Coordinated relief to the affected areas needs to be given as soon as possible, so to minimize further nefarious effects. In such scenarios it is vital that communications between interested parties, i.e. relief and security groups, are established as quickly and as easily as possible, ideally in a plug & play or zero configuration fashion.

Addressing the vulnerabilities in today's critical infrastructure to natural disasters and terrorism, this practical book describes what public safety and other officials need to do to protect should be doing to pipelines, power plants, telecommunications, and other essential services before the unthinkable happens. The book explains how to maintain command and control in any disaster, and how to predict the probability of those disasters. Written by two highly regarded experts in the field, this one-of-a-kind guidebook shows how to simplify risk assessments and emergency response procedures to disasters affecting our critical national and local infrastructure.

Communications are key to the success of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Accurate information disseminated to the general public, to elected officials and community leaders, as well as to the media, reduces risk, saves lives and property, and speeds recovery. Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World, Second Edition, provides valuable information for navigating these priorities in the age of evolving media. The emergence of new media like the Internet, email, blogs, text messaging, cell phone photos, and the increasing influence of first informers are redefining the roles of government and media. The tools and rules of communications are evolving, and disaster communications must also evolve to accommodate these changes and exploit the opportunities they provide. Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World, Second Edition, illuminates the path to effective disaster communication, including the need for transparency, increased accessibility, trustworthiness and reliability, and partnerships with the media. - Includes case studies from recent disasters including Hurricane Sandy, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and the Boston Marathon bombings - Demonstrates how to use blogs, text messages, and cell phone cameras, as well as government channels and traditional media, to communicate during a crisis - Examines current social media programs conducted by FEMA, the American Red Cross, state and local emergency managers, and the private sector - Updated information in each chapter, especially on how social media has emerged as a force in disaster communications

This authoritative volume presents a comprehensive guide to the evaluation and design of networked systems with improved disaster resilience. The text offers enlightening perspectives on issues relating to all major failure scenarios, including natural disasters, disruptions caused by adverse weather conditions, massive technology-related failures, and malicious human activities. Topics and features: describes methods and models for the analysis and evaluation of disaster-resilient communication networks; examines techniques for the design and enhancement of disaster-resilient systems; provides a range of schemes and algorithms for resilient systems; reviews various advanced topics relating to resilient communication systems; presents insights from an international selection of more than 100 expert researchers working across the academic, industrial, and governmental sectors. This practically-focused monograph, providing invaluable support on topics of resilient networking equipment and software, is an essential reference for network professionals including network and networked systems operators, networking equipment vendors, providers of essential services, and regulators. The work can also serve as a supplementary textbook for graduate and PhD courses on networked systems resilience.

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 communication Analyzes 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 communication Gauges the effectiveness of disaster risk communication Looks at the future of social media use during emergencies and afterwards Proposes a disaster resilient network that integrates various wireless networks into a cognitive wireless network in the event of disaster occurrences Effective 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.

Natural Hazards: Earth Processes as Hazards, Disasters and Catastrophes, Fourth Edition, is an introductory-level survey intended for university and college courses that are concerned with earth processes that have direct, and often sudden and violent, impacts on human society. The text integrates principles of geology, hydrology, meteorology, climatology, oceanography, soil science, ecology and solar system astronomy. The book is designed for a course in natural hazards for non-science majors, and a primary goal of the text is to assist instructors in guiding students who may have little background in science to understand physical earth processes as natural hazards and their consequences to society. Natural Hazards uses historical to recent examples of hazards and disasters to explore how and why they happen and what we can do to limit their effects. The text's up-to-date coverage of recent disasters brings a fresh perspective to the material. The Fourth Edition continues our new active learning approach that includes reinforcement of learning objective with a fully updated visual program and pedagogical tools that highlight fundamental concepts of the text. This program will provide an interactive and engaging learning experience for your students. Here's how: Provide a balanced approach to the study of natural hazards: Focus on the basic earth science of hazards as well as roles of human processes and effects on our planet in a broader, more balanced approach to the study of natural hazards. Enhance understanding and comprehension of natural hazards: Newly revised stories and case studies give students a behind the scenes glimpse into how hazards are evaluated from a scientific and human perspective; the stories of real people who survive natural hazards, and the lives and research of professionals who have contributed significantly to the research of hazardous events. Strong pedagogical tools reinforce the text's core features: Chapter structure and design organizes the material into three major sections to help students learn, digest, and review learning objectives.

