AST February 2021 Edition | Page 5

fidence in the states ’ abilities to successfully distribute the coronavirus vaccine .

www . AmericanSecurityToday . com February 2021 - Edition 52

Public safety has taken on new meaning in 2021 as local officials and first responders alike are tasked with informing , protecting and responding to residents not just about issues related to the pandemic , but also the everyday emergencies that continue to occur .

To understand some of the emergency communication challenges facing state and local agencies , Rave Mobile Safety partnered with independent research firm Researchscape to field a national survey of more than 1,000 American adults in late 2020 and early 2021 .

Key findings of the survey include :

• Only 22 % of respondents completely trust the information they receive from local officials .

• First responders are more trusted than local officials :

• 62 % of respondents completely trust information from firefighters and 59 % completely trust paramedics / EMTs .

• That level of trust drops for police , with 33 % of respondents saying they com pletely trust information they receive from police , but is still higher than trust in local officials .

• Only 37 % of respondents say they are completely confident or very confident in their state ’ s ability to successfully distribute the vaccine .

• Text and phone alerts from local officials are among the most trusted sources of information

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