Page 78 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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venient place. And for companies that operate in multiple loca-
tions in a country or around the world, they need to have a crisis
communication plan in every facility and, in a crisis that involves
fatalities, they need the ability to respond to the media with some
basic information as soon as possible. No matter the crisis, how
a company responds, or is seen to respond in a crisis, is often
more important to the public than the crisis itself.

Natural disasters

I was extraordinarily privileged to help represent my client, the
world’s largest disaster management company, during two of the
largest natural disasters in this century, the tsunami in South and
Southeast Asia in December 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana
and Mississippi in August 2006.
While hundreds of lessons were learnt by the companies and indi-
viduals who gave assistance during these two disasters, some of them
also apply to public relations professionals who might be called upon
to help. For me, the three top lessons learnt, and relearnt, were:

1. Take care of yourself. This seems simple enough, but under crisis
conditions you may find yourself without enough sleep, without
proper nutrition and without your normal support system. And
this condition may last for days or weeks so you have to find ways
to replenish your system by finding a place to take a ‘power’ nap or
eat a ‘power’ bar. You also need to let your family or your support
group (who may be thousands of miles away) know where you are
and how you are so they can feel more comfortable in your
absence and so that they can lend whatever support they can from
afar.
2. Be prepared. That means you need to have the tools of your trade
such as cellular phones, computers, as well as power cords and
power adapters if in a different country. You need to make sure
your passport is up to date and that you have proper entry visas to
other countries. You need to have the proper clothing as well as
vaccinations for the location you are going to. And you will need
any medication that you take on a regular basis that may be
unavailable in the place that you are going. You will also need
money, and money in the right denominations, in those cases
where a credit card may not work.