Crisis Communication Plan

What Is a Crisis Communication Plan Template?

A Crisis Communication Plan Template can help individuals prepare for various emergencies where contact with others is necessary. In the context of the healthcare discipline, a crisis communication plan might work towards supporting staff members when it comes to healthcare-related emergencies and challenging situations. 

During an emergency, staff members should be able to contact each other confidently and know the protocols around the situation. That is how a Crisis Communication Plan helps support staff. 

The Crisis Communication Plan Template aids organizations in the identification of dangerous situations that may occur in the workplace. In a healthcare context, challenging situations that require an immense amount of efficient and accurate communication may include:

• Disease outbreaks
• Natural disasters
• Cybersecurity problems
• Threat of violence

While developing a crisis communication plan template, organizations can work with staff to explore possible threats to their workplace and how to work around them safely. 

Once the crisis plan is complete, staff members should have a good understanding of what the protocol is for their specific workplace. In the healthcare setting, nurses, doctors, and administrative staff should all understand their responsibility and be able to - as confidently as possible—remain calm in stressful situations and communicate effectively with other staff members. This will help the organization to run smoothly during a crisis.

How Does It Work?

At Carepatron, we’re dedicated to improving your life as a practitioner. That’s why we’ve developed step-by-step instructions to guide you through creating your Crisis Communication Plan.

Step One: Obtain the Template

Navigate the Carepatron website to our templates section to find our Printable Crisis Communication Plan Template. From here, you can either download the template for use online or download the template to print.

Step Two: Meet with your Colleagues

We recommend filling in this Crisis Communication Plan Template in the presence of the others this plan will impact. You must understand what will happen during different situations to know you’re all on the same page if something happens.

Step Three: Fill in the Template

You can do this online or on a printed version of the Crisis Communication Plan Template. However you wish to complete the template, we recommend you store this safely within our system and provide a retina copy for all colleagues. Below is an example of a completed Crisis Communication Plan Example.

Step Four: Recite the Plan Often

You must work with colleagues to actively remember what will happen if an emergency occurs during the work day. We recommend setting up times once a month to go through the plan and make any changes that may be necessary. Don’t forget to remove any staff members who may no longer work at your practice and update phone numbers and email addresses frequently.

When Would You Use This Template?

There are various situations where a Crisis Communication Plan Template would be helpful. At Carepatron, we know how critical the care of your patients is to you as healthcare professionals. That’s why a crisis communication plan template can help you stay prepared even if a crisis scenario impacts your practice.

Development of Crisis Plan

The Crisis Communication Plan is designed to support staff members in the healthcare setting in contacting other staff members during an emergency. Implementing a plan in case of future crises is essential to support staff in possible challenging times. Like having a fire safety plan or earthquake safety plan, a crisis communication plan helps staff members contact and share information with the right people efficiently and transparently.

Public Health Emergencies

A crisis communication plan can be utilized in the case of an outbreak of infectious diseases within the practice that may impact the working staff. During this time, staff members can contact local healthcare professionals and significant healthcare companies to combat this issue.

Accidents

It is important to remember that accidents can still happen, even when in the healthcare setting. This is why it is essential to have a crisis management plan for accidents. If an accident occurs during a procedure or appointment, staff members should know who to contact to make things right. For example, if there is an accident during surgery, all staff members attending the procedure should be confident about whom to contact for further support.

What Do The Results Mean?

There are no measured results of the Free Crisis Communication Plan Template. In this case, it is essential to focus on the results, which are the plan's effectiveness and how well an emergency can be managed when the crisis communication plan is in use.

Responsiveness

During an emergency within the healthcare practice, time is essential. Whether you have an infectious disease outbreak, a cyberattack, or even a natural disaster impacting the practice, a crisis communication plan can help staff know exactly what to do promptly when they need to move quickly.

Communication

During an emergency, a crisis communication plan that all staff are aware of can help staff effectively communicate with each other. When the plan is utilized, the effectiveness can be measured by the staff members of the healthcare practice's ability to handle situations competently with comprehensive communication skills. All staff members will know who to report to during the emergency and who to contact.

Practice Transparency

Transparency in any business can help the staff members form a deeper connection. It is important to remember that during an emergency, staff members’ anxiety may be heightened, and knowing who to turn to can make all the difference for them. Having a Crisis Communication Plan can support staff members in sharing information openly, even during challenging situations.

Results & evidence

Research and evidence towards effective crisis communication plans are ongoing. In more recent times, we’ve seen a significant shift in how crisis communication has been handled, especially with the current global pandemic, COVID-19. Effective communication strategies and the role of technological innovations are being utilized to seek more efficient ways to coordinate staff members and the public.

Coombs (2010) has suggested that poorly planned crisis management systems can have a negatively detrimental impact on the organization as well as the stakeholders. In favor of the crisis communication plan, they also suggested that practices with crisis communication plans work to protect their organization and stakeholders.

A study by Su et al. (2022) found that healthcare representatives can improve their crisis communication through comprehensive plans to navigate challenging situations.

Comprehensive crisis communication planning supports the organization when they are going through an emergency for several reasons. Successful crisis communication plans help messages reach people faster, more clearly, and accurately, which can save people’s lives—especially in the healthcare sector (Crisis Communication Plans: 7 Strategies for Public Health, 2022).

References

Coombs, W. T. (2010). Pursuing evidence-based crisis communication. Handbook of Crisis Communication, 719–725.

Crisis Communication Plans: 7 Strategies for Public Health. (2022). Publichealth.tulane.edu. https://publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/crisis-communication-plan/

Su, Z., Zhang, H., McDonnell, D., Ahmad, J., Cheshmehzangi, A., & Yuan, C. (2022). Crisis communication strategies for health officials. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.796572