Disaster response preparedness coordination through social networks

Abstract

Studies of coordination in human networks have typically presented models that require stable working relationships. These models cannot be applied to emergency response management, which demands distributed coordination in volatile situations. This paper argues that changes to interconnectedness of nodes in a network may have implications for the potential to coordinate. A social network-based coordination model is proposed to explore an organizational actor's state of readiness in extreme conditions. To test this hypothesis, the study investigates survey data from state law enforcement, state emergency services and local law enforcement, presenting agency-based (macro) and cross-agency (micro) analysis on 224 completed questionnaires. The main findings are: (i) there is a positive correlation between network connectedness and the potential to coordinate; (ii) the concept of tiers within an emergency response network may exist and be characterized by the sub-network with which an organization associates; (iii) a range or threshold characterizes how interconnected an organization at a given tier should be.

Challenges of communication system during emergency disaster response in Malaysia: A review

“…Therefore, future disaster communication system should include data that reflect the knowledge transferred to the community together with level of community awareness [53].…”

Social connectedness and adaptive team coordination during fire events

“…While there are studies analyzing inter-organizational coordination networks in emergency response management [2], there are few network analysis related studies looking at the network structure of individuals and teams. Recently, Hossain and Kuti [3] proposed a social networkbased coordination model to explore the state of readiness of individuals within organizations in extreme events, and found that changes to interconnectedness of individuals in an organizational network have implications for coordination. Other studies [32,33] show that individuals' interconnectedness within teams in an emergency management network are implicated in the potential to learn and improvise during disasters.…”

“…When bushfires turn into large-scale extreme events, they occur at the interface between natural, social and human systems and are often called "disasters" [1]. A disaster is defined as a destructive event creating negative social and economic conditions that interrupt the day-to-day activities of a society [2][3][4]. Disasters which are unexpected, dangerous and serious are considered emergency events since these situations require immediate action.…”

“…In addition, it is important for organizations to form cooperative information exchanges in order to respond to the disaster effectively and efficiently. Poor coordination is a fundamental problem for an emergency response, and is primarily due to lack of good communication between organizations; a lack of up-to-date and relevant information circulating through the emergency response network; and insufficient access to data and action plans [3,9].…”

Inter-Organisational Coordination for Sustainable Local Governance: Public Safety Management in Poland

“…In some works its cognitive nature is emphasised, while in other the behavioural one, moreover it may be understood as a form of organizational control or team-based concertive control [67]. Attempts to model the interdependencies and level of coordination in specific fields are not consistent in the scope of coordination characteristics, but they point out which specific challenges are related to coordination [71]. For example, Henry Mintzberg's coordination model relates the coordination mechanisms to the organizational structure [72].…”