Scenario Details:

• Eldora City Emergency Dispatch Centre is suffering a major outage due to a suspected ransomware attack on its computer-aided dispatch infrastructure.

• Attempts to isolate and restore the affected systems have so far been unsuccessful, and the Security team is unable to provide an estimated time to restore services.

• Emergency calls can still be received by operators, and police, ambulance, and fire units can communicate by radio; however, dispatchers cannot automatically locate incidents, prioritise calls, or assign response units through the system.

• Business Continuity and manual dispatch processes are being activated to manage the situation; however, these processes will take time to implement and cannot manage the full volume of emergency calls.

In emergencies, we often struggle with questions like: who should be notified first, how much information should be shared, how to avoid public panic, and how to ensure frontline personnel can act promptly. When faced with a situation like the Eldora City Emergency Dispatch Centre, where a suspected ransomware attack caused the computer-aided dispatch system to outage, the issue transcends mere technical recovery; it becomes a complex communication management challenge. Emergency calls can still be received, and radio communication remains operational, but automatic location, prioritization, and dispatch functions are affected, and manual dispatch cannot fully handle the volume of emergency calls. Therefore, we need to use a Complex Communication Framework, combining the Shannon-Weaver model, the Lasswell model, Schramm’s insights, and Empathy Forecasting, to help us systematically analyze stakeholder needs, design appropriate key messages, communication channels, feedback mechanisms, and ethical considerations, thereby creating a clear, actionable, and responsible communications plan.

Communications Plan Template

Stakeholder	Description of communication and aims	Feedback/Channel (Media)	Key Message	Frequency	Rational for Channel, Message and Frequency and Ethical Considerations

How should the Communications Plan Template be filled out?

	Fill in the reflections
Stakeholder	Don't just write "public". Break it down into specific groups, such as emergency callers, dispatch operators, police/fire/ambulance units, city government, media, security team, vulnerable residents, etc.
Description of communication and aims	Clearly state the purpose of this communication, such as "informing about temporary procedures," "reducing panic," "ensuring frontline staff use consistent information," and "collecting feedback on service delays."
Feedback/Channel	It's not just about writing the channel information; you also need to write about feedback methods. For example, radio briefings, SMS alerts, internal hotlines, media statements, social media monitoring, and incident reporting forms.
Key Message	Keep the information concise, accurate, and actionable. Avoid excessive technical details. Focus on: what happened, what the impact is, what should be done now, and when to update next.
Frequency	The update schedule depends on the stakeholder's level of urgency. Frontline personnel may receive updates every 15–30 minutes; the public may receive updates hourly or when there are significant changes; and government agencies may provide periodic briefings.
Rationale & Ethical Considerations	Explain why this channel was chosen, why this statement was made, why the frequency is appropriate, and the ethical issues involved, such as transparency, privacy, security, avoiding panic, and fair treatment of emergency needs.

Communications PCom

Examples of Communications Plans

Stakeholder	Description of communication and aims	Feedback/Channel	Key Message	Frequency	Rationale / Ethical Considerations
Dispatch operators	Provide clear manual dispatch instructions and reduce confusion during system outage.	Internal briefing, supervisor updates, radio backup, incident log.	“Use manual dispatch protocol immediately. Record all calls manually and escalate life-threatening cases first.”	Every 15–30 minutes or when procedures change.	Operators need fast, precise instructions. Ethical issue: avoid inconsistent instructions that may endanger public safety.
Police, ambulance, fire units	Coordinate emergency response without automated dispatch support.	Radio communication, command channel, operational briefings.	“CAD system is unavailable. Continue responding via radio instructions and confirm incident details verbally.”	Every 30 minutes.	Radio is already available and reliable. Ethical issue: prioritisation must be fair and based on risk.
Public / emergency callers	Reassure public that emergency calls are still being received and explain possible delays.	Official website, SMS alert, social media, press release.	“Emergency calls are still being answered. Please call only for genuine emergencies and provide location clearly.”	Hourly or when major updates occur.	Public needs reassurance and practical instructions. Ethical issue: be transparent without causing panic.
City government	Support decision-making and resource allocation.	Executive briefing, secure email, situation report.	“Manual dispatch is active, but capacity is reduced. Additional staffing and public messaging support may be required.”	Every hour.	Leaders need accurate information for decisions. Ethical issue: communicate uncertainty honestly.
Media	Prevent rumours and provide consistent public information.	Press statement, spokesperson briefing, Q&A sheet.	“The incident is being investigated. Emergency services continue, but delays are possible.”	Scheduled briefings every 2 hours or major updates.	Media can amplify reliable information. Ethical issue: avoid speculation about ransomware details before confirmed.

In complex crisis communication, simply knowing "what happened" is insufficient; it's crucial to understand the thoughts, emotions, concerns, and information needs of different stakeholders. Faced with a situation where the Eldora City Emergency Dispatch Centre's dispatch system was disrupted due to a suspected ransomware attack, different groups would react very differently: frontline dispatchers might worry about operational errors, emergency response units might worry about incomplete information, and the public might worry about the reliability of emergency services. Therefore, before developing a Communications Plan, we need to use Empathy Maps to conduct Before State and After State analyses of key stakeholders, predicting their state changes before and after communication based on their Thinking, Seeing, Hearing, Saying, Doing, and Feeling. This helps us design more targeted, clearer, and more empathetic key messages, communication channels, and feedback mechanisms. Answer Sheet 1 also requires completing at least three sets of Before/After empathy maps to support the design of the subsequent communication plan.

Empathy Forecasting / Empathy Map

An Empathy map is an analytical tool used before filling out forms. It helps you think from the stakeholder's perspective:

• What are they thinking?

• What do they see?

• What do they hear?

• What will they say?

• What will they do?

• How will they feel?

For example, before communicating, the public might think:

"Are emergency calls still working? Will ambulances arrive? Is the entire city paralyzed?"

Then the key message in the Communications Plan should answer these questions:

"Emergency calls are still being received. Please call only for genuine emergencies and clearly state your location."

Therefore, an Empathy Map is not a standalone map, but a preliminary step used to generate the form's content.

Channel strategy

Different information should not be arbitrarily selected through channels. Selection must be based on urgency, security, and audience accessibility.

Situation	Suitable channels
Operating instructions for dispatchers	supervisor briefing、secure internal channel
Immediate coordination for police / fire / ambulance services	radio communication
Brief Notice to the Public	SMS、official website、social media、local radio
Formal Information for the Media	press release、spokesperson briefing
Detailed information for government departments	secure situation report、executive briefing

This is the meaning of the Feedback/Channel.

Ethical Communication

The final section requires listing ethical considerations because crisis communication isn't about "the more the better," but rather about striking a balance:

• transparency vs. panic;
• public right to know vs. cybersecurity confidentiality;
• speed vs. accuracy;
• fairness in emergency prioritization;
• privacy and security;
• accessibility for vulnerable groups.

For example, you can't simply say, "Ransomware has been confirmed to have caused a complete system outage," because the scenario only involves suspected ransomware, and the security team cannot yet confirm the recovery time. Communication should avoid unsolicited statements.