Dedicated Site

Organized Response

Without an organized response, a crisis will evolve through the disorganized activities of the people involved, which may have adverse impact on the people and organizations assumed to have responsibility and accountability for the results of the crisis. Effective crisis management can control and direct the evolution of a crisis. To do so, the organization with responsibility needs to bring key people together to understand the crisis and direct actions in response.

The velocity at which a crisis unravels and information and misinformation travels requires an equally speedy crisis management process that can be achieved only by having key people in close proximity for communication and discussion before authorizing actions that control and direct the evolution of a chaotic incident into an event with an organized response.

Characteristics of a Dedicated Site

A dedicated crisis management site must have the following characteristics: (1) It must be accessible under all weather conditions and circumstances because key people must be able to travel to the site; (2) the location must be communicated regularly to all key people; (3) it must be secure from unauthorized access both physically and technically (such as a cyber attack); (4) it must be equipped with many forms of communication; (5) it must be insulated from the most common threats so it is not involved in the crisis; and (6) to assist with maintaining its usefulness, the site must be exercised regularly using crisis management drills that also offer the advantage of training key people to use the crisis management process effectively at the site. It is also advisable to have at least one alternate site in case the primary site is disabled by the crisis.

Important capabilities of a dedicated crisis management site are multiple inbound ways to gather information about the crisis and multiple ways for outbound communication to help authorize response actions that control and direct the evolution of the crisis. Following are important inbound and outbound capabilities.

Runners are people whose purpose it is to run information and physical objects to and from the site—information as in commands to take actions, maps, pictures, and verbal information relays; and objects such as additional radios or cell phones or paper purchase orders for extra supplies. Most often, the site will be well removed from the crisis, so running can be internally within the site; however, if technology is unavailable, the runner may be the only real alternative.

Television and radio bring outside news of the crisis and can help determine the direction of the public's perception regarding the crisis. They can also help the team prepare public information statements to the press and public to explain the team's strategy and belay any fears about how the crisis is being handled.

Internet access can provide ways to monitor information from popular social networking Web sites and to receive e-mails from many sources containing information and even pictures and videos. The Internet can also be used for outbound communication to the public as well as to vendors and outside team members who are hands-on in direct response to the crisis. With the speed of Internet communications and the ability to lose control of the delivery of confidential communications, the Internet should not be used for confidential communications. Internet access should also be secure from cyber attacks through the use of firewalls that prevent unauthorized access. Inbound e-mails should be scanned for threats that could incapacitate the site's ability to communicate using the Internet.

...