How to buy crisis communications support during an incident
By Joel Andren · Published by PressFriendly, a PR agency · Reviewed October 13, 2026 · Editorial standards · 1 of 5 in this section
During an active incident, bring an experienced communications lead into the response team already dealing with the problem. Prioritize relevant experience, immediate availability, and the ability to work with your operational and legal specialists. A long agency competition should not delay urgent response.
Communications helps affected people understand what is happening and what to do. It cannot replace containment, safety work, investigation, required notices, or remediation.
Start with the response team and existing arrangements
Ask the person leading the incident whether counsel, an insurer, or an existing response provider has relevant communications support. Check insurance notice or vendor-consent requirements promptly.
For a cyber incident, the FTC's breach-response guide describes a cross-functional response involving appropriate technical, legal, operational, and communications expertise. NIST's incident-response guidance also treats response as part of wider risk management.
A workplace, product-safety, clinical, or financial incident needs the specialists appropriate to that situation. A general publicity background is not enough.
Ask the questions that affect the urgent hire
Keep the conversation focused:
- Who will lead the work now, and what comparable incidents have they handled?
- Can they cover the hours, languages, and locations the response needs?
- How will they work with the incident lead and counsel?
- What does the initial support include, what will it cost, and when will you review the need?
Clarify material conflicts, confidentiality, secure communication, and any outside team members before sharing sensitive information. Define the first period of work rather than committing to an open-ended package in the middle of uncertainty.
Keep fact decisions with the people who know
Fictional example: A company is investigating an outage and does not yet know whether customer data was affected. A helpful communications adviser works with the incident team to explain what is known, what remains under investigation, and where updates will appear. They should not supply a reassuring answer the investigation cannot support.
The response team decides operational facts and commitments. Counsel and qualified specialists determine notification and other legal requirements. Communications helps make the resulting information clear and useful.
Agree who can authorize updates and how to reach them urgently. If usual systems may be compromised, use an approved alternative. Give the provider only the access and information needed for its role.
Buy help for affected people as well as the press
Support may include customer and employee updates, FAQs, inquiry handling, spokesperson preparation, monitoring, and corrections. Ask which audiences need direct communication rather than assuming a public statement reaches everyone.
As the situation stabilizes, discuss what support remains necessary. Keep the current facts, published updates, outstanding inquiries, and commitments accessible to the company, with sensitive records handled appropriately. Remove temporary provider access when it is no longer needed.
Later, review what failed and improve preparation. The crisis-service guide covers planned support; detailed response procedures belong with the company's incident specialists.