Communication in a disaster - the development of a crisis communication tool within the S-HELP project

Abstract: “Social media is now the most efficient method of delivering emergency response messages in a contemporary urban crisis scenario. In the immediate aftermath of an event, valuable spatially-related information can often be difficult to pinpoint in the melee of unhelpful or speculative social media ‘noise’. This paper explores the increasing need to be first, right and credible in the midst of unverified, speculative reports. Social media has changed the meaning of public participation and crisis response teams must now utilise the most popular media platforms to gain a foothold within the confusion of an unfolding catastrophic event Original research carried out by University College, Cork as part of the EU-funded S-HELP (Securing Health, Emergency, Learning, Planning) FP7 project has identified that in the 18 to 21-year-old age group, 33% would rely on social media as their initial source of information during a large-scale crisis event. A further 33% identified digital media news outlets as their first source of information. Both of these mediums rely heavily on reports and descriptions from first responders. This paper will look at the ongoing work of the S-HELP Project which is developing a suite of tools to aid decision-making in large-scale disasters, and specifically the development of the Crisis Communication Tool (CCT) and its potential to give an emergency response team immediate control of an unfolding event. Through the use of these communication methods, emergency responders can rapidly understand the scope of a crisis situation and deliver appropriate messages to stakeholders which can be adapted according to developments in the situation.