Communication in Emergency Response - Research Paper Example

COMMUNICATION IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE Introduction Communication is an essential element during emergency response scenarios, as it is the mode through which information becomes relayed, between different individuals. Effective communications involves having working communication infrastructure to support communication and ensuring the messages reach the target individuals. Communication barriers occurring during emergency response scenarios could result in catastrophic effects. Despite emergency situation having detrimental effects, communication remains an essential element which could enable involved stakeholder to evade the devastating effects of these occurrences(Manoj & Baker, 2007). The hurricane Katrina presents a case in which communication had significant influence upon the outcomes of the emergency response plans. This article will analyze and evaluate the role of communication within the emergency response period following occurrence of Hurricane Katrina Role of Communication The fundamental role of communication during emergency response remains transferring information to the relevant individuals in order to make response become quick and easier. Improvement of the communication systems remains a fundamental aspect for ensuring effective response. During natural disasters like the Hurricane Katrina, minimizing the detrimental effects of the natural disaster would have involved enhancing communication channels between different government departments and other stakeholders involved within the calamity. Information had to be transferred to the populations regarding warnings of approaching hurricane to ensure the individuals were evacuated in time. The fundamental goal established by the response authorities during the time was ensuring minimization of the suffering and deaths resulting from the effects of the hurricane. This fundamental goal would be achieved through many activities undertaken by different organizations. The activities included evacuation of affected individuals, provision of food and other basic needs to the victims, provision of medical services among many others. Many of these activities were aimed at minimizing suffering among the affected populations. Effective communication between the various organizations was therefore essential in ensuring the activities were undertaken effectively. With many organizations undertaking a single activity, like evacuation, lack of communication could slow the process and render the process difficult. There were different networks within the response teams which were allocated various activities related to the emergency response process. Over 500 organizations were involved in undertaking different activities regarding the emergency response. Implementation The occurrence of the disaster cannot be identified as having been an element of surprise. Warnings had been effectively communicated early for authorities to become prepared once the disaster occurs. In areas like New Orleans, for example, warning messages were not taken seriously and the involved authorities failed to make preparations for the occurrence(Moynihan, 2009). The National Weather Service provided warnings to the regions of Louisiana and Mississippi, requiring the governors to declare state of emergency to the regions, three days before the event occurred. Evacuations were proposed as a method of averting the devastating effects of the hurricane. Other than the warnings, communications presented also included the requirement for individuals to evacuate the region before the landfall. All the responders were relayed messages regarding the beginning of the evacuation process. This information was however not treated with the severity which should have been accorded such warnings. Have experienced false warning some individual ignored the warnings, while others perceived the hurricane as something manageable. Many of the individuals failed to relocate, or relocated very late, after experiencing the situation. Many messages were issued through the media and electronic sources, which would ensure the messages, reached many of the target individuals Failures Much of the destruction which occurred following Hurricane Katrina was associated with the failure of communications. Communication breakdown between the different stakeholders has been increasingly linked with the various failure experienced. Despite warnings being sent to the government organizations like DHS, many of these organizations failed to respond as required(Vanderford, Nastoff, Telfer, & Bonzo, 2007). Majority of the population within the regions affected by the hurricane followed similar course of action and became adamant in evacuating of accepting being evacuated. Government evacuation began late, although almost 90% of the population was evacuated before the occurrence. The evacuate process was only accorded seriousness, when the hurricane became imminent. While government response mechanisms were expected to provide the fundamental leadership role in the emergency response process, confusion over their roles becomes detrimental to communication. The federal government had three operational commands within the operation of response in relation to Katrina. These resulted in the experienced communication between the different responders to the emergency situation. The operation of the three government commands created confusion among the organizations involved in different emergency response activities. The confusion resulted in lack of effective communication which resulted in the duplication of activities. Proper and effective communication could have been fundamental in averting the detrimental effects of the hurricane. Many failures occurred on the part of government agencies in initiating actions following effective communication form other sources(Lipton, 2006). The Red Cross, for example, worked closely with FEMA in seeking to enhance logistic requirements. Despite the red-cross communicating transport requirements, FEMA failed to deliver many supplies on various occasions. Ignorance to the communication resulted in the failed actions being undertaken by the organizations which were supposed to help victims. The communication failure resulted in many volunteers becoming involved in assisting victims in an informal manner. These informal volunteers complicate the communication process as they did not have a single representative within the emergency respondents to the situation. Conclusion The results of hurricane Katrina have been continuously identified as resulting from failed communication during the emergency response. The entire disaster has been identified by many individuals as the perfect example of communication failure during emergency response situations. Much if the communication failure resulted from organizations ignoring messages relayed to them by other organizations(Garnett & Kouzmin, 2007). This resulted in many organizations becoming involved to ensure quick response, but increased numbers resulted in confusion, which ultimately hampered communication. The methods utilized in the communication of fundamental messages might not have reached many of the people and those who received the messages perceived the messages as being simple. The warning messages for example became trivialized by many organizations working within the response team. References Garnett, J. L., & Kouzmin, A. (2007). Communicating throughout Katrina: competing and complementary conceptual lenses on crisis communication. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 171–188. Lipton, E. (2006). Key Documents Regarding the Government Response to Katrina. The New York Times. New York. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ref/national/nationalspecial/10katrina-docs.html?_r=0 Manoj, B. S., & Baker, A. H. (2007). Communication challenges in emergency response. Communications of the ACM, 50(3), 51–53. Moynihan, D. P. (2009). The response to Hurricane Katrina. Geneva. Vanderford, M. L., Nastoff, T., Telfer, J. L., & Bonzo, S. E. (2007). Emergency communication challenges in response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35(1), 9–25.  Read More