So, it is the art & science of managing communication. PR in its management functions is directed toward earning public understanding & acceptance by tabulating public attitudes, defines the policies & procdures of an organization with the interest & execute a program of action. One of the most important  PR  function is crisis communication. Public relations practitioners become heavily involved in crisis communications whenever there is a major accident or natural disaster affecting an company & its community.  Generally, a crisis is an unexpected event or series of events or any situation that spiral out of control, interrupt normal operations and cause intense and unwanted public scrutiny that harms or threatens to harm an organization's reputation. crisis involves an overwhelming reaction to a threatening situation in which an usual problem solving strategies fail to resolve the situation & result a state of disequilibrium.

There is a classification of crisis:

1.natural disasters: earthquake, fire, flood, etc… 

2.what makes by human: crime of violence, national disasters, crisis in business, etc… .Crisis situation could build negative image of company in public opinion. When a crisis strikes to a company or an organization immediately it should take actions to maintain or increase company's reputation. It should respond effectively to crisis situation by taking a comprehensive systems approach to crisis identification, prevention, and management. From initial vulnerability assessment and strategic review, through final resolution and recovery. In the other words, the company should manage the crisis situation.  

Crisis management is a kind of management system. It involves identifying a crisis, planning  a response to the crisis by taking a series of actions to maintain its credibility & good reputation before, during & after a crisis situation.  

“A good image is a terrible thing to lose!” noted Bill Patterson in Public Relation Journal.  If a company has established the point at which a crisis communications plan is activated, it is far more likely that” the plan will play a productive role in helping the company quickly emerge from crisis with its reputation intact.”

It is on responsibility of PR to manage the crisis communication. PR experts try to rebuild the company’s image. They recommend that business owners prepare a plan in advance to deal with potential crises in an honest & forthright manner.The main objective of such a plan is to provide accurate information quickly in order to reduce uncertainty.  Because of crisis situation could change public opinion toward the company into negative image, So pr professionals do sth. for control the public opinion. Strategic crisis communication management begins well before trouble strikes & continues well after the immediate situation has passed.

PR plan include three steps:

Before the crisis. PR practitioners should be prepared in the event of a crisis. They should assessment to determine the company’s most likely source of vulnerability. First, in crisis situation , rumor  is born. Where there is ambiguity about important situation ,there is rumor. Pr professionals should confront with rumors by preparing good &  true information. Second, costumes always are right even if they make mistakes. So pr experts should receive the public attitudes & critics & complain which help them establishing a good plan to avoide the crisis. In this step, preparing  information is so important .By  true information, pr consultants can help company’s executives & affect on decision making, also they inform public about their company. So, preparing usefull information befor crisis situation could avoide occurring a crisis.

During the crisis. When a crisis does erupt, effective communication is crucial to favorable public perception. Action taken by a communicator during the first moments of a crisis can affect perceptions of an individual or company well after the crisis is resolved. In order to ensure that the company’s perspective is heard, it is vital that pr experts do all they can to make sure that the company’s massage is accurately presented to any media providing coverage of the crisis. The media establishes the perception of the company. So, in this case dealing with the media in an organized & timely fasion is mandatory. In crisis, media is under pressure to coverage the situation and give information to audiences. Pr professional should give true &complete information to the media because they don’t know more about crisis situation. So in this case, rumor could emerge. In this step pr experts should concider some points:

1.     Be open & honest with media & customers. Take the perspective of the people who are out of the company. Be candid, be truthful and give people what they want to know.

2.     React quickly. A company’s actions in the early stages of a crisis will determine how the coverage of the client and the crisis goes. So as soon as pr professional shoule give usefull information to the media & public. If the company be late in crisis situation the rumors are borned.

3.     Do not lie or mislead the media & the public. The discovery of one single lie casts every statement that pr experts make into doubt.

After crisis. After crisis the media needs complete & true information & data for preparing their analysis & reports about the event. Media needs to interview with the company’s executives to achieve the information they needs.

Finally, , the pr experts should apreciate the media help them during the crisis to resolve the problem, rebuild good image of company & make good publicity for it.

As a result, it should be considered that the most important role of pr professional in any company is to gather usefull information & establish good relation with public, media & other segments of society.