Emergency communication networks on Twitter during Hurricane Irma: information flow, influential actors, and top messages.

This study combined network analysis with message-level content analysis to investigate patterns of information flow and to examine messages widely distributed on social media during Hurricane Irma of 2017. The results show that while organisational users and media professionals dominated the top 100 information sources, individual citizens played a critical role in information dissemination. Public agencies should increase their retweeting activities and share the information posted by other trustworthy sources; doing so will contribute to the timely exchange of vital information during a disaster. This study also identified the active involvement of nonprofit organisations as information brokers during the post-event stage, indicating the potential for emergency management organisations to integrate their communication efforts into those of nonprofit entities. These findings will inform emergency management practices regarding implementation of communication plans and policies, facilitate the embracement of new partner organisations, and help with establishing and sustaining effective communication ties with a wide range of stakeholders.

Dynamics of interorganisational emergency communication on Twitter: the case of Hurricane Irma.

This study examines how county-level emergency management offices (EMOs) used Twitter to communicate with other public agencies and non-profit and for-profit organisations before, during, and after Hurricane Irma in 2017. It assesses the strategies that EMOs and other stakeholders employed to communicate risks on Twitter, concluding that its potential has not been fully exploited. EMOs only frequently interacted with a few non-profit and for-profit organisations, despite their involvement in emergency communication. While EMOs and other public agencies emphasised information dissemination and called on citizens to act and be prepared for the hurricane, non-profits tended to stress service and resource-related information, encouraged others to assist with disaster response, and provided emotional support. For-profits, meanwhile, actively addressed customers' concerns through direct two-way communication. Our findings indicate that EMOs should integrate non-profit and for-profit organisations' communication efforts, engaging them in important conversations on Twitter and advocating the use of highly relevant hashtags at different disaster management stages.

Coordinating non-established disaster relief groups: a case study of Hurricane Irma in Florida, United States.

This study examines the role of non-established relief groups (NERGs) and their involvement in the response to Hurricane Irma after it struck the state of Florida, United States, in September 2017. Its principal goal is to discover more about the engagement of NERGs in disaster response, as well as their motivations and their coordination with other emergency management agencies. The findings of a review of after-action reports and the outcomes of interviews with NERGs and other established organisations suggest that these groups often work with previously established networks. Many of the emergent type of NERGs have not worked with any established organisations prior to a disaster; frequently, therefore, they reach out to other emergent groups to acquire information and coordinate relief efforts. Given that emergent actors tend to lack a strict hierarchical structure for decision-making and coordination, there is a need to enhance communication between NERGs and established response bodies.

Examining the impacts of disaster resettlement from a livelihood perspective: a case study of Qinling Mountains, China.

Disaster resettlement, as a mitigation and preparedness measure, entails significant economic, physical, and social impacts, which continue to challenge understanding of recovery from major events, especially regarding the extent of the context and environmental efforts to rebuild livelihoods. Based on a case study of Qinling Mountains, China, this research investigates the effects of disaster resettlement from a livelihoods perspective. Methodologically, it proposes a framework that combines the pressure-state-response framework and the sustainable livelihoods approach, and it employs a structural equation model to examine how specific factors affect disaster resettlement. The results indicate that conflicts may occur during and after resettlement owing to the difference or disparity between the concerns of resettled peasants and those of the government. Consequently, the risks related to livelihoods need to be taken seriously. Effective risk communication is critical to bridge the gap between different stakeholders. The paper concludes with some practical and policy recommendations.

Disaster and emergency management systems in urban areas.

This article focuses on the factors shaping and constituting governance in urban/metropolitan emergency management. The main focus of the article is the multi-faceted inter-organizational relationships producing shared goals that are practiced at the local level, and specifically within the context of county-level metropolitan emergency management. The article presents a conceptual understanding of the governance concept, a brief summary of related research in the context of emergency management, and an example of the Orlando Metropolitan Area in the State of Florida for practical purposes.

Examining resilience of disaster response system in response to COVID-19.

We examine the COVID-19 response in China by conceptualizing resilience from the complex adaptive system perspective, including a discussion of the factors contributing to the resilience of the disaster response system. Methodologically, a network-based model was employed to describe the disaster response system. In addition to a traditional network analysis, the dynamics network analysis was conducted to assess the evolution of the disaster response system with a time slice analysis. This study presents theoretical and practical contributions to the field of disaster management by utilizing the complex adaptive system perspective and investigating context-specific resilience of a disaster response system.

Hybrid Coordination for Coping with the Medical Surge from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Paired Assistance Programs in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to public health care systems and demands intergovernmental coordination to cope with the resulting medical surge. This essay analyzes the operation of Paired Assistance Programs (PAPs) in China, offering a timely comparative case for researchers and practitioners to examine when reflecting on the classic debate over the hierarchical versus network approaches to coordination in emergency management. PAPs highlight the importance of network management and necessity of institutionalizing mechanisms of governance to facilitate coordination within multilevel response systems.

