You can either plan ahead or start work after disaster strikes, but it
is better to be prepared.
-
A concise description of the stakeholders
you need to reach. These may include: Board Members; employees,
patients, reporters, editorial page editors, elected officials; local
Health Departments; and Connecticut’s Department of Public Health.
Support this with database including stakeholder voice and fax numbers
as well as their e-mail and mailing addresses.
Hint: Microsoft Access is a database program that comes
in most Microsoft Office packages and can do this job for you quickly
and easily.
Hint: Win Fax Pro is a fax program that lets your
computer quickly fax documents. With this program you can merge a
document in Microsoft Word and then fax it out without printing a hard
copy of each document.
Hint: Consider how you can use the Internet to communicate in a
crisis through posting information to your web site or through e-mail.
-
If you don’t have a public relations
person on staff, consider hiring one to write a plan and to be
available if you need them. This can save you money (they should
already have up-to-date media contact lists) and in a crisis they can
provide extra help when you need it most, (leaving your team to focus
on solving the problem).
-
Identify and work with allies. In a
crisis, communicate with local and state health officials. Be sure
they get your news before it hits the airwaves. Ask them to do the
same. And see if they will provide an expert to help answer media
questions. After all, the last thing they want is a public health
issue rocketing around the media.
-
Assign a single spokesperson. They may
need special training. Be sure your spokesperson looks the part. Who
would your grandmother trust with as a source of health news. Just be
sure your spokesperson looks authoritative and acts friendly.
-
Identify members of a Crisis Management
Team. Assign roles and set procedures for working together. Once a
crisis hits, work through this team to plan what you will say.
-
Acknowledge the problem as a serious one.
Do not try to minimize it or belittle people’s concerns. This is
especially true if people are afraid of this problem.
-
Present a concise description of the
crisis and the steps you are taking.
-
Inform people of any step they need to
take to protect themselves.
-
Repeatedly update the media and your key
stakeholders as the crisis continues toward resolution. Understand
that news media need to continually update their stories. If you don’t
provide them with a "new lead," they will have to find one
for themselves. And that can lead to problems.
