The loudest person in a crisis gets heard. The one with a checklist gets obeyed.

Panic is loud and it spreads, and it never tells anyone where to stand. In a genuine mess what people want most is a sequence: this first, then this, and you take that one. Whoever supplies it gets followed immediately, regardless of volume or rank, because they removed the worst part of the situation, which is not knowing what to do.

Think through one thing that could go wrong in your setting and write the first three steps now, while it is calm. Keep it somewhere you can find it. Having it ready is what lets you be the steady one later.