Hcs/320: Communication and Crisis Paper

Communication and Crisis Paper

Assignment: Week 5

HCS/320

October 28, 13

Tracy Collins

        As the director of the regional emergency management office, I have received am official report about our public water supply in several towns have been contaminated with biological agent that is life threatening. This is a very fragile situation about having our water supply contaminated and our community is in great danger. As a director, I have to see to it that the situation is under control and most importantly that there is a communication with all the organization that is involved. Our biggest priority is public safety and getting the information to them without creating a panic.

        There will be a brief press conference to ensure the safety of out community and letting them know all we are doing to get the situation under control. The individuals and the groups that will communicating with me and public will be the Governor and the Director of the water waste, and have them attend the press conference. As a director of emergency management office, it is my job to put together a team that will be communicating inside and outside the organization during this crisis.

        In an event like this, especially when it involves the public and their safety, it gives the emergency team an opportunity to work together with diverse communities and to relay on the importance of health communication and at the same time to community depends upon the emergency team to give them a safe place from the crisis. “During the crisis situation, executives must balance promise (what they say they will do), performance (what they actually do), perceptions (what the public believes they are doing), and expectations (what the public believes, they should be doing),” (Tinker & Gregory, 2012). Potential advantage and challenges are associated wit communicating the crisis within the organization and with the public. There can be different types of communication process that can be used during this crisis. We will take advantage of the technology such as the social media, affecting communication during this crisis situation.

        The community will also be notified for the symptoms that might occur and tell them what to do in a situation like this. The symptoms that may occur are vomiting, diarrhea, headache, blurred vision or if anything serve they are to go the nearest emergency room for treatment. There need to roles and responsibilities for each one of the team members that are involved with this. We will also designate spokesperson(s) who will communicate with media and with public. The spokesperson(s) need to be trained on what to say and how to communicate with media and public. Spokesperson should avoid the phrases like “no comment” because public can think that we are trying to hide problems from them.  He/she should also present information that is clear and understandable to the community, by not using word or phrases that are too technical. “Appear pleasant on camera by avoiding nervous habits that people interpret as deception. A spokesperson needs to have strong eye contact, limited disfluencies such as “uhms” or “uhs” and avoid distracting nervous gestures such as fidgeting or pacing,” (Coombs, 2007). There also need to be a pre-draft message, which means that as a director I need to have a template for crisis messages that need to include statements by top management, new releases and web sites.