Crisis Decision-Making on a Global Scale: Transition from Cognition to Collective Action under Threat of COVID-19.

This essay examines basic functions of crisis decision-making-cognition, communication, coordination, and control-in response to COVID-19. This crisis decision-making framework is applied to cases from South Korea, Italy, and the United States as public officials grapple with how to recognize, respond, and recover from this deadly, invisible threat. The authors acknowledge the harsh trade-off between the compelling need to limit transmission of the virus to protect public health and the consequent economic losses of halting social interaction. They draw implications from this crisis for better decision-making and investment in a global information infrastructure system to manage large-scale, multidisciplinary threats to the health, economy, and sustainability of the world's community of nations. The essay concludes that collective cognition, amplified by timely, valid communication and supported by sound planning, trained personnel, appropriate technology, and bold leadership, enables coordinated action needed to bring a large-scale global crisis under control. Evidence for Practice: Invest in information technology to manage systematic data collection, analysis, and modeling.Provide timely, informed updates on community status to constituents.Maintain a knowledge base of resources, vulnerabilities, and plans.

The use of social media for campus safety.

As public safety communication evolved, each disaster or emergency presented unique challenges for emergency managers and others response to disasters. Yet, a foundational focus is the timely dissemination of accurate information to keep communities informed and able to prepare, mitigate, respond, and recover. For the campus community, the increase in bomb threats, active shooter incidents, and geographic-based natural disasters call for the discovery of reliable and cost-effective solutions for emergency information management. Social media is becoming a critical asset in this endeavor. This article examines the evolution of public safety communication, the unique setting of the campus community, and social media's role in campus disaster resilience. In addition, an exploratory study was done to better understand the perception of social media use for public safety within the campus community. The findings provide practical recommendations for campus emergency management professions; however, future research is needed to provide specific, actionable ways to achieve these goals as well as understand how diverse universities utilize a variety of platforms.

Wireless communication and spectrum sharing for public safety in the United States.

With the vast number of fragmented, independent public safety wireless communication systems, the United States is encountering major challenges with enhancing interoperability and effectively managing costs while sharing limited availability of critical spectrum. The traditional hierarchical approach of emergency management does not always allow for needed flexibility and is not a mandate. A national system would reduce equipment needs, increase effectiveness, and enrich quality and coordination of response; however, it is dependent on integrating the commercial market. This article discusses components of an ideal national wireless public safety system consists along with key policies in regulating wireless communication and spectrum sharing for public safety and challenges for implementation.

Survival of the fittest: capacity building for small nonprofit organizations.

This paper discusses capacity building activities designed for small nonprofits who are members of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida's ADEPT program. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida (SHFBCF) is a nonprofit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated food to more than 450 nonprofit partners in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties. This project sought to delineate, design, and implement the capacity building trainings desired by ADEPT member agencies. It also analyzed the relationship between the number of clients served, number of staff, number of volunteers, and the training needs. At the conclusion of the capacity building trainings, data was collected to gauge participants' perceptions of the capacity building trainings and their perceived impact on the effectiveness of the ADEPT Program and its member agencies. The generalizability and applicability of the research results to other small community-based organizations providing social and human services is also discussed.

Collaborative emergency management: better community organising, better public preparedness and response.

Community coordination requires communication and planning of precautions to take when faced with a severe threat of disaster. The unique case of the four Florida hurricanes of 2004--Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne--is used here to assess community responses to repeated threats of hurricanes. The paper examines how effectiveness in coordinating community disaster response efforts affects future public preparedness. The findings suggest that pre-season planning, open communication between emergency managers and elected officials, and the use of technology all had a significant impact on community responses. The repeated threat scenario indicates that emergency managers must work vigilantly to keep residents informed of the seriousness of a situation. The study describes how emergency managers in Florida countered public complacency during four hurricanes in six weeks. The strategies identified as useful by public managers in the context of hurricanes are applicable to other natural and man-made disasters.

Organisational learning and self-adaptation in dynamic disaster environments.

This paper examines the problems associated with inter-organisational learning and adaptation in the dynamic environments that characterise disasters. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate whether organisational learning took place during and in the time in between five disaster response operations in Turkey. The availability of information and its exchange and distribution within and among organisational actors determine whether self-adaptation happens in the course of a disaster response operation. Organisational flexibility supported by an appropriate information infrastructure creates conditions conducive to essential interaction and permits the flow of information. The study found that no significant organisational learning occurred within Turkish disaster management following the earthquakes in Erzincan (1992), Dinar (1995) and Ceyhan (1998). By contrast, the 'symmetry-breaking' Marmara earthquake of 1999 initiated a 'double loop' learning process that led to change in the organisational, technical and cultural aspects of Turkish disaster management, as revealed by the Duzce earthquake response operations.