Crisis Management Plan
Jessica Fullerton
University of Phoenix
Healthcare Communication
HCS 350
Professor Ricki-Beth Horowitz

Crisis Management Plan In this paper, I will describe a crisis management communication plan for a hospital, which I am familiar with as I work at a hospital. First there will be a discussion about how communication may be effected during a crisis or disaster. Then I will describe three ways to manage stress while in a situation like this. Lastly, I will walk through three ways to resolve potential challenges in communication, caused by tumultuous situations as described.

Crises can be defined as: a natural disaster, such as earthquakes or hurricanes; an attack, any sort of improvised device causing casualties; or even chemical warfare. There are many variations of crises defined in, The Essentials of Public Health Preparedness (Katz, 2013). In a hospital during a crisis, we are expecting to see an influx in patients, sometimes overwhelming amounts, during times of crisis it is important to maintain effective communication. Hospitals are in constant communication with regional medical authorities; these systems help alert a broader network to the needs of the community at large. On a smaller scale the Hospital Emergency departments are in communication over radio with local police and fire departments, this communication is critical for the hospital to function properly. Allowing the hospital to know when critical patients are entering the hospital. Communications can be effected during a crisis through the breakdown of public infrastructure. Since I live in southern California, it is easy to imagine an earthquake taking out electricity, cell towers, and other vital infrastructure. This directly impairs ability to communicate. If phone lines are down the hospital would just be on its own without any alternative communication methods, later I will discuss ways to address these communication challenges. A crisis can easily throw the staff at the hospital and the community at large into a frenzy. This type of behavior can hamper communications, often times we see information which is less than accurate circulating, in a time of crisis it is vital to keep these types of things in control and put out accurate information.

Stress can be caused by many things, during a time of crisis hospital staff may become overworked and burnt out, and thrown into stressful situations, besides dealing with the crisis at hand, healthcare workers are not immune to crises. Patients and families may be under all kinds of stress as they are victims or will likely know victims of the crisis. In these times of crisis in order to keep stress under control it is important for the authority, to put out information to instruct staff on their roll. It is also important to inform the community at large how to receive help that may be needed. Also to keep patients and families well informed. Keeping people informed of their role will help reduce stress. Taking breaks is important for healthcare professionals; time away from the stressful environment is needed to reset, and face further challenges. Good communication, at the beginning of shifts to keep employees up to date on the status of the crisis and anything new is another tactic of mitigating stress. ("OSHA," ) These are three ways to tackle stress caused by a crisis event.

Now I will discuss three ways to resolve potential challenges in crisis communication. At the hospital, I work at we have occasional days where we practice what to do in the case of a crisis. There are even committees set up to meet and discuss what is to be done, this planning step is an important one in resolving challenges in communication before they even come up, or to solve problems that have occurred in the past before they happen again. One way to solve a problem I brought up earlier in the paper, about infrastructure being damaged for example phone lines cell towers and internet connections being down. Our hospital has a battery powered radio on every floor for internal communications during a crisis. For communication with the greater public, to fire and police even to regional officials, there is actually a team of volunteers from the surrounding community who will come to our hospital to operate a two-way radio, and perform Morse code, hopefully communications never come to this, but if they do we are prepared. Lastly, it is important to remain calm, and have frequent briefings to keep staff, patients and families, up to date with current information.

In handling crisis situations, it is important to have a well thought out plan, understood before the event takes place, where as many people as possible understand their roles. Communication is always important and breaks down in the most sterile of environments, let alone during a crisis. Communication breakdown can cause stress, and disorder. We have touched on a few things that help alleviate stress and aide in effective communication, in my research one of the most important things during a crisis, is the planning and preparedness that took place long before the event takes place. Proper training prepares us for how to handle these types of situations.

References

Emergency Preparedness. (). Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/emergencypreparedness/resilience_resources/support_documents/supervisorintra/intradeployment_supervisors.html
Katz, R. (2013). Essentials of Public HealthPreparedness. []. Retrieved from