The contemporary world is characterized by the massive use of digital communication platforms and services that allow people to stay in touch with each other and their organizations. On the other hand, it is also a world with great challenges in terms of crisis, disaster, and emergency situations of various kinds. Thus, it is crucial to understand the role of digital platforms/services in the context of crisis, disaster, and emergency situations. Digital Services in Crisis, Disaster, and Emergency Situations presents recent studies on crisis, disaster, and emergency situations in which digital technologies are considered as a key mediator. Featuring multi- and interdisciplinary research findings, this comprehensive reference work highlights the relevance of society’s digitization and its usefulness and contribution to the different phases and types of risk scenarios. Thus, the book investigates the design of digital services that are specifically developed for use in crisis situations and examines services such as online social networks that can be used for communication purposes in emergency events. Highlighting themes that include crisis management communication, risk monitoring, digital crisis intervention, and smartphone applications, this book is of particular use to governments, institutions, corporations, and professionals who deal with crisis, disaster, and emergency scenarios, as well as researchers, academicians, and students working in fields such as communications, multimedia, sociology, political science, and engineering.

"Analyses the economic and social impacts of recent large-scale disasters, and draws some initial lessons for the monitoring and the management of future disasters." - introduction.

Every day in cities and towns across the Nation, emergency response personnel respond to incidents of varying scope and magnitude. Their ability to communicate in real time is critical to establishing command and control at the scene of an emergency, to maintaining event situational awareness, and to operating overall within a broad range of incidents. However, as numerous after-action reports and national assessments have revealed, there are still communications deficiencies that affect the ability of responders to manage routine incidents and support responses to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other incidents. Recognizing the need for an overarching emergency communications strategy to address these shortfalls, Congress directed the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) to develop the first National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP). Title XVIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 United States Code 101 et seq.), as amended, calls for the NECP to be developed in coordination with stakeholders from all levels of government and from the private sector. In response, DHS worked with stakeholders from Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies to develop the NECP—a strategic plan that establishes a national vision for the future state of emergency communications. To realize this national vision and meet these goals, the NECP established the following seven objectives for improving emergency communications for the Nation's Federal, State, local, and tribal emergency responders: 1. Formal decision-making structures and clearly defined leadership roles coordinate emergency communications capabilities. 2. Federal emergency communications programs and initiatives are collaborative across agencies and aligned to achieve national goals. 3. Emergency responders employ common planning and operational protocols to effectively use their resources and personnel. 4. Emerging technologies are integrated with current emergency communications capabilities through standards implementation, research and development, and testing and evaluation. 5. Emergency responders have shared approaches to training and exercises, improved technical expertise, and enhanced response capabilities. 6. All levels of government drive long-term advancements in emergency communications through integrated strategic planning procedures, appropriate resource allocations, and public-private partnerships. 7. The Nation has integrated preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery capabilities to communicate during significant events. The NECP also provides recommended initiatives and milestones to guide emergency response providers and relevant government officials in making measurable improvements in emergency communications capabilities. The NECP recommendations help to guide, but do not dictate, the distribution of homeland security funds to improve emergency communications at the Federal, State, and local levels, and to support the NECP implementation. Communications investments are among the most significant, substantial, and long-lasting capital investments that agencies make; in addition, technological innovations for emergency communications are constantly evolving at a rapid pace. With these realities in mind, DHS recognizes that the emergency response community will realize this national vision in stages, as agencies invest in new communications systems and as new technologies emerge.

Introduction to Emergency Management, Fifth Edition, offers a fully up-to-date analysis of US emergency management principles. In addition to expanding coverage of risk management in a time of climate change and terrorism, Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola discuss the impact of new emergency management technologies, social media, and an increasing focus on recovery. They examine the effects of the 2012 election results and discuss FEMA’s controversial National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Introduction to Emergency Management, Fifth Edition, gives instructors and students the best textbook content, instructor-support materials, and online resources to prepare future EM professionals for this demanding career. Introduction to FEMA's Whole Community disaster preparedness initiative Material on recent disaster events, including the Boston Marathon Bombing (2013), Hurricane Sandy (2012), the Joplin Tornado (2011), the Haiti Earthquake (2011), and the Great East Japan Earthquake (2010) New and updated material on the Department of Homeland Security and the ongoing efforts of the emergency management community to manage terrorism hazards Top-of-the-line ancillaries that can be uploaded to Blackboard and other course management systems.