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Elizabeth Avery Gomez, Katia Passerini, & Karen Hare. (2006). Public health crisis management: Community level roles and communication options. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 435–443). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Crisis management efforts in the United States public health sector aim to prepare and protect the life of an individual, family or group against a health-related event. These efforts span governmental, nongovernmental and private sectors. The need for coordination between these organizations has never been more apparent. A solution will depend heavily on standardized communication protocols using information and communication technology (ICT). Numerous initiatives are currently addressing the needs of our nation with respect to homeland security and public health, yet remain in the early stages for the nongovernmental sector. The emphasis of our research is at the local level where the governmental sector extends to the nongovernmental sector (NGO), particularly community outreach. Our analysis of the local community suggests focusing on the management of communication during public health crises to better understand the complexities and variations presented in these communities. Leveraging experiences from media-technology literature findings and emergency-response efforts, we seek to identify a framework and tools to enable effective communication for those public health practitioners who serve as front-line responders to public health crises. The major contributions of this research will be to extend the use of information systems and mobile technology to the local United States public health communities to increase effective communication between organizations, while providing a state of readiness for homeland security related events.
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Lucy T. Gunawan, Siska Fitrianie, Willem-Paul Brinkman, & Mark A. Neerincx. (2012). Utilizing the potential of the affected population and prevalent mobile technology during disaster response: Propositions from a literature survey. In Z.Franco J. R. L. Rothkrantz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2012 Conference Proceedings – 9th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Vancouver, BC: Simon Fraser University.
Abstract: Despite the growing awareness of the untapped potential of the affected population in a disaster situation, their inclusion in a disaster management is extremely limited. This study aims to survey the literature to see whether utilizing the affected people and prevalent mobile technology can be used during disaster response. The idea is to provide the affected with a way to lead themselves to safety and empower them to serve as distributed active sources of information. This way, those people will reach safety by themselves, while at the same time helping to construct a clear image of the disaster situation without burdening the already overwhelmed emergency services. This study examines knowledge derived from disaster sociology, draws on experience from recent disasters, and extrapolates current technological solutions. By establishing that such a solution is feasible, it offers a basis for empirical studies on a mobile technology that can be used during disaster response. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Andrea Kavanaugh, Francis Quek, Steven D. Sheetz, & B. Joon Kim. (2010). Cell phone use with social ties during crises: The case of the Virginia Tech tragedy. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Many proposed technological solutions to emergency response during disasters involve the use of cellular telephone technology. However, cell phone networks quickly become saturated during and/or immediately after a disaster and remain saturated for critical periods. In this study, we investigated cell phone use by Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff during the shootings on April 16, 2007 to identify patterns of communication with social network ties. We administered an online survey to a random sample from our pool to capture communications behavior with social ties during the day of these tragic events. The results show that cell phones were the most heavily used communication technology by a majority of respondents (both voice and text messaging). While text messaging makes more efficient use of bandwidth than voice, most communication on 4/16 was with parents, since the majority of the sample is students, who are less likely to use text messaging. Our findings should help in understanding how cell phone technologies may be utilized or modified for emergency situations in similar communities.
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Steven D. Sheetz, Andrea Kavanaugh, Francis Quek, B. Joon Kim, & Szu-Chia Lu. (2009). Expectation of connectedness and cell phone use in crisis. In S. J. J. Landgren (Ed.), ISCRAM 2009 – 6th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Boundary Spanning Initiatives and New Perspectives. Gothenburg: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: The wide distribution of cell phones with messaging, email, and instant-messaging have enabled the emergence of a culture of connectedness among segments of society. One result of this culture is an expectation of availability that exists among members of these social networks. This study explores the potential for this expectation to influence perceptions of using information communications technologies (ICT) during and after a crisis. Online survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted with Virginia Tech (VT) students, faculty and staff to understand whether expectations of connectedness affected their perceptions of their reach-ability during crises. Participants with higher expectations of connectedness also reported more problems with reach-ability. Those with the most problems with reach-ability differed from those with no reachability problems for many variables including satisfaction with the cell phone service, age, number of calls/text messages, and extroversion. Results suggest these communities consider planning how to use ICT during emergencies.
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