Communications

Crisis Communications: Managing the First 72 Hours

Message discipline, timing, uncertainty, legal coordination, and credibility during the critical first phase of a major public-safety incident.

Course Details

Course Overview

Practical Context Before the Next Decision.

The first hours of a major incident create intense pressure for accurate information, rapid decisions, legal coordination, operational security, and public reassurance. This course helps command staff, public-information officers, and municipal leaders organize communication when facts are incomplete and the information environment is moving quickly. Participants examine message discipline, approval processes, spokesperson roles, media expectations, internal communication, and the consequences of silence, delay, or speculation. The goal is a credible response structure leaders can adapt before the next crisis.

Designed ForCommand staff, PIOs & municipal leaders

Format1 day

Course AreaCommunications

Course Focus

First-hour roles and communication prioritiesMessage discipline under uncertaintyLegal, operational, and leadership coordinationMedia response and public credibility

Instruction

Meet the Practitioners Leading This Course.

Course leadership is matched to the subject and grounded in direct professional experience.

Instructor of Crisis and Strategic Communications

Matt Petrillo

Matt Petrillo is Director of Communications for Temple University's Department of Public Safety. He previously spent more than a decade in television journalism, including reporting for CBS News Philadelphia on breaking news, crime, public safety, and major incidents. That combination gives him firsthand knowledge of how information is gathered, framed, and distributed under pressure. Matt's instruction focuses on message discipline, media relations, internal coordination, strategic storytelling, and the choices that shape trust before, during, and after a crisis. He helps leaders understand what to say, when to say it, and how communication decisions affect operations and credibility.

Crisis Messaging, Media Relations, Public Narratives, and Organizational Credibility

Crisis Communications: Managing the First 72 Hours

Practical Context Before the Next Decision.

Meet the Practitioners Leading This Course.

Matt Petrillo

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