No one needs good communication like first responders. The information delivered by dispatchers can mean the difference between life and death, and a single missed message could mean a lost life. The New Jersey town of Toms River found itself facing a crisis. They dealt with hundreds of callouts a day and the old system simply couldn’t handle that volume of dispatches. It was time for a fresh solution. Lives depended on it. 

Not only is Toms River the county seat, but it serves as an evacuation point, vacation destination and has a military base nearby.

Grace Hospital in Ohio is commonly known as a high stress and high fatigue environment. Operating as a not-for-profit hospital, within a hospital, Grace handles patients with the most complex and serious cardiac conditions. While they only staff experienced and dedicated individuals, all four hospitals suffered from alarm fatigue, a struggling budget, and strained communication. 

The way healthcare professional’s access data is changing, but security needs to change to meet HIPAA standards. Access to information is critical for physicians and staff as rapid communication and ease of access may determine a patient’s life or death. One of the most popular ways to access patient files is via mobile devices. Unfortunately these devices aren’t always as secure as they should be and the healthcare industry has been the target of staggering amounts of successful cyber attacks over the past few years. 

In today’s world, organizations encounter many different types of crises.  Natural disasters, workplace violence, technological crises, and financial crises are just some of the unexpected dilemmas that threaten employee safety, company reputation, corporate assets, and financial results. 

When developing plans to manage a crisis, it is imperative that a communication strategy be incorporated. 

 Imagine you are the CEO of a large financial institution and your organization is losing approximately $1,000 per minute in revenue opportunities and employee productivity.  Your organization has a complex IT infrastructure and must monitor several critical business systems utilizing CRM, network monitoring tools, and custom in-house solutions. You have a room fully staffed with numerous dispatchers to respond to every alert – whether it is from the help desk or there is an emergency that needs handled immediately.  Yet your organization is still losing money in network downtime.  Why?  What is the solution? 

 Universities are not immune to emergencies such as fires, weather crises, mass shootings, and infectious disease outbreaks.  The key to combatting these emergencies to the greatest extent possible is preparedness.  Administrators, professors, and students must be prepared for anything to happen at any time.  

 Looking back at the Virginia Tech mass shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, the first 911 call came in at 7:15 a.m., notifying police there were at least two shooting victims at West Ambler Johnston Hall. 

Placing a loved one with Alzheimer’s or any other memory-impairing disease in an assisted senior living environment is sometimes the best and only option for that person.  If faced with such a situation, you want to ensure they receive the best possible care and ensure their safety.  Therefore, you take a tour, meet with caregivers, and  leave a list of phone numbers for a staff member to call in case of emergency.  Have you asked how communication flows within the organization? 

Let’s be honest, we live in a dangerous world.  From school shootings to bomb threats to gang activities, violence is sadly very prevalent today.  Luckily, we have the public safety system as well as hospitals and other resources who will do anything and everything they can to help us if the need arises.  However, before they can help us, they need to be notified – immediately and accurately.  Notifying one police officer if there is a shooter in the local mall is not sufficient notification.

In today’s world, our police departments, fire departments, EMS departments, hospitals, educational institutions, large enterprises, and many others must have the means to reach people promptly when there is an emergency.  This involves having a wireless paging software system with complete two-way SMS texting, voice messaging, and fax messaging capabilities to virtually any device. 

 There is a shooter in the building.  A patient is missing.  A tornado is seven minutes away.  There is a major fire in the building.  Enterprises will inevitably face crises.  Preparation is key to effective crisis response management. If there is a shooter in the building, the facility is locked down and the police are notified.  This scenario should also include a previously prepared, very rapid announcement to the entire staff for everyone to stay where they are, lock the doors, and hide. Being prepared in this situation could save many lives by simply sending a message – if the messaging system itself is effective. 

In today’s world, wireless communication is the most effective method of alerting the right people at the right time that there is a crisis.  Regardless of the time of day or night, wireless communication ensures that, once notified, team members can work together to effectively respond in a crisis.