4- INTEROPERABLE INFORMATION - Joseph Galbraith

Joseph Galbraith

Lesson 4 Reading Summary

Reference:  Musavi, S., Memon, A., & Chawdhri, B. (2011). MODELING AN INTEROPERABLE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT FIRST RESPONDERS. International Journal Of Academic Research, 3(2), 17-25.

Theme: Major issues exist in the communications system in Pakistan in spite of their history of natural and manmade disasters.

Summary:

• Communication before, during and after a disaster is crucial to the survival rate.

• The two main communication problems discussed in this article are early warning systems and interoperable communications for responders.

• Issues perceived in this geographical region (South West Asia) were lack of both of these systems.

• Most emergency personnel depend on local cellular networks.

• Along with interoperability comes the importance of a centralized communication center such as an Emergency Operations Center and Joint Information Center.

• The region is very familiar with disasters both manmade and natural and still does not a have an adequate communication system.

•Early warning systems are crucial for storm, flood, tsunami, and volcano events. 

•Some issues identified with combating the advent of early warning systems are; lack of political will, weak communication among various actors and publics inability to realize vulnerabilities to disaster.

•The following are optimal for a good communications interoperability system and its planning for responders;

                - More sophisticated Vital Equipment

                - Backup Subscriber Management Center

                - Emergency Hot Lines

                - Paging Systems for Spreading Disaster Warnings

                - Rapid Up gradation Techniques for Base Stations during Response

Application to the lesson topic:

Communications is not only the most important thing for emergency services in dealing with disasters but it is also the most vulnerable piece of the emergency management framework due to our dependency on electricity.  Innovative techniques need to be developed to either develop and advance interoperability system or revert to primitive forms of communication in the event of loss of power.

Application to emergency services:

Emergency services have many communications interoperability problems in normal day to day operations.  A disaster will magnify these issues drastically.  In my place of work we have many problems that we need to work out in order to communicate with local public safety responders.  Exercises are key to working out these bugs and coming up with solutions that are resilient and that will work in the worst case scenarios.

4 - Planning for Spontaneity - Jeffrey Martin

Reference: Horsley, J. (2012). Planning for Spontaneity: The Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork. International Journal Of Qualitative Methods, 11(3), 180-194.

Theme:  The article discusses fieldwork disaster communication, and the apparent lack of research on the subject.

Summary:  the American Red Cross organizes during disaster to communicate with primary public entities, including the media, donors, partner agencies, and those affected by disaster.  There is little or no research on disaster communication in the middle of an event as it unfolds in front of your eyes.  Communication in the field is vastly different from that in a communications center.

·         The need for an organization to protect its image during a volatile time can cause an organization to exert more control over the dissemination of information.

·         The greatest difference between conducting qualitative fieldwork in disasters and in more stable, certain environments is the simple fact that it is a disaster.

·         Flexibility is vitally important at a disaster site in which the setting and circumstances are constantly evolving.

Other reading:  Eisenman, D. P., Cordasco, K. M., Asch, S., Golden, J. F., & Glik, D. (2007). Disaster Planning and Risk Communication With Vulnerable Communities: Lessons From Hurricane Katrina. American Journal Of Public Health, 97S109-S115.

This article discusses communications with the public during Hurricane Katrina.

Application: Communication from within the safety of a command center does not have the same issues of that from the field.  For those managers and leaders performing actual fieldwork, there needs to be an understanding that it is a very dynamic and possibly hostile/dangrerous environment from what they may be used to. 

4- Communication Gaps in Disaster Management - Ray Huntzinger

Communication Gaps in Disaster Management -- Reading Summary #4


By Ray Huntzinger


Reference:

Palttala, P., Boano, C., Lund, R., & Vos, M. (2012, March).
Communication gaps in disaster management: Perceptions by experts from
governmental and non-governmental organizations. Journal of
Contingencies and Crisis Management. 20(1), pp.2-12.

Theme:

The theme of the journal was an overview of a study attempting to
address communication issues and gaps during disaster situations; and
ultimately develop tools to measure crisis communication
effectiveness.

Summary:

--The purpose of the study was to identify gaps in communication
during the management of disasters.

--Crisis communication aims to resolve crisis situations and lessen
public uncertainty during crisis/disaster events.

--The method, results, and conclusions of the study involving gaps in
disaster communication were outlined in detail.

--Stakeholders for the study were selected from those involved in
management of previous major disasters.

