Understanding Critical Definitions

Many organizations think they have the plans they need. Do you really have what you need? Please check the definitions below and compare them to what you have.

Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)
An emergency operations plan coordinates police, fire, rescue, paramedics and the various government agencies that may be involved. It generally contains no real directives for communicating with the media, to employees or other stakeholders.

Crisis Plan
This generic term is thrown around loosely, but generally turns out to be an Emergency Operations Plan.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
In many cases, a crisis means a company loses one of its production facilities or part of its supply chain. The Business Continuity Plan contains instructions on how to get the business up and running again and what stopgap measures need to be put in place to maintain cash flow and services.

Crisis Communications Plan
This plan coordinates communications with all of your many audiences, including the media, employees, their families, customers, the community, etc. In the case of a school it would also coordinate communications with students, faculty, staff and parents. At a hospital it would give directives for communicating with patients and their families, doctors, nurses and staff.

All crisis communications plans are not created equal.
• Many are simple rulebooks, while others are complicated rulebooks
• Many do not have a means to gather information properly
• Many have no contact information for key members of the crisis team
• Most contain no pre-written and pre-approved statements
• Few have any requirements dictating rapid communications

With Gerard Braud’s Crisis Communications Plan + Plus
• Rapid communications is dictated, with the first communiqué going out in one hour or less.
• You execute page 1, check it off and turn to page 2, and so on
• The words you need to communicate to the media are in pre-written, pre-approved templates
• Your communications to employees are in pre-written, pre-approved templates
• The rules are imbedded throughout the manual, exactly when you need them
• Information gathering is quick, yet thorough
• Contact names, numbers and data are included in the manual
• The plan is so simple that anyone who can read can execute the plan

For more information about the Crisis Communications Plan + Plus call Gerard Braud at 985-624-9976, or contact him via e-mail at gerard@braudcommunications.com