Spring Cleaning for Crisis Plan
By
Tom DeLapp, President, Communications Resources for Schools
A sad fact of life for public school communicators is that March Madness isn’t just about basketball anymore. It seems that pent up frustrations accumulating over a school year force some troubled students, employees and parents to act in strange and bizarre ways as we move into Spring. If you track the rash of campus shootings that plagued public schools across the country over the last ten years they all fell within the four-month storm window of February to May. The question remains, is your crisis communications plan up-to-date? If you haven’t given it a thorough review since last year maybe it’s time for a Spring Cleaning.
Here are a few suggestions on things to
look for when reviewing your written emergency response
plans:
Do you have a written Emergency Response Plan? I can’t
tell you the number of districts I work with that still
don’t have a detailed written emergency response
plan. Even if you’re a small district you still
need one, especially in case your lead crisis manager
or superintendent is out of the district or incapacitated.
Plans should be what I like to call “self executing.”
That means people automatically know what they are supposed
to do during the first thirty minutes of a crisis without
direction from the district office or being told in a
meeting. The writing process helps clarifying responsibilities,
reactions, and obstacles that you might need to overcome.
Are your communication tools current and up-to-date? Technology changes frequently in school districts. Equipment is replaced or transferred. Phone systems and numbers are amended. Your database of contacts is out-of-date almost from the day you enter it. When was the last time you did an inventory of Emergency Kits, or checked the phone batteries and chargers for example? Don’t assume things are where you left them! Will your staff still have the ready access to phone numbers, pagers and radio links that worked during your crisis drill last year?
Have personnel changed and do they all know their responsibilities in the case of an emergency? Maybe it’s time to run another crisis communication/response workshop. Crisis manuals and binders have probably been misplaced or are missing some contents. Is the old chain of command in a crisis still intact?
Is your network of community responders current? If you haven’t had to use your crisis plan lately, then there may have been changes within personnel in law enforcement, health care, community services, and local government agencies. The last thing you need in a crisis is to be fumbling through the phone book trying to identify the right person you need to solve a problem.
Is it time to freshen up your news media
contact list? Just to be safe, maybe you need to connect
with assignment editors and reporters to let them know
again what your protocols are for handling public communication
and access during a crisis.
The school communications professional has become a key
player in school crisis response. At a time when school
districts are weighing the relative value of laying off
teachers or PIOs, we need to make sure we can demonstrate
our value. A crisis is your opportunity to fail or succeed
in a highly visible venue. The students, parents, employees
and community will be looking to you for answers and abilities
to cope with a tragedy, disaster or critical situation.
Are you prepared? Can you exceed their expectations? Doing
a little Spring Cleaning now can give you the edge you
may need when the unthinkable occurs.