Resources for Crisis Communications
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
provides online information on preparing for the
need to communicate with the media and others
during an emergency. They recommend that the
crisis communications team, consisting of members
of the administration team, should operate in an office
environment to support the contact and information
centers. The offices may be clustered near
the emergency operations center or at an alternate
site if the primary site cannot be occupied.
The goal of the crisis communications team
is to gather information about the incident. This
should include monitoring the types of questions
posed to call center operators or staff in the office;
emails received; social media chatter or stories
broadcast by the news media. Using this input,
the crisis communications team can inform the
administration about issues that are being raised
by stakeholders. In turn, administration should
provide input into the messages generated by the
crisis communications team. The team can then
create appropriate messages and disseminate
information approved for release.
Resources should be available within the
primary site and provisions should be made to set
up similar capabilities within an alternate site in
case the primary site cannot be occupied.
- Telephones with dedicated or addressable
lines for incoming calls and separate lines for
outgoing calls
- Access to any electronic notification system
used to inform students and staff
- Electronic mail (with access to info@ inbox
and ability to send messages)
- Fax machine (one for receiving and
one for sending)
- Webmaster access to institution website to
post updates
- Access to social media accounts
- Access to local area network, secure remote
server, message template library and printers
- Hard copies of emergency response, business
continuity and crisis communications plan
- Site and building diagrams, information
related to business processes and loss prevention
programs (e.g., safety and health,
property loss prevention, physical and information/cybersecurity, fleet safety, and environmental
management)
- Copiers
- Forms for documenting events as they unfold
- Message boards (flipcharts, white boards, etc.)
- Pens, pencils, paper, clipboards and other
stationery supplies
For more information, visit www.ready.gov/business/implementation/crisis.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .