Communication Challenge in Emergency Management - Assignment Example

Communication Challenge in Emergency Management Table of Contents Introduction 1 1.0.Communication Challenge in Emergency Management 2 2.0.Sources of data on communication challenge facing emergency management 2 3.0.Policies that have contributed to communication challenge in emergency management 3 4.0.Significance of stakeholders in communication challenge facing emergency management 4 5.0.Justification of Proposed Solutions to communication challenge facing emergency management 5 6.0.Role of technology in addressing communication challenge facing emergency management 6 7.0.Solution and course of action to address the communication challenge in emergency management 8 8.0.Measuring the effectiveness of proposed solution 9 9.0.References 10 Introduction Emergency or crisis management (EM) entails an assortment of activities undertaken to minimize the impact of future probable disasters. Some of these activities include immediate response, recovery efforts, disaster mitigation, and preparedness efforts. Considering the magnitude and coverage area of a disaster, EM might be a multi-organizational exercise that brings on board government agencies, volunteer organizations, media, and other critical stake holders. All these players need to constantly keep in touch just to ensure that their consolidated efforts serve to increase the efficiency of the operations (Sellnow & Seeger, 2013). 1.0. Communication Challenge in Emergency Management Effective EM can be described as rendering the technology, tools and activities that enable disaster response agencies to consistently manage information from different sources and collaborate with all stakeholder to help victims, extenuate damage and assist communities reconstruct. Unfortunately, this is hardly the case as EM operations have always grappled with communication challenges occasioned by jammed telecommunication lines or/and destroyed infrastructure. On the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina, for instance, many wireless base stations were grounded and a number of communication cables were damaged (Coombs & Holladay, 2012). Also, taking into account that in an emergency situation information is widely distributed and owned by different agencies, lack of interoperability among EM agencies has complicated the information sharing process. This results to slower response, difficulty coordination, more damage to infrastructure and loss of life. 2.0. Sources of data on communication challenge facing emergency management Secondary data has been the main source of information relating to the communication challenge facing emergency management. Some of these data sources include interviews with disaster managers, and which have been recorded in print media, peer reviewed articles, newspapers, and reports submitted to relevant government bodies. The two major sources are the “The handbook of crisis communication” by Coombs & Holladay (2012) and information from GAO website (Major Management Challenges and Program Risks) retrieved from: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-113 For instance, following hurricane Katrina and its devastating impacts, it became apparent that the loss was not only huge, but also extreme due to the challenges faced by emergency agencies. As expected, the government needed a report from FEMA to explain the state of emergency management as well as present their findings regarding the heavy loss that was experienced following hurricane Katrina. In the report, it was apparent that the multi-agency operation lacked proper coordination because of the communication challenge occasioned by destruction of telecommunication network. Further on, the decision by government to cut down on its budgetary allocation to emergency management and the concomitant impacts have widely been tackled in peer reviewed articles, print media, as well as online news website. 3.0. Policies that have contributed to communication challenge in emergency management The federal and state governments have made substantial cuts in the budget allocations directed towards disaster preparedness and funding. This problem has largely been attributed to budget shortfalls and ever bulging national debt. To point a picture of this is the congress reduction of FEMA funding from $3.05 billion in 2010 fiscal year to less than half that figure - $1.35 billion in 2012. The trend equally replicated in the FEMA pre-disaster mitigation grants that dropped from $100 million in 2010 to $35.5 million in 2012. With sequential budgetary trimming looming and further anticipated belt-tightening, experts in disaster management have raised an alarm over the vulnerability of the nation (FEMA, 2013). Hurricane Sandy and Katrina are just but cases in point of how natural disaster can bring down communication infrastructure and, hence, leave victims greatly vulnerable. Furthermore, in the absence of enough funding to support more secure communication channels that are less prone to privacy issues and hacking, the law enforcement agencies working hand in hand with FEMA may find it a toll order to respond to manmade disasters such as the September 11 and the recent Boston bombing. 