4 - Ready for disaster? - Chris Schippers

References:

Holland, R. J., & Gill, K. (2006). Ready for disaster? (Cover story). Communication World, 23(2), 20-24.

Theme: This article discusses the results of a survey of more than 600 IABC members to show that communication plans are not as common as they should be.

Summary:

·         A survey of IABC members reveals that crisis communication plans are not as widespread as expected.

·         More than likely a third of the most organizations are not prepared for a disaster of crisis to occur because they don't have a formal crisis communication plan.

·         Communicators who were prepared with a plan and used it found it effective 99% of the time.

·         The survey is given at a right time to gauge the extent to which organizations have developed and used crisis communication plans, and whether the plans are worth the time and effort to create.

·         Poor planning after Hurricane Katrina was noticed on a global scale and damaged the United States' reputation.

·         Organizational crises open the door for communicators to demonstrate their skills in planning as well as tactical execution.

·         Attacks on September 11, 2001 served as a wake-up call to company leaders.

·         Just under half of the communicators whose organizations experienced a crisis with no plan are actually doing something about it and the other half aren't taking any action.

·         The survey also revealed good news about the integration of crisis communication plans into organizations' overall crisis response and business resumption plans.

·         The article discusses an 11 step process of developing a crisis communication plan.

Application to the Lesson Topic: 

This article details with statics from a survey the critical importance of a need for planning and preparation for a crisis.  By having this plan in place the organization or people who are affected will communicate more efficiently and recovery will be much easier.

Application to Emergency Services:

This of course relates to emergency services because it is exactly what emergency personnel are trained to do, have a plan and respond to the crisis according to that plan by following SOP's.  Planning and communication go hand-in-hand.  There needs to be a plan when responding to an emergency and the plan needs to be communicated to every emergency personnel involved for the plan to work.

4 - Missing Summary - Mike Wayman

4 - Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork - Jeff Neal

Reading Summary 4: Planning for Spontaneity: The Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork

Jeff Neal

Reference: Horsley, Suzanne. (2012).  Planning for Spontaneity: The Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork. International Journal of Qualitative Method.

Theme: Crisis Communication and disaster communication is difficult, and even more difficult to study.  Most events occur in places researchers have never been and have not planned for, with uncertain conditions.  This article discusses the challenges and benefits of disaster research and fieldwork.

Summary: The author of this article attempts to study crisis communication during disasters using the participant-observation of a disaster response with informal on-site interviews.  The challenge is that there are not many disasters and when they do happen most occur without much notice.  Researchers must be prepared to respond quickly and to areas were the conditions are uncertain.  Imagine responding to New York during 911.  Getting into New York was almost impossible and unless you were already in the area, fights had been grounded.  Planning for this event could not have happened.  This is the reason that there is little research done during disasters.  There are times researchers can respond. 2009 Red River Valley floods in Fargo, North Dakota is an example of this.  The author states that gathering information during disasters is critical for data analysis, theory development, and practical application. Benefits of observational research include the researcher not asking participants to perform in any unnatural way (i.e., filling out a survey or taking part in an experiment), but instead allowing the researchers presence to be accepted as they go about their business.

Application to the lesson topic: Planning is important to effectively operate in a disaster.  One critical element is research.  In the fire service we would always have a debriefing following an incident to discuss the good and bad strategies and tactics used during the incident.  The evaluation of data is what has helped develop current systems that are in place.   

Application to emergency services: It's extremely difficult to study communications during a disaster. Simulating the stress and situational difficulties that accompany a disaster is a challenge but could be the best approach to prepare for the actual event. Because when the disaster happens is on the job training which does not always produce the best results.

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.