1) An effective disaster communication strategy is aimed at collecting and giving out correct and timely information regarding a given hazards. It helps sensitive people of the current disaster and recommends the best cause of action that can be embraced to evade the impact. These cover all four levels of management, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery (Coppola 12).
2) The assumptions made in disaster communication strategy are;
The person has a clear understanding of the customer focus
The leader of the operation if committed and participate fully in effective communications strategies
There is inclusion of communications in the operations and planning
Accurate and useful information coverage
There is a media partnership in the operations (Haddow, Bullock and Coppola 142).
3) James Lee Witt expressed his commitment to effective communications by holding regular meetings with managers to promote horizontal communication, publishing an article that updated the employees on the FEMA activities, being available regularly and especially during disaster response, meeting disaster victims and families, meeting with the state emergency directors and giving public speeches on disaster mitigation and emergency management.
4) The goal of the media partnership is to pass information concerning the hazard to the public in a timely and understandable manner. It designs the most appropriate method for incorporating the information so that it could be catchy and accessible by every person. Also, the media provides a real-time dialogue platform that is a two way between the organization, individuals and the public.
5) The six basic emergency management audiences are
The public, disaster survivors, elected officials, business community, community officials, volunteer groups, first respondents and media.
6) The role of social media expanded in the coverage of disaster since 2004. The media helps provide instant awareness and assessment of the condition during a catastrophe, notifying concerned members of personal status, giving information on real-time requirements and a reuniting ground for lost members (Gupta 10).
7) The changes in media coverage have changed how emergency managers must deliver timely and accurate information to the public in that most people prefer to use social media than the print media of late. This forces the managers to embrace customized social application that can be used on phone, computers and tablets. These apps will help the managers control the type of information they pass to the public and at the same time reach as many people and as quickly as possible.
8) Before the introduction of the current social media, traditionally forms have been used to communicate disaster information. These include radios and TVs, newspapers and periodicals, circulars and letters. Other means included public meetings and rallies.
9) Social medias like Facebook, Twitter, Twitter, Google + and Youtube have all been used in communicating disaster. In 2012, the New York emergency management used Twitter and Facebook to give orders and information about the shelter, aid and Sandy storm conditions (Haddow and Haddow 5).
10) First informers are those people who experience the disaster site with the intention of collecting information and taking images that they share with the public in social sites. They may give correct or purely wrong information. Their intentions are to supply purely first-hand information but could be negative.
11) The seven elements of an effective disaster communications capability are;
An effective communication plan
Good tapping and filtering of the information coming in
A proper assessment of information given out
Efficient and trustworthy messengers
Good staffing to ensure the information is collected and released promptly
An adequate training of the management and communication employees
Timely monitor, adaptations and updates (Paton and Jackson 117)
Work Cited
Coppola, Damon P. Introduction To International Disaster Management. Amsterdam Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007. Print.
Haddow, George D, Jane A Bullock, and Damon P Coppola. Introduction To Emergency Management. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008. Print.
Paton, Douglas, and Duncan Jackson. "Obtaining Disaster Management Capability: An Assessment Centre Approach". Disaster Prevention and Management 11.2 (2002): 115-122. Web.
Haddow, George D, and Kim Haddow. Disaster Communications In A Changing Media World. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. Print.
Gupta, Alok. "Role Of Social Media In Disaster Management". Imsmanthan 10.1 (2015): n. pag. Web.