4.0. Significance of stakeholders in communication challenge facing emergency management Stakeholders in emergency management include local, state, and federal governments, citizens (disaster victims), media, and business corporations, non-profit agencies such as Red Cross and Salvation Army, and emergent community organizations. Internal stakeholders entails the local government, state government, FEMA, and the citizens themselves. On the other hand, external stakeholders include non-governmental organizations and media houses that equally play a critical role in emergency operations (FEMA, 2013). The federal government decisions to cut budgetary funding to emergency management has negatively affected the effort by FEMA to design a properly functioning and integrated communication system. Since September 11, existing funding and staff resources have been redirected at Department of Homeland Security to focus significantly on terrorism based activities. According to the 2013 Federal Signal Public Safety Survey conducted by Zogby, three-quarters of emergency managers cited budget constraints as their biggest challenge when it comes to updating their emergency communication systems (Griffin, 2013). Citizens’ apathy towards public safety also contribute to the communication challenges. John Von Thaden, vice president and general manager, notification systems at Federal Signals, puts this challenge into perspective by highlighting the obstacles encountered by public safety official in their bid to implement ECS solutions. He notes that the general public continue to remain disinterested in efforts rolled out by emergency officials to raise their awareness and preparedness in the wake of a disaster. Undoubtedly, very few Americans are concerned of the emergency numbers that they ought to call in the event of an emergency. Public drills on emergence response are rarely taken serious by the citizens (Griffin, 2013). In addition, with the advances in information and technology, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have been embraced by some citizens as an alternative to conventional channels of communication such as radio and television. Therefore, the citizen’s varied preferences of communication channels have made it harder for emergency officials to rely only on limited channels to reach out the highest number of victims. 5.0. Justification of Proposed Solutions to communication challenge facing emergency management Increasing federal budget allocation to emergency management would go a long way to bolster interoperability among the various agencies involved in the operations. Understandably, hurricane Katrina, for instance, had greater casualties as the various rescue and emergency teams could not communicate. The operation was largely uncoordinated and ended up flopping on a general scale. Therefore, increasing federal funding to FEMA would help managers update their outdated communication equipment as well as link up their operation with other local agencies so that their activities could be well coordinated (Coombs, & Holladay, 2012). Citizens’ apathy towards emergency management is another challenge to communication during disasters. This can be resolved by local emergency teams carrying our regular drill which may also be televised in local TV channels. Road shows are equally critical means of raising awareness regarding the issues. Finally, information and technology has advanced to a level where social media platforms have taken Centre stage. It is thus important for FEMA and other agencies involved in emergency operations to exploit this platforms in disseminating information to the general public. This may be enhanced by taking advantage of marketing avenues provided by local TV and radio media houses that could probably be having a large number of followers. With this in place, a person who may lack the services of voice calls or text messages may simply tweet or update their Facebook statuses. Also, with the emergence of hash-tags in twitter, it is much easier to keep people updated about a disaster and rescue operations in place. 6.0. Role of technology in addressing communication challenge facing emergency management EM has over the years struggled with communication networks that are often jammed or destroyed in the event of adverse natural disasters. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, for example, many of the wireless base stations were grounded and telecommunication cables were destroyed (Coombs & Holladay, 2012). Jamming of the networks is occasioned by overloading of call centers such as the boosters installed exceed their capacity to complete incoming or outgoing calls. This is a serious challenge that not only impacts the direct victims of the disasters but also the emergency teams working to rescue lives and properties. Evidently, therefore, the conventional forms of communication, which mostly comprise of cable and wireless networks, are prone to jamming and distraction of pre-requisite infrastructure. The problem has further been aggravated by government reduction of budget allocated to FEMA which could have, otherwise, benefitted their efforts to reinforce telecommunication infrastructure within the agencies involved in emergency management. Despite the above challenges occasioned by over-reliance in conventional communication systems, advancements in information and technology appear to offer solution to this same communication challenge. Undoubtedly, the advent of social media platforms of communication have tremendously resolved the barriers of jammed networks and destruction of infrastructure. As it stands at the moment, Facebook and Twitter are the two online social platforms with the highest number of subscribers. In the event of a disaster, the victims can easily update their statuses and, therefore, friends and family members can easily established the location of each other. Similarly, through the hash-tag feature that permits a trending topic to be easily accessed by millions across the globe, the various rescue agencies working in collaboration with FEMA can easily establish the location and the needs of the victims. It is also through feedback received in Facebook and Twitter that these agencies can ascertain the gravity of the disaster and plan their response (Sellnow & Seeger, 2013). Basically, interoperability of different communication systems letting in internet, cell phone, e-mail, TV, and radio have progressively offered solution during emergency management. