Insufficient information -- Your office does not have all the facts yet or the complete story could still be in coordination with higher-ups.  Either way, a well-informed decision is not possible.

Intense scrutiny -- The eyes of the world are watching you now.  Expect every move you make, including the ones in the past, to be scrutinized, criticized and politicized in every minute detail to see what dirt may turn of it.

Loss of control -- The well-crafted image of your organization is crashing down like the Berlin Wall -- and everyone, even those who do not know much about you, wants a piece up.

Panic -- Aimlessly forcing your staff around in directions that will not help solve the problem.

Siege mentality -- Pinned against the wall, you "kick your way out with my steel-toed truth shoes to set the record straight" (Woodyard, 1998, p. 41).

Surprise -- The crisis is completely out of the blue or your office simply hoped it would not happen -- and it did.

Short-term focus -- A defensive mechanism.  Members of your staff pore over every scrap of media report of your crisis hoping to find mistakes so you can demand a retraction.