--The method to determine past gaps in disaster communication involved
three questions to stakeholders: What are the major constraints in
communication with the media and public? What are the constraints with
communication to civilians and communities? What are the constraints
in communication with other involved organizations?

--Some of the gaps identified in the study include deficiencies in the
flow of information within the disaster response/management network;
the relationships, expectations, and accountability of the flow of
information within the media; and the failure of emergency management
to monitor information that is released to the public.


Application to lesson topic:

The journal article describing the study directly relates to many
items, including the purpose, of the National Emergency Communications
Plan. Finding and addressing the gaps in disaster communication is a
major part of the overall lesson topic.


Application to emergency services:

The information in the journal article can be directly applied to
disaster management crisis communication during future incidents;
communication gaps/lessons from past disasters are identified and
recommendations are made.

3 - How Bush Blew It - Chris Schippers

How Bush Blew It

Chris Schippers

Reference: Thomas, E., Gegax, T., Campo-Flores, A., Murr, A., Meadows, S., Darman, J., & ... Tuttle, S. (2005). How Bush Blew It. Newsweek, 146(12), 26-40 Retrieved on September 22, 2013 from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uvu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=b6e828f1-aa5d-4181-951b-290968241215%40sessionmgr198&hid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=18202381

Theme: The leadership style of President George W. Bush, in the response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was a disaster itself, regardless of the stubborn New Orleans residents that didn't want to evacuate.

Summary:

·         President George W. Bush's Staff were apprehensive to tell the President his vacation would have to be cut short because of Hurricane Katrina.

·         President Bush didn't know how bad the results of the storm were.

·         The President lacked "situational awareness," less even, than an average American.

·         Because of the ease for Presidents to overreact to media buzz and noise around them, President George W. Bush often dodged the media or avoided reading newspapers.

·         His leadership style is somewhat one-sided and a bit of a one-way street, in that, he relates disagreement with disloyalty.

·         His staff is largely people that agree with him instead of having a voice or something different to bring to the table.

·         No one told him what he needed to hear; that efforts being made by state and local governments, and FEMA, were ineffective and basically useless.

·         President Bush should have anticipated and prepared for the worst outcome and aftermath events of the storm by having troops ready to deploy when needed.

·         Bush's advisers were not much help either.

·         The government's response to Hurricane Katrina was a domino effect as problems cascaded and compounded; each mistake made the next mistake worse.

·         Communication between local leaders and senior Washington Officials were poor at best.

·         Bush failed to take steps that would have helped such as order the military to take over emergency communications; instead, he went to bed.

·         As to avoid security issues and chaos by flying to New Orleans, he and his advisors thought it best for Bush to finish his vacation.

·         FEMA was incorporated into Homeland Security after 9/11 and as a result has digressed.

Application to the Lesson Topic:

President George W. Bush lacked some of the traits which make a good leader as outlined in our readings of the importance of being a good listener.  If he would have listened to some of the advice on the urgency to take over control of the situation, aid would have been rendered more effectively.

Application to Emergency Services:

This article is directly correlated with Emergency Services in that the display of poor leadership skills affected the people of New Orleans to the extreme.  Aide was not given in an appropriate manner or time and as a result unnecessary destruction, chaos, and riots emerged.  More work was created for emergency service crews as a result of poor leadership displayed by President Bush.  Good leadership is important to emergency services, for if leadership is poorly executed, results can be fatal.

4 - Communication Lessons - Michael Newland

 Michael Newland
Reference:

Varvas, S., & Mckenna, B. (2013). Learning the Communication Lessons of the Port-au-Prince Earthquake Relief Effort. Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, Vol. 43 Issue 1, Pg 43-61.

Theme:

Natural disasters are often unpredictable events. Supplying relief and aid to affected individuals is difficult especially in third world countries. Without adequate communication relief efforts become nearly impossible to coordinate.

Summary:

·         In January of 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 300,000 people lost their lives with hundreds of thousands more injured and homeless.

The emergency response for this disaster was severely hampered by the destruction of the United Nations communication headquarters. Poverty and miscommunication resulted in riots when food and supplies were being distributed. Several people did not receive any food or supplies for several days. Haiti’s political situation and structure at the time made relief communication and efforts even more difficult. We learned about a lot of things from this disaster that were done poorly.

·         The Three Stages of Disaster Relief outline what goes on before, during, and after a disaster in order to mitigate as much damage as possible. It also covers relief difficulties such as communication problems.

