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 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.

"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.

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.

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.