost or share it,” she adds. Talbot recommends starting locally:


follow your local resilience forum (search LRF + your county) and join the communities in your area. Her suggestions include joining the priority services register for extra support if you are eligible. She also has a series of tips for your smartphone: set emergency contacts in health/medical ID and turn on low power mode (if you’re off grid, there is Apple Emergency SOS via satellite). The website OnlineOrNot (https://onlineornot.com/ gives updates in case the internet goes down. Finally, store files, data and work in the cloud so you can access it anywhere. Digital safety advice can also be found as well via organisations such as the Tor Project and Access Now. The Rory Peck Trust website


(www.rorypecktrust.org) has many free resources for psychological support and organises affordable courses such as Hostile Environment and First Aid Training. Freelance video journalist Jason N Parkinson, who covers protests and riots, says that since Covid he always carries 70 per cent alcohol hand sanitizer. “Strangely enough, I have never suffered a cold or flu ever since,” he notes. His most useful tool? “I would say the first thing is the camera to document what is going on and always keep it recording, after that a decent medical kit (with tourniquets, gauzes and wound suppressors) because we are humans before journalists and, if someone needs help, that is our first port of call. The footage can wait.”


Some of the essentials theJournalist | 17


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