·         The first stage is Pre-Disaster Preparation and Communication. “This stage is essential for it outlines the necessary actions that must be followed to communicate effectively to the public, aid organizations, agencies, and governments to recover from a disaster (Varvas, 2013).”

·         The second stage or Response Stage is, “The implementation of strategic disaster planning and media communication responses to create awareness (Varvas, 2013).” In this stage regional, national, and international actors start to generate aid and support to those affected by the disaster. This stage can be difficult due to lack of short term and long term funding. In third world countries there are concerns that their governments are spending their money elsewhere due to corruption. Developing incident command systems is vital to relief efforts.

·         The last stage is Post-Disaster Communication and Management. After the disaster is over and relief efforts are in full swing there needs to be a post-disaster evaluation and analysis. “There are two steps where lessons and adaptive systems can be taught: 1. Lessons learned from the response stage; and 2. Long-term lessons derived from restoration (Varvas, 2013).”

·         From learning from past disasters like the Haiti earthquake four suggestions were created from several organizations. “To reduce distress from disasters, clear communication channels, political collaboration, proper education, and training are essential (Varvas, 2013).”

Application to the lesson topic:

Communication is incredibly important during disaster relief efforts. Without it you cannot hope to effectively give aid in a timely manner. You also would not be able to get vital information out to the public. Communication is a cornerstone to disaster response and relief.

Application to emergency services:

Responders trying to provide medical treatment and rescue to disaster victims must communicate with each other their organizations and with the government in order to coordinate efforts. Paramedics, EMT’s, and Police officers must remain in contact in order to send and receive information.

4 - Communicating Crisis - Andrea Graff

Andrea Graff

Reference: Isbell, M., Goldstein, R. (2006). Communicating crisis: inter-organizational collaboration among disaster relief agencies. International Communication Association. (p. 1-17).

Theme: Know your key players and communicate before disasters occur.

Summary:
Research was done to "review and investigate where the communicative differences may lie between internal and external crisis communication". Three main themes developed from the results of interviews which are: 1. planning 2. structure 3. collaboration continuum. I'm going to focus on the first, planning. There are three sub-themes to this theme:

• Pre-agreement: Know all of the players and build relationships with each of them. Trust needs to be built way before a crisis occurs and this comes from performance and experience.

• Sharing resources: Working together is key. Knowing who has what and who is bringing what to the table due to prior communication will keep costs lower and help everyone to work together.

• Outliers: Those who are part of the in-group, meaning they had pre-planned and gone to exercises were given larger responsibility during crisis events. Out-group members, or agencies that didn't participate were treated secondary. All help was welcomed, but the in-group had preferential treatment.

Application to the lesson topic:
Knowing the key players and establishing regular communication needs to be a main focus. Practicing for disasters and going over drills and exercises will help everyone to know their roles and be better prepared for the event of a disaster.

Application to emergency services:
As emergency services managers we can plan exercises and drills to make sure not only our staff but all key players will know what to do in the event of a disaster and hopefully work out the kinks beforehand. 

3 - Leadership Integrity - Andrea Graff

Andrea Graff

Reference: Lucas,  F., Katz, B. (2011). Gone with the wind? Integrity and Hurricane Katrina. New Directions for Student Services. (pp. 89-96).

Theme: Maintaining leadership integrity.

Summary:

• The number one characteristic that employees and the public want in a leader is integrity.

• To reassure employees and the public during and after a crisis there are some things you should keep in mind. The first is to make sure you keep calm. Emotions are highly contagious maintaining your composure will help to calm panicked people.

• Maintain a sense of humor. Spontaneous humor can help relieve the tension and overcome fear.

• Make sure you listen, it is the key to gaining assistance. And also communicate. "Accurate, timely, and ongoing information sharing is critical to maintain ethical and structural integrity on campus".

• And finally, take care of yourself. Over the days the strengths of the leaders get eroded, taking fifteen to thirty minutes of privacy each day can help to recenter and refocus.

Application to the lesson topic:
Integrity is the number one thing people look for in a leader. They need to know that when it comes to a crisis situation they can trust their leaders and there is no doubt as to what they are ordering.

Application to Emergency Services:
During a crisis situation it is important that we as leaders realize that everyone is going to be watching us and turning to us to see how they should be responding. It is up to us to keep our composure and help others to stay calm while at the same time getting things taken care of and making sure things get done.