The Manager's Guide to Quick Crisis Response: Effective Action in an Emergency

Avoid being “blindsided” by an unexpected emergency or crisis in the workplace – violence, natural disaster, or worse! Bruce Blythe’s The Manager’s Guide to Quick Response in a Crisis: Effective Action in an Emergency offers the time-tested skills that prepare you to act effectively – on behalf of yourself and your co-workers – in the face of threat and chaos. Blythe uses real-world case studies, examples, and checklists to help you be the top-notch leader the situation requires.

“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst” sums up Blythe’s philosophy. This short book is the essence of the basic practical counseling that he would give if he were sitting next to you at your desk. To help you figure out what to do next, he offers real-world examples of what has worked – and not worked – in his 30+ years of experience with companies just like yours.

With Blythe’s advice, you can act fast to:

• Find out the accurate facts you need to strategize and implement a response.
• Compile a checklist of immediate action items.
• Create a crisis command center (CCC)
• Select the best people for your action team and determine action steps. .
• Understand how to make good decisions in a crisis or emergency. .
• Handle the human side of a traumatic incident. .
• Set priorities in multiple timeframes. .
• Establish a “new normal” as everyone phases back into productive work after the incident.

To help you take the actions that will make a difference, the book includes:

• Practical forms, checklists, cases studies, and real-life examples.
• “Quick Use Response Guide” at the end of each chapter – all four can form a handy pocket guide.

About the Author

Bruce T. Blythe is an internationally acclaimed crisis management expert. He is the owner and Executive Chairman of R3 Continuum that provides employers with integrated crisis readiness, crisis response, and employee return-to-work services. They have assisted hundreds of companies worldwide with crisis, workplace violence, and business continuity planning, training and exercising. They also provide consultations worldwide for defusing serious disputes, hostilities and workplace violence threats. On average, they respond onsite to 1300 international workplace crises of all sorts per month. Finally, they work with insurers and large employers in accelerating employee return-to-work for workers comp, disability, and non-occupational injury claims throughout North America and Australia.

Mr. Blythe has been personally involved in crises such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and 9/11 terrorism, mass murders at the U.S. Postal Service, the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings, commercial air crashes, rescue of kidnap and ransom hostages in Columbia and Ecuador, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, and reputational crises. He serves as a consultant to numerous Fortune executives and managers in Strategic Crisis Leadership preparedness and response.

Widely regarded as a thought leader in the crisis management and business continuity industries, he is the author of Blindsided: A Manager's Guide to Crisis Leadership. He has served in the Military Police for the U.S. Marine Corps. He's a certified clinical psychologist and has been a consultant to the FBI on workplace violence and terrorism.

Blythe has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CNN, ABC's 20/20, CBS's 48 Hours, CNBC, NPR and others. Fast Company Magazine published a cover-story article about Blythe's companies responding onsite to 204 companies in NYC, all within three weeks following 9/11. He provides commentary in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Business Week, Smart Money, New Yorker, Fortune Magazine, and USA Today. He serves as a keynote presenter to multiple national and international conferences per year.