Austin received its first-ever boil water advisory in the city’s history. Recent flooding in the city washed unknown amounts of soil and silt into the local rivers, which had health officials concerned for a potential contaminated water supply. The more than one million residents and visitors that use City of Austin water were advised to use bottled water or boil water for at least three minutes before drinking to prevent any potential health issues.
News outlets started reporting about the health advisory before dawn and by 6 a.m., most grocery stores had sold out of bottled water.
MedVoice PR quickly respond to this crisis, by calling our client, Austin Gastroenterology, to provide Central Texas important health information about signs and symptoms of bacterial or viral infections from contaminated water.
We worked quickly and closely with physician, Dr. Harry Thomas on messaging and media preparation. Within a one-hour time frame, we reached out to local media outlets and scheduled five interviews with broadcast outlets, KXAN (NBC), KVUE (ABC), Fox 7, KEYE (CBS) and Spectrum News.
Multiple stations outside Central Texas also picked up the interview with Dr. Thomas, including national morning show, CBS This Morning.
Key Takeaway: When time is of the essence, solid editorial judgment, effective media outreach and media relationships are vital.
For more information on how media relations can be key to your overall communications plan, contact us at info@medvoicepr.com.