Researchers have found that disasters often devastate key community infrastructures leading to obstructions in communication (e.g., Bostian et al., 2002). Although Rebmann, Carrico, and English (2008) found that communication is vital to successful disaster preparedness and response, they noted that maintaining communication prior to, during, and after times of disaster is extremely difficult. However, it appears that disaster communication may be enhanced through novel uses of new and existing technology resources. The purpose of this article is to highlight how commonly used personal technology tools have been or might be utilized in novel ways to enhance disaster communication. Furthermore, it is hoped that the novel applications discussed may be used to help buffer against the short-term and long-term traumatic effects of disasters related to obstructions in communication.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.