Crisis Communications: Interview with Dcn Mark Prosser, Director of Pastoral Planning, Catholic Diocese, Sioux City, IA – COVID – 19 Crisis and Emergency Planning

Churches across the United States are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Mark Prosser, former Director of Public Safety in Storm Lake, IA, a professional with 45-years of law enforcement and emergency and disaster planning experience, is leading the preparation and plan for the diocese. The planning process includes operations of 87 chu

rches, 24 schools, and 2 hospitals, and a radio station and newspaper. In this interview, he outlines the details of the effort, and the best practices implemented among them are:

·        Increased internal and external coordination and communications among all organizational levels

·        Use of social media and web platforms to ensure outreach to congregants

·        Stand-up of information pushes on the CARE Act and of COVID-19 safety practices

·        Sharing of best practices across the four dioceses in Iowa

·        Planning for post-COVID-19 operations and decisionmaking

·        Establishment of a post-COVID-19 working group

– L. Darryl and Kay Armstrong

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