References:
Holland, R. J., & Gill, K. (2006). Ready for disaster? (Cover story). Communication World, 23(2), 20-24.
Theme: This article discusses the results of a survey of more than 600 IABC members to show that communication plans are not as common as they should be.
Summary:
· A survey of IABC members reveals that crisis communication plans are not as widespread as expected.
· More than likely a third of the most organizations are not prepared for a disaster of crisis to occur because they don't have a formal crisis communication plan.
· Communicators who were prepared with a plan and used it found it effective 99% of the time.
· The survey is given at a right time to gauge the extent to which organizations have developed and used crisis communication plans, and whether the plans are worth the time and effort to create.
· Poor planning after Hurricane Katrina was noticed on a global scale and damaged the United States' reputation.
· Organizational crises open the door for communicators to demonstrate their skills in planning as well as tactical execution.
· Attacks on September 11, 2001 served as a wake-up call to company leaders.
· Just under half of the communicators whose organizations experienced a crisis with no plan are actually doing something about it and the other half aren't taking any action.
· The survey also revealed good news about the integration of crisis communication plans into organizations' overall crisis response and business resumption plans.
· The article discusses an 11 step process of developing a crisis communication plan.
Application to the Lesson Topic:
This article details with statics from a survey the critical importance of a need for planning and preparation for a crisis. By having this plan in place the organization or people who are affected will communicate more efficiently and recovery will be much easier.
Application to Emergency Services:
This of course relates to emergency services because it is exactly what emergency personnel are trained to do, have a plan and respond to the crisis according to that plan by following SOP's. Planning and communication go hand-in-hand. There needs to be a plan when responding to an emergency and the plan needs to be communicated to every emergency personnel involved for the plan to work.
