Crisis: Incident Commander System (ICS)

In the event of crisis, it is important for the major crisis communication contributors to remain connected. This will ensure that information regarding crisis are well formulated to ensure accuracy and timeliness. The following are the key players in time of crisis: Incident Commander System (ICS) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) director, emergency manager, regional or state agency advisor, law enforcement, fire department and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). While the entire aforementioned players are essential during crisis, depend on the magnitude of the disaster or crisis, ICS could be seen as crucial when disaster hit. ICS is used by agencies or organizations to manage emergencies. According to Bullock et al (2013) ICS is a system

Communication plan during emergency response is based on information collection from difference sources and deliver to the public in a timely manner with accuracy. Communication plan also identify the right messenger who could be trusted to deliver accurate information without sentimental. A good plan would identify and partner with local, state, and national media outlets, news and reporter for the purpose of delivering crisis information to the impacted people and communities. When a communication plan is well designed, it target audiences that are in need of the crisis information (Bullock et al.,

Information going out is the goal of crisis communication. Disseminating timely and accurate messages to the potential disaster community can save lives and protect property. Crisis managers need to make use of all available communication channels. A good and effective disaster communication plan would entails and encourages the use of traditional media, new/social media, and even neighborhood communication network such as trusted leaders in the community says (Bullock et al, 2013). A critical part of information going out is messenger, in disaster communication, there is need to control the point of information dissemination to the media and the public. Hence, this is where messenger of crisis communication is significant in effective disaster communication. The importance of messenger was identified early in the paper while talking about PIO. Whether it is called messenger or PIO, disseminating critical disaster information is essential in the planning for effective disaster communication. Due to the importance of messenger in crisis communication, it is suggested that the primary face of such communication should be done by elected or appointed official such as mayor, governor, county administrator or organization’s head depend on the circumstances (Bullock et al,