5 Best Practices in Emergency Communications

Written by KOVA Corp

When you are in the heat of the moment dealing with an emergency, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Having a good emergency communication plan will help personnel do their jobs to the best of their abilities during an emergency situation. Emergency communications training is key to ensuring that things go as smoothly as possible when you are dealing with an emergency.

Emergency communications plans detail what needs to be done in an emergency as well as any potential risk areas that should be carefully monitored. An emergency response plan should be well thought out in order to consider as many scenarios as possible. It should also be clearly communicated to all personnel involved.

Here are five best practices in emergency communication.

1. Know Who’s in Charge

It’s a good idea to have a team within your organization that is responsible for emergency planning and preparedness. Staff need to know who they should report to in case of an emergency. Depending on the size of your organization, you might want to create an emergency communications team.

2. Use Reliable Technology

In the event of an emergency, you’ll want to be sure your means of communication are reliable. Using reliable technology can mean the difference between a catastrophe and an emergency that is handled with relatively little disruption to your organization. Even if it means advocating for new public safety technology in your organization, it will be well worth the cost and effort.

3. Consider All Levels in Your Organization

Everyone in your organization needs to know what will happen in the event of an emergency. Therefore you need to make sure all levels of personnel are informed of your emergency communications plan and are trained in the appropriate measures should an emergency arise.

4. Know Your Audience

It’s important that your communications plan clearly states who is to be notified in emergency situations during and after the event. Your emergency communication plan should include a hierarchy of all the organization’s stakeholders, so it’s clear who should be notified first in the event of an emergency.

5. Script Your Messages

Your organisation can brainstorm possible emergency situations and create appropriate responses to each one. Scripts are helpful when doing this, and the scripts should be reviewed and practiced on a regular basis. It’s also a good idea to note how the script will be communicated in each situation (text, website, emergency call, etc.) so staff will automatically know without having to think about it in the event of an emergency.

Review your organization’s emergency communication plan to make sure it includes these five best practices. It’s important to know who in the organization is responsible for the plan, incorporate reliable technology, make sure the entire organization is informed, know your audience, and practice scripted messages.

Verint Media Recorder Public Safety software by KOVA Corp is a packaged solution that integrates multi-channel recording with critical functionality to improve the performance of emergency communication. KOVA Corp’s public safety solutions allow responses to emergencies to be as efficient as possible. To learn how KOVA Corp can help improve emergency communication in your organization, contact us today.

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