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, in addition to conventional communication channels including radio, television, mobile phones, and landlines have offered an enormous possibility to enhance disaster management. Through local campaigns, citizens would be encouraged to “like” the pages of local emergencies agencies. In the event of an emergency, these pages would be easily accessible for victims to “tweet” or update their statuses. Officials of the agencies would then monitors and harmonize the varied information received as they roll out their rescue mission. As the old adage states, “Prevention is better than cure,” another critical step in the implementation process would be to locate telemetry devices across areas prone, for instance, to atmospheric and oceanic storms. This would monitors the state of climate of such areas and immediately relay information to disaster management centers for interpretation process. Secondly, this national forecast should be downscaled to local level through the immense opportunities offered by social media. Understandably, the social platforms have the hah-tag feature that permits trending of a particular topic which could also be localized to a given area. For instance, EM centers, in conjunction to news media channels that command massive following can initiate a trending topic that would certainly trickle down to the endangered residents. This actions serves to mitigate adverse impacts in the event of a disaster. 7.0. Solution and course of action to address the communication challenge in emergency management Communications investments are among the most critical and durable capital investments that EM agencies can make. Also, it is worth noting that technological advances for emergency communications are perpetually and rapidly evolving. With these unfolding, DHS in conjunction with FEMA ought to realize the need to constantly keep in touch with the most recent technologies that guarantee maximum interoperability. It would be a lie to purport that there exists a “silver bullet” for resolving problems encountered in emergency communication. Instead, National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) proposed comprehensive improvements at all levels such as governance, technology, coordination, usage, and training exercises. This approach would go a long way to guarantee communication operability and interoperability among the agencies as well as neighboring jurisdictions. Efficient exploitation of opportunities presented by wireless data networks, Internet Protocol (IP)-based mobile communication gadgets, and location/GPS based commercial services are potent solutions. For efficient communications, FEMA and other non-governmental emergency management agencies need to utilize a coordinated dimension to sensitize the public about the technological application in disaster management. Coordinated messaging, managing of social media platforms and public information campaigns can offer a timely and precise information to stakeholders and addresses cases of misinformation. To avoid duplication of efforts by the various agencies in emergency operations, emergency managers should share their plans in the management of the social media platforms. Undoubtedly, Facebook and Twitter have proved indispensable in disaster management. Since various agencies may have their own Facebook and Twitter ‘pages’ or ‘accounts,’ it is only appropriate that they should relay the varied information they receive to a central place, say FEMA account, where coordination process is concomitantly rolled out. 8.0. Measuring the effectiveness of proposed solution In order to assess the effectiveness of the solution proposed in resolving communication challenge, it is necessary to monitor the impacts of the solution to the stakeholders involved. Since application of social media platforms stands out as one of the best approaches to address the aforementioned challenge, it would be critical to monitor the number of subscribers to the various Facebook and Twitter pages managed by these emergency agencies. Citizens’ apathy has been cited as a major impediment to management of emergencies. Therefore, by having more subscribers to such pages, the citizens could receive regular updates on the activities of both local and national emergency teams. This also would go a long way to keep citizens in touch with the hot-lines to use in calling for help in the event of an emergency. The more the number of subscribers or people who “like” emergency pages in social media platforms, the more effective the solutions are likely to be. 9.0. References Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2013). Theorizing crisis communication. Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2012). The handbook of crisis communication. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell. FEMA (2013). Major Management Challenges and Program Risks. Washington: GAO printing press. GAO website (Major Management Challenges and Program Risks) retrieved from: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-113 Griffin, J. (2013, October 25). Emergency managers face uphill battle in improving public awareness of ECS . Retrieved from SecuityInfoWatch: http://www.securityinfowatch.com/blog/11203750/new-survey-shows-challenges-faced-by-emergency-mangers-in-improving-public-awareness-of-emergency-communication-systems Manoj, B. S., & Baker, A. H. (2007). Communication challenges in emergency response. Communications of the ACM, 50(3), 51-53. Meissner, A., Luckenbach, T., Risse, T., Kirste, T., & Kirchner, H. (2002, June). Design challenges for an integrated disaster management communication and information system. Read More