Image originally found on Mr. Jusino’s Web Page

By Jenn Riggle

I’m one of those people who believe in preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. I have a thing for emergency preparedness kits and always keep jumper cables, flares and a first aid kit in my car. I have oil lamps strategically placed around my house and bought a Honda Pilot so that I’m better able to navigate rising waters here in southeastern Virginia.

Maybe it’s a bit of overkill, but having lived through a through a major hurricane and nor’easter in the past 10 years, I’ve learned it’s better to be safe than sorry.

By the same token, hospitals should have their own emergency preparedness kits to help them addresses the different communications crises they’re bound to face. And like duct tape, social media can perform a variety of functions during a crisis, including:

• Traffic Cop: Traditionally, hospitals have held press conferences and issued press statements when something bad happens. Today, hospitals have a lot more options. They can post statements, videos and podcasts on their website, Facebook page and YouTube account and can use Twitter to post quick updates and phone numbers where the media can call with questions. They can also use hypertext links to point people to where they can go for the latest information. The key is to reach people where they are on the Internet and to answer people’s questions where they asked them.

• Reporter: Social media makes it easier for organizations to report updates during a crisis. If you have a blog, you can use it to post the latest news or you can create a micro-site where you can answer questions. Like a reporter, hospitals want to be sure they keep people informed and put the news into context. The great thing about social media is that it allows hospitals to communicate directly to the community, rather than having to go through the media.

• Emergency Personnel: Officials are predicting that 2010 may be one of the worst hurricane seasons we’ve had in recent years. Hospitals have an important role to play during natural disasters and social media can make it easier for them to provide the community with vital information, such as the best way to reach the hospital, whether they need blood donors, as well as how to safely move forward with clean-up after the water recedes.

• Weatherman: Social media allows hospitals to gauge the temperature in the community during the time of crisis. You can listen to people’s concerns and questions and tailor your messages to make sure they’re relevant. During the Fort Hood shooting, the first thing Scott & White Memorial Hospital did was go on Twitter to find out what people were saying. Listening is an important (and often forgotten part) of social media engagement.

• Make-up Artist: Hospitals can face a variety of crises, from natural disasters and Joint Commission accreditation to labor issues and CON (Certificate of Need) approval. Social media allows hospitals to put the best face on an issue and put news into context. People are talking about your organization online – and posting comments about your organization on your local newspaper’s website. You need to join the conversation and set the record straight. By the same token, if people attack your reputation on your Facebook page, you need to respond to their comments and not let your opponents control the conversation.

Some things to keep in mind when using social media to respond during a crisis:

Keep it Short and Sweet: Be sure to stick with key themes (rather than key messages) and guide people to your website or blog for additional information. While you want to share important information, if you keep repeating the same messages you end up sounding like the robot in the 1960s TV show “Lost in Space” who kept saying “Danger, Will Robinson.”

Stick with the Same Medium: It’s important to use the same medium to address questions/concerns, i.e. if the questions appear on Twitter, you should respond on Twitter.

Keep Comments Genuine: Although tempting, don’t resort to using an RSS feed. Instead, take shifts to monitor Twitter and Facebook pages and provide responses as soon as possible.

Don’t Be Afraid to Say You’re Sorry: When you were in kindergarten, you learned to say “I’m sorry” when you did something wrong. Nancy Cawley Jean wrote in her Hospital Impact blog about how this can go a long way toward rebuilding trust with your community. There is even legislation being proposed to make the “I’m sorry” clause for doctors a law.

Don’t Let Questions Go Unanswered: And don’t be afraid to over-communicate. You want to answer people’s questions to the best of your ability. And if you can’t share specific information at the time, let them know that as well. The goal is always to be transparent, provide people with the information they need and to help diffuse a negative situation. 

I guess you could say it takes a village … to help hospitals manage crisis communications.