Communication in Emergency Management

Com-mu-ni-ca-tion. Noun. “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.”(Merriam Webster. 2019) Communication is vital for any organization to thrive successfully. The flow of communication starting from the sender through the message to the receiver needs to be a smooth transition to get anything accomplished. This can get complicated when we are dealing with high-stress and high-impact situations. Communication in emergency management is the glue that enables emergency responders to be where they need to be in order to prepare, mitigate and respond to catastrophic incidents that happen worldwide. Often, communication has presented issues for the emergency management industry and it is up to us to streamline our communicative practices to ensure we are fulfilling our mission for the greater good of our communities when they need us. Communication over the years in this field has caused some major mishaps when it comes to emergency responding. It is the piece of the puzzle that enables us to plan and execute accordingly. It is imperative that we have effective communication in order to reach out to the necessary entities that are needed to assist at a moment's notice. The mission of emergency management can be adversely affected by communication mishaps during an incident or disaster, especially in the response phase.

Emergency managers have a great responsibility to ensure they are able to respond efficiently to any emergency that may take place. Our job is to confidently deliver a level of response within hours, days, months, and maybe even years after an incident has taken place. If this is failed on any part, those matters will be questioned. Managers need to be able to contact local, state, and federal entities to notify them of what may be taking place or need to take place in their areas of responsibility. Information will need to be disseminated accordingly before any action can be taken. Communication is the foundation for emergency management and in recent years, there have been repercussions for failed communication. According to the Critical Emergency Management Discipline, emergency managers should always look to provide timely public and private notifications, warnings, and evacuation messages during an ongoing disaster. (A Critical Emergency Management Discipline, 2019) A prime example of where we failed was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Due to a lack of streamlined communication, federal entities did not respond quickly enough to help that suffering community and those around it. Communication with essential personnel became strained due to failed cell towers and inoperable landlines. Satellite communications were low due to the high capacity of emergency responder communication that was already taking place. “Hurricane Katrina posed strenuous challenges to the implantation of martial law and curfews” (Dupepe, 2013). Social media was not yet as prevalent and text messaging was inadequate due to severe delays. Case studies of incidents and natural disasters within the last 25 years have proven to have had some type of communication deficiency that slowed the response efforts of emergency managers. Hurricane Katrina showed us how a lack of communication can have lasting effects on a community and its ability to be resilient as well as restore the community. The only effective communication function available at that time were functional offsite command centers getting updates from stakeholders.

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“There was what the military would call a lack of “situational awareness” at all levels. This was not due to lack of information—the whole world could see the storm’s aftermath, but these vivid images streamed in from unofficial open sources, not as messages flowing through approved channels from authorized officials,” (Alan D. Campen, December 2005). As a result of the poor flow of communication, it was deemed necessary to focus on the nation’s weak and inefficient information infrastructure. It also urged the legislative branch to refocus their Homeland Security Act in which they developed an initiative to enhance emergency communications capabilities among first responders. We must ensure that we streamline this issue so we can maintain the mission of emergency management. How can we mitigate this communication issue and prevent it from causing issues in the future? I urge that establish solid communications capabilities that can withstand any emergency or disaster situation. Along with a clear and consistent message, emergency managers need to have an awareness of time. If too much time goes by without any recurring information or updates, miscommunication and incorrect assumptions may arise.

Social Media has proven itself to be one of the fastest and most efficient ways to get information out. Emergency managers need to keep up with technological advances in order to ensure they have various flows of communication in a crisis. Social media is one of those notable outlets. It can hit a great amount people in a short amount of time. We also may need to think of an outlet on a larger scale such as the use of an Emergency Alert System (EAS). Emergency managers need to understand what communication is necessary and equal to the crisis (Eastern Kentucky University, 2018). With keeping our communication practices on a large scale, we must also realize that timeliness is very important as well. Getting as many recurring messages out with updates, emergency mitigations, and other pertinent information can help reduce misleading information and assumptions.

These are just some simple solutions that can be used to prevent future discrepancies from happening. As more approach more hurricane season in the future years, our main focus should be communicated at all times. We cannot hold on streamlining our communication procedures until the crisis arises. It is imperative to maximize all communication capabilities as much as possible.

References

1. 5 Communication Tips to Help Emergency Managers Succeed. (2018, November 29). Retrieved from https://safetymanagement.eku.edu/blog/5-communication-tips-to-help-emergency-managers-succeed/
2. Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication
3. Communications: A Critical Emergency Management Discipline. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://d4htechnologies.com/blog/20150706-communications-a-critical-emergency-management-discipline
4. Dupepe. (2013). Home | FEMA.gov. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from http://www.fema.gov/
5. Hurricane Katrina Represents A Failure to Communicate. (2015, January 16). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.afcea.org/content/hurricane-katrina-represents-failure-communicate
6. Lieberman, & I., J. (2005, September 29). S.1725 - 109th Congress (2005-2006): Assure Emergency and Interoperable Communications for First Responders Act of 2005. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/1725