When a client calls in crisis, you answer. Timeliness is essential when it comes to a crisis, that’s a no brainer. And wondering if you’ll encounter a crisis is not a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN.

With Health Care Clients, Crisis Can Literally Become a Matter Of Life Or Death. Working With Health Care Crises Can Be Both Enlightening And Stressful. Serving As a Strategic Partner To Our Crisis Clients Is What We Do Best. However, There’s Also a Difference Between Responding To a Crisis From Our Own Office And Work Space And Being On-site, In The Trenches With The Crisis Communication Team At Your Client’s Office. Many PR Practitioners Might Not Realize, But There Are a Number Of Things We Can Do To Make Our Client’s Lives Easier In These Circumstances

Executive Summaries are gold

As a partner, we obviously want to provide as much content and detail as possible. In a crisis, it’s likely your client or the communication director has their hair on fire. So, while all the detail is great when proving your thoroughness to a recent client, this is not the time.



Provide an executive summary of traditional and social media monitoring, then provide backup should they want to investigate further.

Respond often and regularly, even if there is no update

Avoid the client asking what’s going on, or what’s the update. Set morning and afternoon times to provide updates and check-ins, regardless if there’s an update or not. This will provide a sense of security and ease, one less thing for your client to think about.

Crisis ≠ sloppy

Just because you’re sending reports, emails and correspondences quickly, does not allow for quality to slip. If anything, quality in a crisis situation should be higher, due to increased risk level and demand for airtight content. Also consider that crisis clients often are billed at a higher rate, so they should receive the quality they’re paying for. Often times your work is being shared directly with the highest level of an organization, so mak

📌 In the Trenches of Healthcare Crisis (Girwa)
🏢 DEVENEY
📍 Girwa