Effective Communication During Disasters Making Use of Technology, Media, and Human Resources

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. In today’s world, there are new opportunities for disaster communications through modern technology and social media. Social network applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can connect friends, family, first responders, and those providing relief and assistance. However, social media and other modern communication tools have their limitations. They can be affected by disaster situations where there are power outages or interrupted cellular service. The research contained in this valuable compendium offers much-needed information for emergency responders, utility companies, relief organizations, and governments as they invest in infrastructure to support post-disaster communications.In order to make use of modern communication methods, as well as fully utilize more traditional communication networks, it is imperative that we understand how people actually communicate in the wake of a disaster situation and how various communication strategies can best be utilized. Communication during and immediately after a disaster situation is a vital component of response and recovery. Effective communication connects first responders, support systems, and family members with the communities and individuals immersed in the disaster. Reliable communication also plays a key role in a community’s resilience. With research from internationally recognized experts, this volume provides an overview of communication challenges and best-practice analyses, looks at the internet and social media and mobile phones and other technology for disaster communication, and explores the challenges to effective communication.Presents a quality improvement project that gathered expert consensus on best practices used to improve disaster communicationAnalyzes the information dissemination mechanisms of different media to establish an efficient information dissemination plan for disaster pre-warning, including short message service (SMS), microblogs, news portals, cell phones, television, and oral communicationGauges the effectiveness of disaster risk communicationLooks at the future of social media use during emergencies and afterwardsProposes a disaster resilient network that integrates various wireless networks into a cognitive wireless network in the event of disaster occurrencesEffective Communication During Disasters: Making Use of Technology, Media, and Human Resources is an informative, multi-faceted resource on preparedness planning for effective communication before, during, and after a disaster occurs.

Preparing for Effective Communications During Disasters: Lessons from a World Health Organization Quality Improvement Project Laura N. Medford-Davis and G.Bobby KapurInformation Dissemination Analysis of Different Mediatowards the Application for Disaster Pre-WarningNan Zhang, Hong Huang, Boni Su, Jinlong Zhao, and Bo ZhangThe Effectiveness of Disaster Risk Communication: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies Declan T Bradley, Marie McFarland, and Mike ClarkeNear-Real-Time Analysis of Publicly Communicated Disaster Response InformationTrevor Girard, Friedemann Wenzel, Bijan Khazai, Tina Kunz-Plapp,James E. Daniell, and Susan A. BrinkThe Future of Social Media Use During Emergencies in Australia: Insights from the 2014 Australian and New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference Social Media WorkshopOlga Anikeeva, Malinda Steenkamp, and Paul ArbonResilient Disaster Network Based on Software Defined Cognitive Wireless Network TechnologyGoshi Sato, Noriki Uchida, and Yoshitaka ShibataWeb 2.0 and Internet Social Networking: A New tool for Disaster Management? Lessons from TaiwanCheng-Min Huang, Edward Chan, and Adnan A. HyderGlobal Health and Natural Disaster Alerts: Preparing Mobile Phones to Endure the UnthinkableWladimir J. Alonso, Cynthia Schuck-Paim, and Ghassem R. AsrarWhat it Takes to Get Passed On: Message Content, Style, and Structure as Predictors of Retransmission in the Boston Marathon Bombing ResponseJeannette Sutton, C. Ben Gibson, Emma S. Spiro, Cedar League,Sean M. Fitzhugh, and Carter T. ButtsLeveraging Public Health Nurses for Disaster Risk Communication in Fukushima City: A Qualitative Analysis of Nurses’ Written Records of Parenting Counseling and Peer DiscussionsAya Goto, Rima E. Rudd, Alden .Y Lai, Kazuki Yoshida, Yuu Suzuki Donald D. Halstead, Hiromi Yoshida-Komiya, and Michael R. Reich Communication, Perception, and Behaviour During a Natural Disaster Involving a "Do Not Drink" anda Subsequent "Boil Water" Notice: A Postal Questionnaire StudyGabriella Rundblad, Olivia Knapton, and Paul R. Hunter