7 Best Practices for Emergency Notification

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7 Best Practices for Emergency Notification

8/1/2007

By Dian Schaffhauser

"In retrospect, we can look back and say, ‘Well, if they had just done this...' The reality was, they saw a situation that looked like a potential murder-suicide, then they received information that the shooter may have gone off campus, which, as it turned out, may have happened. That information was actually fairly accurate," he says. "It's not possible to make a perfect decision every time," Lawson insists. "But it is absolutely imperative that people practice, have the experience of trying to simulate various scenarios and acting on the [limited] information they may have, and then learn from it. Of course, along with that," says Lawson, "you've got to get that information out so that other individuals can also make their determinations about what's going to be best for them."

UNCW's Cindy Lawson brings to light another factor that must be taken into account in the decision-making process: People aren't necessarily working at their best level. During the bonfire structure collapse, "I was on my feet for 48 hours and slept 50 minutes," she discloses. "That's pretty excruciating. And because there are so many distractions and decisions that have to be made in a crisis, the more you have tools, systems, processes, and plans in place that are going to expedite the [crisis management and communication] process and make it as easy as possible, the better off you'll be."

4) The Fewer People Involved in Decision-Making and Communication, the Better

Before joining A&M, UNCW's Lawson had just come from another institution where, she says, the chancellor "micromanaged everything." So when she asked Ray Bowen, A&M president at the time of the bonfire crisis, "How do you want me to handle this?" he responded, "What do you think I hired you for? You make the decisions. Do the right thing." From that point, she says, "I made the decisions throughout that entire crisis about what messages I thought the institution needed to send out. I didn't have to get approval; I didn't have to go through a lengthy process. As a result, we were able to get out timely communications on an ongoing basis throughout that whole ordeal."

This is in contrast to what happens at most higher education institutions when a crisis occurs. Usually, says Lawson, "A number of senior leaders get together and start formulating what it is they want to tell a particular audience. The PR person may write it, but everybody may be in the room, which is cumbersome in itself. At A&M, with a different president, I remember [dealing] with a totally different crisis and 10 people in the room. It took them all day to write a single communication— four paragraphs.