Communication and crisis
Denieka Ogletree
HCS/320
August 25, 2012
Cheryl Workman

Communication and crisis

Today I come to you by way of the director of the regional Emergency Management Office. I have been receiving official reports that the public water supplies of several towns in the area have become contaminated with a life-threatening biological agent. The crisis of contaminated water supply is an extremely delicate situation. The weight of people lives are in immense danger. So far there have been several people rushed to the emergency room because of this water supply contamination. We have no solid information on how our water supply was polluted. The symptoms to look for are nose bleeds, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, blurred vision and severe abdomen pain. Contingency plans will and must be addressed within this organization and with the public without creating a panic. We will do all that is within our power to get our water supply back under control. I will hold a brief press conference to ensure the community we are doing all we can to get this crisis taken care of. In order to try and put the public at ease, I will ask the Governor and Director of the Water Waste Manger to attend this press conference. It is my job as the Emergency Management Office to put a group together that will be communicating inside and outside the organization during this crisis. Potential advantages and challenges associated with communicating within the organization and with the public and private sectors during this crisis situation. Differences in communication processes used in crisis situations. We will take advantage of the proper use of appropriate technology for example social media, affecting communication during this crisis situation. First on the agenda is to acquire the use of the Fox Group. This particular organization has offered training to come in and help us deal with “crisis communication training and media crisis training”. The Fox Group will teach us how to respond to television and radio criticism. We will become familiar with what to say, and most importantly what not to say. There will be questions we are not prepared to answer. We will learn how to avoid these types of situations so we want make matters worse. There will always be circumstances where the media will try and suppress us. We will be required to learn how to get away from the media in an effective way without making it seem as if we are avoiding their questions. The most important thing in this crisis situation is to gain the public trust. In a crisis situation we are aware that every circumstance is fragile. We must be able to convey knowledge about the crisis and be able to communicate through a crisis. The Fox Group will help us in the areas typed in the memo. For example, train us make sure we are self-assured and take be in charge of the situation. It is imperative to speak with a language barrier that everyone will be able to comprehend. We will need adequate help and support and hopefully some members of our team will be willing to take on more responsibility until this disaster is under control. A challenge that may occur is making sure the reports about the water are kept at a level of assurance and the matter is being handled. As the director of the regional Emergency Management Office the last thing I want to do is cause a panic. I am willing to give adequate information that satisfies the public and the media. My team will be doing research into finding out why and getting knowledge as to why and how our water supply was contaminated. A press conference will allow the mainstream and media and the public aware and this way people are not infected from the contaminated water. Putting a hold on an avoidable outbreak is a must. Doing research always gives the opportunity to find information and knowledge about what is causing the contamination. A team will be formed in this area of proficiency so this problem can be solved in a timely manner. The more people we have on this team that has knowledge the better it will be. We will continue to communicate with the public and the media regarding our findings. The advantage of this way of communicating is we are letting the public and media know w not pushing this water contamination under the bridge. It is our first and top priority. Media is both a friend and a foe in a crisis situation such as the contaminated water supply. Media will only show the things that will make the more fearful of the water contamination and not the steps we are taking to fix the situation. Mass communication is the dissemination of messages from one person to another, and to large numbers of people.. Media can give away knowledge. Technology can help with situations because you can transfer information, and you can also get products carried over to your location to help those in need. The different media that can be used are face book, twitter, instagram, and other social networks to help the community, it can also show what damage has been done , and whoever want to help can help. Technology plays a big role in today’s society because it can be used for good like I stated in my last sentence you can transfer information. Media can show what to do in situations. Technology can be used to enhance communication because of the way the message gets out so fast. Management crisis will show how well you can handle pressure, and handle stress. Technology, media, mass media, mass communication, and direct-to-consumer are all good methods people can use to help them in situations, and can show you how to do certain things in order to transfer information, and transport things to you We can always use technology in any situation, and it can always come in helpful. Globalisation has a force on communication through the media. It is the role of global media coverage in such crisis situation such as the public water supply being contaminated. This type of coverage in the media will be responsible for dealing with this crisis and minimize the media press. During a crisis there is no book to help you in a crisis situation. Sometime it will be good to deny some information that media has put out. This is to better protect the public from being fearful and going into a panic attack. We will do that we can to prevent a public outrage and put us in a situation where the public do not trust us. There will be a different way to handle the next crisis situation such as water supply contamination. There will be new machines bought in to check our water supply on a much needed basis. We will put in place more mandatory training courses for the employees that work in water waste management. There materials will be kept up to date and inspected on a regular. We will set in place a website that will show the ongoing training and placement we have in order to keep this under control. We will monitor the areas where our main water supply is coming from. Also we will need help from the public so we ask that would take advantage of our technology resources to report anything they fill will help with this from happening again. The media opportunities in this crisis helped and hurt us. There were times we as a team were not prepare to answer some questions that were put before us. The media also showed a side of us to let the community know we cared about the safety of our people. We did not allow the media to portray as putting this situation under the rug. Not only did this crisis effect the public but it effected the Emergency Management Office as well. We did expect for it to be a panic attack on our community. With the media we were able to put out the correct information as well without the public losing trust in the government. It was very imperative that we use the media to our advantage. At the end of this crisis we have come together as a community. We at the Emergency Management office put in place a plan we felt was best to make this crisis situation move along as fast as possible. We brought in outside group that was willing to help train our staff in handling the media in affective way and to make sure we communicated correctly in a crisis situation such as the water supply being contaminated. We let the public know what symptoms to look far to know if you or a family member could be in danger. We used media and technology to our advantage. In a situation like this it is imperative to give correct information to make sure the communities do not go in a panic nor do they lose trust in the government.

References
Zoeteman, B. J., Kersten, W. C., Vos, W. F., de Voort, L., & Ale, B. M. (2010). Communication management during risk events and crises in a globalised world: Predictability of domestic media attention for calamities. Journal Of Risk Research, 13(3), 279-302. doi:10.1080/13669870902955427
Communicating in the Workplace
Thomas Cheesebro, Waukesha County Technical College
Linda O'Connor
Francisco Rios
Stephenson, D. R. (1982). How To Turn Pitfalls Into Opportunities In Crisis Situations. Public Relations Quarterly, 27(3), 11.