Hi John, I'm not sure I entirely agree with your thoughts on this - The answer to timely emergency information lies ultimately in management and notification processes supported by mass saturation notification technologies. Hand-held devices may play a part, however it is unlikely that any of the tens-of-thousands of people swimming off the beaches at the time of the Tsunami (and subsequently swept out to sea due to a lack of advanced notification) were carrying mobile telephones or were within easy shouting reach of someone with a mobile device... It is equally unlikely that people on the remote islands had mobile, or any other form of handheld coverage. These are situations requiring more immediate and reliable comms technologies such as a simple WW1 air-raid siren supported by knowledgeable authorities.
Your comments on US evacuation plans paint a grim picture although not being a US citizen I cannot offer any further insight. Australian emergency management and evacuation plans are prepared by community committees operating under the auspices of an appropriate 'combat agency' (fire service, state emergency service, police or other); prepared with input from all relevant sectors of society and ultimately linked to State and National 'Displans' (Disaster Plans) for coordination and to aid wide area implementation. For example one of the committees I attend has representation from Local Government, response agencies, leaders of industry, national parks and environmental organizations, human welfare support groups (hospitals and aid organizations) and significant landholders. Plans are prepared with input from all, and generally offer the best cross-spread of information and 'situational reality' possible giving regard to the ultimate unknown quantity - the spread and scope of a projected civil emergency. The State and national Displans reference local plans to ensure everyone knows what to do as well as ensuring resources are adequate and available for the time when the plan requires implementation. It's not at all complicated (and not in any way reliant on technologies known to fail during emergencies), however it does require considerable management, coordination and cooperation. Best rgds, Don -----Original Message----- From: john lawrence [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, 30 December 2004 4:56 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Don Cameron; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [bytesforall_readers] Re: RE: [Telecentres] how many telecenters continued the answer to timely emergency info lies ultimately in widely available (and reliable) hand-held devices.... if you put together the mobile phone stories from the asian tsunami disaster with the way that internet and email comms can keep pace with fast moving events, many lives might have been saved if some form of legitimate and credible alarm buzzer could have been activated on just a few hand held devices, and the word could have spread accordingly and quickly through affected communities .... governments alone cannot be relied upon to provide timely evacuation info... or even adequate emergency evacuation plans that make any sense.... just look at the average evacuation plan for nuclear or even natural disasters in the US.... roads are frequently jammed at rush hour every day now... the idea of anyone escaping anything in a hurry by vehicle is ironically laughable, yet most community evacuation plans in the US are premised on road access, and public services (and public officials such as traffic cops) that would stay on beat and on message throughout... 9/11 showed us the best of public service in New York and Washington, but lower Manhattan was a disaster that could literally be walked away from, as thousands testified to by the memorable and tragic exodus on that day.... cellphones however were (I am told) notoriously unreliable because lines were jammed.... however somehow, I believe we have to get beyond the key first step of telecenters to hand held communicators that do it all! John Lawrence UNDP consultant and Adjunct Professor, SIPA Columbia University. _______________________________________________ telecentres mailing list [email protected] http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/telecentres To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
