Emergency Plan - Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority

APPENDIX 12
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION PLAN
Ensure you do not appear cold, uncaring or bureaucratic in your attitude. Meter your level
of concern and empathy to the particular situation.
Show confidence. Do not appear nervous or unsure of what you’re saying. Reflect
certainty and commitment that your utility will resolve the issue.
Do not provide personal opinions, conjecture, or respond to hypotheticals. If a reporter
asks what you think of the situation or proposes a hypothetical, bring the point back to
the situation at hand.
Never say “no comment.” This often leads to speculations that you know information you
do not want to reveal or are trying to hide something.
It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” Do not try to provide information you are not certain
about or guess at a response. Inform the reporter that you will find that information and
get back to them. (Then do!)
Be honest. Do not lie to the media. [Do not attempt to belittle, minimize, distort, or in
ANY way misrepresent the situation.]
Act naturally. Sincerity is important. You don’t want to seem tense or in any way out of
control.
Appearance is important. Consider what you are wearing. Do you look like the person
you would want to be relying on in an emergency?
Beware of becoming, or even seeming, defensive. Your best response to an apparent
negative or “goading” question is to reiterate the positives, as you prepared in your Key
Messages.