about emergency management

The Role of Technology in Emergency Response

The role of technology in emergency response is critical. Surprisingly, only a few fields of expertise support emerging technologies, with emergency and crisis response claiming the lion’s share. According to Holdeman (2014), technology is dominating various areas of emergency response, with many technical techniques developed to respond to emergency problems. This is also apparent in the majority of IT firms. They also made significant progress in developing applications that leads to large-scale disasters. Nonetheless, this brief discussion focuses on the technological aspects of emergency response. Natural and human-made disasters can negatively influence thousands, if not millions of people. It only takes a few minutes or seconds to cause devastating impacts hence the need for technological interventions (Holdeman, 2014). Apparently, technology fills such voids when it comes to handling those situations that may influence peoples’ lives. The following areas, however, have the most impact when it comes to emergency management alongside changing peoples’ perception on how the technology fits into disaster preparedness, responses as well as recovery.

The Area of Communication

Foremost, the area of Communication acts as a simulation Desk during emergencies. Social media, for instance, has been the most domineering communication tool for decades. Everybody, leave alone the emergency management personnel, has a social channel to extract and convey information appropriately (Pittman, 2012). For example, Facebooking, tweeting, and blogging disseminate immediate information regarding disasters. The emergency team like Nusura and Narac can also use optimized social tools such as Vyew, Livescribe as well video agencies to advise accordingly (Lamb, McCraw & Woodward, 2012).

Construction and Transportation Technology

The second area involves the construction and transportation technology. For instance, Intellistreets and disaster detectors, such as EPIcode and Cameo, analyze and construct data on possible occurrences (Lamb, McCraw & Woodward, 2012). The management analyzers, consequently, interpret the information and efficaciously advise civilians accordingly. The tools, furthermore, have audio and graphic features, which the management personnel can make public alerts in case of an emergency issue.

Information Technology

Finally, the area of information technology is also important. It is closely related to communication technology, but in this case, it involves deployable IT tools for the emergency responder. During the worst scenario of emergency management, communication between the operative responders may be difficult (Pittman, 2012). However, with such tools as IDWANG, a wireless gateway, and the depiction mapping tools, the connection between devices that helps in management is easy and efficient. It connects many responders remotely to provide an immediate emergency response.

All the same, for an effective response to emergencies, opportune disaster forecast and timely dissemination of information are crucial. As such, the Information and Communication technology would improve emergency management only if effective communication channels and forecasting tools are employed (Lamb, McCraw & Woodward, 2012). Even so, the installation of National Emergency management systems is globally trending to guarantee a secure ICT channel in case a disaster arises.

References

Holdeman, E. (2014). Technology Plays an Increasing Role in Emergency Management. Govtech.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017, from http://www.govtech.com/em/training/Technology-Increasing-Role-Emergency-Management.html

Lamb, P., McCraw, G., & Woodward, G. (2012). http://www.depiction.com/files/videos/091410PreparednessTechEmpoweringEmergencyManagers.wmv: depiction.com.

Pittman, E. (2012). 3 Emerging Technologies That Will Impact Emergency Management. Govtech.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017, from http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/3-Emerging-Technologies-Emergency-Management.html