Supporting your staff through a crisis: Why forward planning matters

The Law Society of Scotland’s Outreach and Engagement Manager, Amber Shadle, shares a real time example of how prioritising staff wellbeing has been integral to managing a crisis and why forward planning is crucial to putting your colleagues first.

As part of the Law Society of Scotland’s wellbeing work, we often talk about the importance of individual firms drafting their own wellbeing strategy.  This often includes the development of sound wellbeing business practices, awareness of how to address stigma, and specific goals which can foster a positive work culture.

However, when it comes to supporting staff wellbeing, there is more that an organization can do. In particular, it is important that organisations think about how they can best support staff should a crisis occur.

When at work, we don’t expect there to be a crisis that would not only majorly disrupt the operations of the organization, but also impact the wellbeing of staff. However, such incidents can and do happen, ranging in severity and number of people impacted. If a crisis or unexpected event takes place at work, the last thing that an organization wants is to be unprepared and scrambling to respond. A lack of planning in advance could worsen the effects of the critical incident, leaving staff feeling unsupported and overwhelmed.

What does it mean to be prepared for the unexpected, and to support staff through a crisis? One way to answer this question is to look at a particular case study, and think about what best practice looks like. While the case study below is from another field, there are lessons that the legal profession can take away, especially as we think about potential crises that may arise and how we can be ready to support staff.

The case study below has been provided by Kara Connect, who partnered with the Law Society on our Guide to creating a Wellbeing Strategy.

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Background: In February 2025, the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Hafrannsóknastofnun) faced an unforeseen crisis while on a research expedition off the north-west coast of Iceland. Aboard one of their research vessels, with a crew of over 20 individuals —including researchers, operational staff, and three family members of the captain —the captain became critically ill. The incident occurred in a remote area at sea, adding complexity to the situation as the crew was isolated and still had to carry out their mission.

The Icelandic Coast Guard was called to the scene, deploying a helicopter to airlift the captain from the vessel to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Reykjavik. The sudden and traumatic event left the crew in shock, with heightened anxiety and distress as they continued their work at sea without their leader.

Recognising the profound psychological impact this critical incident could have on the crew, the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute activated its critical incident protocol with Kara Connect. Within 24 hours, Kara Connect's emergency team responded by setting up a tailored Critical Incident Hub (CI Hub) to provide remote psychological support services to the affected crew members.

The CI Hub offered:

• Immediate access to trauma-informed mental health professionals with extensive experience in critical incident response.
• Confidential one-to-one support sessions for all crew members, conducted remotely to accommodate the vessel’s location at sea.
• Special provision of three sessions for family members and those closest to the captain to provide additional care and space for processing their experience.
• Optional follow-up sessions to ensure ongoing psychological support for those needing further care.
• Psychoeducation resources to help the crew recognise and manage the emotional and physiological effects of trauma.

Why this response mattered: A critical incident at sea can profoundly impact the emotional wellbeing of crew members. In remote environments, where the team must continue their mission without immediate access to traditional support systems, mental health risks can be exacerbated.

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Even though this case study is from a very different type of profession, there are some key takeaways for the legal profession to consider. We can learn something from how quickly the organisation responded to the critical incident, the various types of support provided, and the follow-up sessions which were offered. What becomes clear through the case study above is that it is important to be prepared for a crisis before it happens, so that the response can be timely, robust, and tailored to the situation at hand.

If you’d like to learn more about how to respond to critical incidents, the Law Society’s wellbeing team is running an event, Supporting your staff through a crisis, on 3 April from 1- 2pm. At this lunch and learn session, our expert panel will consider what a critical incident is, how to best support staff, and what organisations can do to work in a preventative way.

Registrations for our event in partnership with Kara Connect are now open. This will be an interactive session with our panel, with opportunity to ask questions and be a part of the discussion.