Emergency Management Continuity of Government Term Paper

287).

Communications during Emergencies

The Stephens & Grant article on p. 286 notes that emergency management coordinators often find it difficult to communicate their goals and needs to major groups working with, in part because their priorities are not the same of those local executives have. I believe this to be true; emergency managers are trained specialists whose expertise lies in providing comprehensive care in an emergent situation; local executives often are not equipped to consider the comprehensive needs of multiple forces in an emergent situation. This is not to say the input of local coordinators does not have utility; local officials can provide emergency coordinators with valuable information about local resources, so that emergency managers may carry out their functions as efficiently as possible during an emergency. However, local representatives often aspire to manage emergency situations on their own, when it is critical they collaborate with federal agents to achieve continuity of government and comprehensive emergency management.

Thus, the coordinator must work to help local officials recognize the needs and communicate them clearly so collaboration may occur between local and emergency coordinators. As Stephens & Grant (p. 287) note, there is a "contradiction" that occurs between "comprehensives and practicality" and in these cases, it often takes an objective person to help establish an environment where "strategic simplification" is possible (Farazmand, 2001). The emergency coordinator has the training and skills needed to identify the critical links between ideas and "essential components of systems" and can communicate how these can work to fulfill overall concerns, including the concerns of emergent coordinators and local officials or representatives.

References

Farazmand, Ali, (Ed.). (2001). Handbook of Crisis and Emergency…