Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay about social media and disaster response
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: An essay about social media and disaster response
Several disasters in our Nation’s history have highlighted the importance of communication. The attacks on September 11, 2001 highlighted our lack of interagency communications. Hurricane Sandy, highlighted how communication would have improved the distribution of supplies. In both cases, we noticed a need for improvement on current systems and a creation of a network to use during a disaster. Here we will discuss incidents that highlighted improvements needed on systems and procedures, the evolution of communications and the importance of an effective system.
Incidents that highlighted problems.- On the morning of September 11, 2001 two airplanes consecutively struck New York city’s World Trade Center buildings, one at 8:46am and the second
Thompson’s company was approached by FEMA about using data mining to answer questions on what was needed to improve the emergency management efforts (Mc Kay, J. 2013). Thompson refers to an example of recovery that highlights the effective use of socil media in such situations (Mc Kay, J. 2013). For example, he explains how a church was able to specify supplies needed on Facebook (Mc Kay, J. 2013). This process allowed for the church torecive the supplies necessary and specific to their needs with no excess and waste of
As we have seen it helps in warning people of potential harm and as a result can minimize casualties. In addition, it can perform as an effective tool in distributing resources. Furtheremore, it can provide the basic interaction between families and their loved ones. Prior, during and after a disaster communication is vital because it allows an emergency system to run effectively. Without communication lives can be lost, resources can go unused or unrequested and recovery is impossible. Knowing this, an effective system is necessary on all levels, between agencies and between communities. With advancements in technology and a new culture of sharing we ca use these systems to improve emergency management and reduce
September 11, 2001 was a day that Americans and the world for that matter will not soon forget. When two planes went into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and two others went into the Pentagon and a small town in Pennsylvania, the world was rocked. Everyone in the United States felt very vulnerable and unsafe from attacks that might follow. As a result, confidence in the CIA, FBI, and the airlines were shaken. People were scared to fly after what had happened.
The leadership during Hurricane Katrina was riddled with inconsistencies, unpreparedness, and lacking in the knowledge to deal with emergency management situations from the White House, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FEMA, the Governor’s Office in Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. This event emphasizes the importance of preparedness, response, recovery, communications, emergency plans, and political indifferences during pressing times.
On the morning of September 11/2001, 19 terrorist working for the Al Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four commercial planes. They attempted to fly them into multiple U.S targets. One of the planes, American Airlines, flight 11, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:50 a.m. Another plane, United Airlines, flight 175, crashed into the south tower at 9:04 a.m. These tragedies took the lives of nearly 3000 people and affected the lives of millions.
The National response plan outlines four key actions the disaster coordinator should take. They are gaining and maintaining situational awareness, activate and deploy key resources and capabilities, coordinating response actions and demobilizing. Throughout the response it is essential that responders have access to critical information. During the initial response effort the situation is will change rapidly. Situational awareness starts at the incident site. For this reason it is essential that decision makers have access to the right information at the right time. By establishing an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) all key responders are brought ...
September 11th, 2001 is one of the worst days in the United States of America’s history by far. It all began at 8:45am when a stolen airplane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Many people believed that this was...
Tuesday September 11, 2001 will be forever in the minds of Americans all across the world, especially those in the United States. At approximately 8:45 a.m. in New York City, American Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into north tower of the World Trade Center (History.com, 2014). The plane crashed into the 80th floor of the World Trade Center. Many people were killed instantly, as a result of the crash. Unfortunately, less than 20 minutes later another Boeing 767 from United Airlines crashed into the south tower of the 60th floor of the World Trade Center. Once again, the impact of the second crash killed many people. Those not killed immediately, were trapped on the upper floors with little to no chance of survival. The two planes also caused debris that was on fire to land on surrounding buildings (History.com, 2014). America had no idea that those two planes crashes ...
On September 11th of 2001 Islamist terrorists hijacked four planes and drove two of the planes into the World Trade Center buildings, also known as the ‘Twin Towers’. Many lives on this day were lost; 9/11 goes down as one of the most tragic days in American history, but also a day that created many safety changes. As the World Trade Center was being terrorized by two planes, Flight 11 and Flight 175; a third plane was flown into the ‘Pentagon’, Flight 77 as another plane, Flight 93, followed crashing into the field of the Pentagon. America decided to take action for society’s safety and create many organizations and laws that would be endeavoring to protect all.
Hurricanes, floods, fires and other emergency circumstances can be stressful for a lot of people, but they present additional hurdles for those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. In the United States, there is an estimated 36 million adults who report some degree of hearing loss and 2-3 of every 1,000 children is Hard of Hearing or Deaf (National Institute). When an emergency situation arises, all too often these populations of people are the last to find out because it is not accessible to them; having up-to-date information is crucial when it comes to all different emergency situation. With advancing technology, there is hope that receiving information about emergencies will become easier for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
According to the 911 Commission, fire departments from New York, Port Authority Police and Mayor’s Office responded swiftly. However, some mishaps in technology hurt the whole rescue mission. For instance, the fire fighters’ “radio system failed frequently that morning” thus failure to get information promptly (Dwyer, Flynn, and Fessenden para. 3). The 911 Commission explains that although the radio calls were of high frequency, they were locally connected and had low wattage leading to command transfer failures (281-283). Hamilton points out that the internet might have played a great role in the September 11 attacks (2).
The Fire and Rescue Service employ a number of styles of communication to suit diverse audiences and for different purposes. The organization communicates with its members of staff differently depending on the circumstances and the message which is being conveyed. With such a large organization approximately 2200 members of staff effective communication is essential. Effective communication plays a vital role in the delivery of all Fire and Rescue Services.
Ulmer, RR, Sellnow, TL & Seeger, MW 2007, Effective crisis communication, Thousand Oakes: Sage Publications.
Effective communication in its various forms is the substratum of crisis management. Internal and external communication is essential during times of crisis if a successful outcome is to prevail. In a crisis, people’s lives are often at risk, these are lives that can be lost or protected; however, their fate lies in the hands of information. A breakdown in communication during times of crisis will interfere in dispensing pertinent and time sensitive information to the target audience, thus placing them at a gross disadvantage in protecting their health. During a crisis, it can be extremely costly to falter in delivering accurate, detailed, and informative information.
Education of all personnel is key. Simulations like the Franklin County are great sources. Schools, hospitals, public and private companies to consider preforming drills or simulations in preparation for disasters such as. Many counties have such drills which sometime involve local hospitals, emergency personnel, and local high school students acting like victims with certain issues like head injury, burns, and other injuries which can occur. The television and radios do emergency testing which reminds watchers monthly the sound and the protocol that occurs in an emergency.
Social media sites including Twitter and Facebook are in their infancy yet play an increasingly important role in the response to a disaster. After all, “one of the basic tenants of emergency management is mass communication and being able to deliver pertinent information to those who need it” (Gould, 2012). Social media offers an avenue to obtain up to the minute information on a given situation right in an individual's hands thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. “Each disaster sparks its own complex web of fast-paced information exchange. It can both improve disaster response and allow affected populations to take control of their situation as well as feel empowered” (Maron, 2013). While traditional forms of media, print, radio and television in particular, have been the standard since the inception of the emerg...
Hemingway, M., & Ferguson, J. (2014). Boston bombings response to disaster [Journal]. AORN Journal, 99 (2), 277-288. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2013.07.019