Internal Communications

How I Heard

Typically, my husband does not wake me on a Sunday morning. Which is why I was concerned when he woke me early on the morning of June 12 saying, “You’d better come and look at this.”

After watching the news report on TV for just a few moments, I immediately went to my phone to discover I had slept through two phone calls from my colleague in media relations. Her message was, “Incident Command has been activated at ORMC. There has been an attack at the Pulse nightclub and we’ve had a mass casualty intake.”

Even after hearing that message and watching the ominous TV reports, I left my home that morning not fully grasping the enormity of what had occurred. I remember telling my husband that I probably wouldn’t be home until dinner time. I did return at dinner time – only it wasn’t dinner on June 12.

Synopsis

The primary function of the Internal Communications Department is to connect the many internal audiences of Orlando Health by communicating timely news and information and, through recognition programs that promote team-member engagement with our mission, strategic imperatives and organizational values. The platforms we use to report the internal news and recognition both played a role in facilitating this connection during, and in the weeks following, the Pulse tragedy.

The department also plays a key role in the change-management process by producing more than 500 communication plans, projects and executive messages annually. We write and publish several online news sites and an online news magazine. We also produce regular video news programming and provide talking points and script writing to executive leadership to assist in conveying corporate messages to team members electronically: via email, online articles, social media and video productions.

Our main communication portal is our intranet, which is updated continuously throughout the day as breaking news and events occur. It is one-stop shopping for all pertinent Orlando Health news, campaigns, events and benefits.

We have one main cardinal rule: Whatever is shared with the community via any media outlet is first shared with our team members and physicians. In other words, family hears the news first!

More than 50 news articles, media updates, system-wide broadcast emails and video programs specifically related to the Pulse tragedy were communicated to Orlando Health team members and physicians.

Preparation

Part one of being prepared for any emergency is our everyday processes and procedures. Part two is our participation in the twice annual full-scale emergency drills coordinated by Orlando Health’s Emergency Management Department. And part three is our department’s Emergency Communication Guide.

We have everyday processes and communication templates in place that foster close collaboration with our communication partners in Media Relations, Community Relations, Medical Staff Services and Marketing departments. Cascading information throughout the Orlando Health enterprise requires all hands on deck to ensure we appropriately use our available communication channels and share a consistent message. This collaboration becomes even more critical during an emergency.

Incident Command full scale drills occur twice a year and provide valuable practice that builds confidence when engaged in a real crisis. A designated representative from Internal Communications reports to the incident command center as one of the communication officers, a role shared with Media Relations. Thanks to frequent drills, we report to the incident command room knowing exactly what the communication expectations and rules of engagement are between all members of the command team. One of the important functions of the communication officer(s) is to determine if the Crisis Communication team, consisting of representatives from 19 different departments, should be called into the incident command center.

After-event debriefs provide valuable insight on what needs to be improved. The Internal Communications team captures this information in our Emergency Communication Guide and saves examples of communications that may be applicable in a future incident. In our electronic files, we have communication examples for many specific codes we have experienced, including: mass casualty, severe weather, information technology service failures and infectious diseases, such as MERS. We also maintain up-to-date instructions for all codes to recommunicate to leaders, front-line team members and physicians.

Response

Some of our early broadcast messages informed team members and physicians where and how information was being posted. Updates were shared on our intranet using an emergency banner running across the top of the site. We shared much of the same information via email, on Orlando Health’s public homepage and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, and with the media.

In addition to situational updates, early messages included information to leaders, team members and physicians about:

• When and where support sessions for team members and physicians were being held.
• How leaders can help their teams after a crisis.
• How to ensure patient privacy and protect PHI.
• How to handle celebrities who came to the hospital to visit our patients.
• How to be a patient advocate and appropriately and courteously inform family members and friends of the patients’ need for rest.
• Where to route the influx of calls and inquiries related to donations, volunteer services and in-kind donations.

We also posted many messages and videos of respect and thanks. Early videos included a heartfelt message from our President and CEO, a team member video called Keep Dancing Orlando, and later a Pulse video tribute. These videos collectively received more than 130,000 views.

