HCS 320: How Crisis Affects A Community

Communication and Crisis Paper
Nasly B. Buitrago
HCS 320
February 25,2014
Patricia Jasper

Communication and Crisis Paper
A crisis is an occurrence that exceeds a person’s normal copying ability Du Pré (2005).
When unexpected, sudden situations occur it affects a community. When things happen that we are not prepared for, it can create chaos and negative outcomes can occur. One of the most common unexpected situations is natural disaster, when nature decides to unexpectedly show us what it is capable, sometimes it can be devastating. However, man made disaster can also occur and cause just as much devastation. Hurricane Katrina and The Three Mile Island nuclear reactor are great examples of disasters that caused great alarm and devastation.
Many organizations create a comprehensive crisis plans in order to be prepared for any crisis Hicks (2012). If people with in the organization are not aware of what is going on, and what plan to implement, they will not be able to act appropriately and perform their job duties, and that can cause a bigger chaos. The director’s job is to be able to choose appropriate communication channels to keep all the employees in the organization informed as well with a plan of action to portray a sense of calmness regardless of what is going on and that can be hard. If the appropriate communication channels are not used, they organization can fall apart and the public will suffer the effects of their challenges. If the public is not informed of what is going on using the correct channels of communication, they will feel a sense of distrust and panic can arise. That is why is important to keep the information simple, accurate, honest and delivered in a timely manner. If they are issues where they don’t know the answer its ok to say so instead of covering information. The public needs to know that there will be an action plan in order and that the organization has the situation under control. Helping the public to understand the roles of
What they had in common is that hey used the best communication that they had available at the time. In the case of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor they used the three major networks and local radio stations which was the best and more efficient way to inform people at that time. In the case of Hurricane Katrina since there was more technology available they used newer sources like internet, cell phones, text messages and other websites to disseminate information which was the best sources to get the information to the public. Because most of the local channels of radio and television were affected and the infrastructures was affected they had to expand communication to outside of the community to bring resources in. Of course television and radio was used, but compared with the Three Mile Island reactor more technology was available. Taking this into consideration, as a Regional Director’s job, finding the correct channels to disseminate the information will be a big task and using the most up to day and the most effective channels will be the key to success. Depending of the crisis or disaster at hand the right channels need to be used initially and if the initial channels are not effective it will be important to reassess to be more