Incident Response Toolkit

What should I do first?

First, pause and take a breath. What you just saw happen or heard about can be traumatic and triggering. You may want to react quickly but that often is not what is most effective. It is important to first reflect on the incident or crisis and find a way to meaningfully engage and respond in a way that promotes safety and healing, particularly for the community or communities that are targeted and harmed by the incident.

Consider a brief mindfulness exercise, such as a selection from the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast Series from the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

What are SMPH and university leaders doing?

It is common to wonder what school or university leaders are doing when an incident or crisis occurs. Several processes are in place to help inform institutional responses.

Keep in mind

• School and university leaders are informed of incidents promptly.
• When an incident occurs, work begins immediately to understand what took place and how to respond appropriately. Depending on a scenario, complex processes or investigations may be required. These steps are critical and take time to conduct. Such work precedes and informs any institutional messages. The university will only share information that is verified and released by other agencies.
• The highest priority of campus and school leaders and (for incidents involving police response) university or municipal law enforcement is to support the safety of impacted individuals, assess the situation and coordinate with one another.

Institutional statements

Often, there is desire for school or university leaders to release a statement following an incident. Below are some important details regarding institutional statements.

• Statements from UW–Madison are not intended to be “breaking news.” Leadership will not and should not respond in haste. They will continue to investigate to ensure they are responding accurately.
• You may hear about a crisis or incident from news media rather than an institutional message or statement. Campus statements focus on sharing information about the university’s response, which can develop over time as additional facts become known. In a large organization, many individuals, and sometimes partnering agencies, will need to review a statement to ensure accuracy.
• Only the Chancellor or their direct designee can make institutional statements, guided by a policy on Institutional and Public Position Statements. The purpose of Policy UW-206 is to specify who may make statements that take a position on a matter of public controversy or concern when that statement may be intended to represent, or could be perceived as representing, the university or a unit of the university. The policy says: “Unless the core mission or ongoing operations of the university are at stake, the articulation of official institutional positions on matters of public concern and controversy is neither necessary to nor helpful for the lively exchange of ideas.”
  • Units of the university such as schools, colleges, departments or divisions should not make separate statements on issues of concern and controversy in any external channels such as institutional social media accounts unless they are reviewed and approved in advance by the UW–Madison Office of Strategic Communication. If SMPH students, staff or faculty are directly involved or impacted by an issue, SMPH leaders will coordinate with UW–Madison leaders.
  • The policy is meant to ensure free and open debate while preserving academic freedom and the right of employees to speak in their capacity as private citizens. Resources are available about free expression at UW–Madison.
• It is best to focus on direct interpersonal support for members of impacted communities.

What can I do?

It is most valuable in a crisis or incident to devote your time and energy to thinking about your sphere of influence, meaning the scope of your professional and personal role. Below are some ideas for how to respond.

Your sphere of influence:

• Focus on what you can influence and what you can impact in the scope of your role at SMPH.
• Reach out to individuals (students, staff, and faculty) in your own personal and professional circles who may feel impacted. Ask what they need and how best you can support them. If someone is struggling after the incident, hearing from someone they know personally with a meaningful message will be of tangible aid. Ask them about any specific support needs and provide resources. It is through our one-on-one conversations and support that we can continue to build community.
• Reinforce to students, staff, and faculty that any incident can and should be reported. This sets a positive culture that shows that instances of racism, stereotyping, bias, or hate are not acceptable. Learn how to report concerns about student mistreatment and professional conduct. Incidents involving bias or hate can be reported to the UW–Madison Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS).

Ideas for leaders:

• Reach out to members of your team who may feel impacted to offer support and resources.
• Think of ways to create space for conversation about traumatic national and local events, perhaps utilizing internal or external facilitators. It can also be meaningful to bring students and trainees together for discussion about the impact of an event and provide information on mental health resources available on campus. Students can utilize University Health Services and employees can access numerous Emotional Wellbeing Resources for UW–Madison Faculty and Staff.
• If possible, offer for people to take some of the day/afternoon/morning off for self-care.

Other resources for everyone:

• Suggested script for talking with a colleague who is part of impacted community:
  • “Hello, [insert name]. After [insert issue] incident, I wanted to check in to see how you were doing. Is there anything I can do to better support you? I am here for you and whatever support you may need.”