The department followed the basic rules of crisis/emergency communications. We shared information about: the incident sent to the media, any agencies that were present on campus, lockdown status, codes, street closures and anything else that could affect team members. Most importantly we crafted messages informing team members which policies to reference and follow, and how to respond to the ever-increasing media presence.

I remained in the command center 24 hours, continuing to broadcast messages, and was relieved by one of my colleagues the morning of June 13. Throughout the event from home and then on Monday from the office, members of the Internal Communication team helped to post messages using all available communication channels. Pulse messaging continued for many weeks after the event.

Lessons Learned

One of Orlando Health’s major lessons learned regarding communication was that we needed to purchase a mass notification system that can continually alert specific hospital departments and individuals to respond and provide immediate updates on the incident situation.

Closer coordination between the Internal Communications and Telecommunications Departments was another identified need. Overhead pages sometimes conflicted with timing of email blasts sent from internal communications. New processes between the two departments have since been established.

What we didn’t fully comprehend was how important it was to let team members use our communication channels to express themselves.

A few days after the Pulse event, our president and CEO received an email message from the CEO of the vendor that provides our online recognition program. Team members typically use this platform to send messages of thanks, called Kudos, to their colleagues for exemplifying one of our standards of behavior.

Employees of the recognition vendor noticed extremely high volumes on their servers coming from Orlando Health on June 12 and in the days following the tragedy.

More than 3,320 Kudos were sent from Sunday, June 12, to Saturday, June 18, 2016 — double the amount sent the week before the tragedy. The first related Kudos was sent at 6:30 am on June 12, followed by another 250 that day. On Monday, June 13, more than 730 Kudos messages of thanks and pride were sent, more than five times the number of Kudos sent the previous Monday.

Clearly our team members wanted to express themselves and were using Orlando Health’s recognition platform as a channel to do so. Here is a sample of the type of Kudos sent.

To: Members of ORMC Emergency Services

Kudos: I want to thank everyone that was directly and indirectly involved in taking care of all the ER patients this weekend. This weekend brought to light the fact that you are all Heroes. You took care of every single patient with professionalism and compassion in the face of these extreme circumstances. This weekend you all showed your valor, determination and commitment to this family. We are all here for each other in the good times and the bad times. I feel privileged and proud to work with you.

What we learned was that our role was more than communicating information; it also was providing team members the opportunity to share and communicate with each other. The results were several amazing video productions and countless messages of thanks and pictures posted on our intranet.

What We Changed

Team members sharing their heart, emotions and thanks played a large part in their healing process. To help facilitate that process, in the weeks following the Pulse tragedy, we developed a new intranet channel with more than 35 resources on the healing journey. Orlando Health continues to offer emotional support to our team members and physicians, especially as we approach milestone dates marking the tragedy.

Conclusion

Communicating effectively throughout the Pulse event depended heavily on team work and collaboration between the Internal, Media and Marketing departments. It was our responsibility to ensure that the appropriate targeted messages were shared with our many different audiences, without contradiction. Following established and rehearsed communication procedures instilled a sense of calm in the midst of the chaos caused by tragedy.

Caring for our caregivers and their many different reactions to the tragedy they witnessed became a major focus of the organization and our communications.

The Pulse shooting touched each Orlando Health team member differently. I did not cry the entire time I was in incident command. I listened to the horrific reports from the trauma surgeons and witnessed the extraordinary efforts our clinical leaders and chaplains were making to identify John Does, those patients who came to us without identification— and still I didn’t cry. It wasn’t until I returned home late in the afternoon of June 13 and watched a video posted on Facebook by one of our team members that the tears began. The video was of the day-shift team members in the ORMC Emergency Department giving a standing ovation to the night-shift team members as they reported back to work on June 13. It was the appreciation, comradery and respect that made me cry, and thinking about it still does to this day.

Key Takeaways

• Collaboration between the Internal Communications, Media and Marketing departments is critical during an emergency and is best established beforehand through daily processes and communication templates.
• Emergency drills provide valuable practice that builds confidence when facing a real crisis.
• Maintaining an Internal Communication Emergency Communication Guide ensures that essential information is easily accessible during an emergency.
• Providing tools and communication venues for team members to express their emotions has a significant role in the healing process.