After a Crisis
Long-term?
Our Experience
The Sept. 28 event was only a single day incident for us, and there weren't fatalities beyond the shooter.
Lessons Learned
What if it didn't go as well?
- Be prepared for that and consider an extended event/closure: rotate shifts and don’t get burned out. Start thinking ahead, if needed, about an aftermath/vigil/memorial communications.
- There may be the need for ongoing communications, such as counseling/mental health, human resources (leave time, closure), student services (missed classes, dealing with student/faculty/staff loss), memorials, as well as returning to “normal” operations.
Debrief
Our Experience
We debriefed several times after the event. We created a transcript, a log of events and a timeline.
Lessons Learned
Document what happened and debrief, maybe a few times. Make sure debriefing involves all your information technology, Web and social media staff. Make fixes and improvements. Share experiences and learn how other departments reacted.
Just Tired
Our Experience
We were exhausted, emotionally and physically.
Lessons Learned
Fatigue is natural. Take time to decompress.
Other schools
For other universities, how much work did this cause? How much inquiry/response did you receive after Sept. 28? What pages/sites have been created in response? Did you evolve your social media guidelines/policies?