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Module 1 introduces the terminology used in this course. It describes the circumstances likely to require emergency telecommunications, as well as the roles of the partners involved in the different phases of emergency operations.
Dictionaries define an emergency as "a serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action" – in brief: a situation that emerges. Response to the most common emergencies is based on experience and preparedness. Individuals acquire experience, and societies have developed and, in many cases, institutionalised mechanisms of preparedness and response. The first reaction of anyone confronted with an emergency situation will always be, to
USE WHAT IS AVAILABLE
Help will be required, when the resources available on-site at the time of an emergency situation are not sufficient to cope with it. "Crying for help" is the next step - the elementary form of emergency communication. At this point, using what is available might simply mean a loud scream.
Given the limited range of the human voice, and going back from the telecommunication aspect to emergency response in general, it is obvious that
THE FIRST RESPONSE IS ALWAYS LOCAL
Here we have already discovered a main reason for this course on emergency telecommunications: At any time the responsibility to assist with whatever means available can fall on every individual member of a community. [example 1.1.a]
If the help that the human voice can mobilize is not sufficient, or if this initial way of communicating the urgent need for help does not reach someone able to respond, we again come back to the first principle - but to do so, we need to know what is available, and how it can be used. Once more we have just discovered a principle:
BE PREPARED
If and when an emergency cannot be handled with what is locally available, or if the dimension of an emergency situation is such that local means cannot cope with it, we might be confronted with a disaster. The American Red Cross defines a disaster as a "situation that causes human suffering or creates human needs that the victims cannot alleviate without assistance". A dictionary tells us, that a disaster is "an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe; a grave misfortune". The Latin origin of the word signifies "an evil influence of a star or planet".
The definition of a disaster is relative and, subjectively, any emergency might have a "disastrous" effect on even one individual affected. For our further considerations however we shall use the Red Cross definition.
A disaster will require the mobilization of resources from beyond the immediate vicinity or neighbourhood. National, regional or even global response will try to complement the resources of the community. To communicate the needs will now require the use of telecommunication technology. Independent of the dimension of an event, the use of this technology will be governed by all three of the above principles. In short:
BE PREPARED TO USE WHAT IS LOCALLY AVAILABLE
Responding to the initially communicated needs will require the exchange of more information. Telecommunications are the indispensable tool, and providing telecommunication resources is part of the assistance. [example: 1.1.b]
The dictionary defines communication as "The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behaviour. In an even more general sense it also defines it as "interpersonal rapport".
The dictionary defines telecommunication as the "the science and technology of communication at a distance by electronic transmission of impulses, as by telegraph, cable, telephone, radio, or television". Telecommunication is one of the elements of social interaction, and it depends on the availability of technological means.
Considering telecommunications in emergency situations we therefore need to focus on its practical and technical aspects, while always keeping in mind its role in social interaction.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
ARE THE
LOGISTICS OF INFORMATION EXCHANGE
In this course, we shall review the tools available to provide the right information to the right people at the right time. In an emergency situation, "the right time" is always "now". Definition of the "right people" will need more consideration in the following chapters. A full definition of what "the right information" is would go far beyond the scope of this course. Nevertheless, quantity as well as quality of the information to be handled by telecommunication related to emergencies will be of prime concern, when we come to consider the various tools and networks. [example 1.2]
Telecommunications are part of what is known as ICT, Information and Communications Technology. We shall look at the "I" of ICT only to the extent that this is necessary to understand the role of the "T". Computers and their peripherals are the tools of "Information Management", they allow the processing of the data transported through telecommunication networks.
It has been said that all disasters are man-made disasters. There is some truth in this sarcastic view, because disasters are the product of hazard and vulnerability.
DISASTER = HAZARD x VULNERABILITY
If one of these factors has the value of zero, there will be no disaster. Only the impact of an event with potentially disastrous consequences on a vulnerable target, such as a society and its infrastructure, causes a disaster. Where there is no vulnerable target, hazards will not cause a disaster. [illustration 1.1]
The forces creating the hazards causing natural disasters are far beyond human influence. Only an elimination or at least reduction of the vulnerability will allow us, to influence the result of the calculation.
However, hazards are also created by human activity, and they might cause what is known as man-made disasters. Technologies, but also society itself, create such hazards with potentially disastrous consequences. Reducing or eliminating such hazards altogether, lies within the powers of those who created them by their activity in the first place. The capability to do so is limited however: Technological hazards result from lack of knowledge or from negligence in the application thereof. Man-made disasters in the strictest sense of the term are the result of social developments. In both cases, the values given to the prevention of a hazard will determine the capability to bring the value of the "hazard" factor to zero.
Both factors, hazard and vulnerability, will therefore have to be considered when we study emergency situations resulting from the impact of a disaster, the different phases, and the roles of the different actors involved.
A disaster starts with the creation of a hazard and the creation of a potentially vulnerable target. Where prevention is at all possible, it has to start at the earliest possible time. Science and technology, including ICT, provide an increasing number of means for identification of existing hazards and for identification of potentially critical developments. Within ICT, telecommunications are most valuable for observation and detection of developments taking place far away from a potentially vulnerable location, and for continuous remote sensing, often carried out with the help of satellites.
The first step towards prevention and preparedness consists of research, observation and monitoring. The second step is the evaluation of the findings. The third step is the application of the knowledge gained in steps one and two: The creation of awareness and, whenever possible, the earliest possible issuing of warnings, add a new dimension to the activities. [example 1.4.a]
REACHING THE VULNERABLE
It is this stage that, as we shall see later, telecommunication technology becomes more than just one of many tools in the arsenal of disaster management - it becomes its key element.
At the moment of impact of a disaster, the information flow changes from a dissemination of information, alerting the normally very large number of those who are vulnerable, to reporting to those expected to assist. At the same time, he actual impact of an event may drastically reduce the means of communication available at this time. It is here, that once more our first principle comes into play: Use what is available.
The mobilization of resources for emergency and disaster response includes the mobilization of telecommunication resources. The timeliness, but also the appropriateness of all response, depend on the real-time exchange of information between the site of an event and the bases of the providers of assistance, many of which dispose of their own, specialized communication networks.
Only recently, new technologies have given telecommunications a new, additional importance in disaster relief:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ARE A RELIEF COMMODITY
To an increasing degree, telecommunications are being taken for granted, as a commodity or a comfort in daily live. Deprivation of the ability to communicate at any time – and, with the advent of personal mobile communications, also from any place – is felt in the same way as the loss of other property or convenience. Beyond their roles as tools in the hands of the responders, telecommunications are an actual need of the affected population, and their loss has a serious impact on society. Provision of telecommunication services is, in many cases, a need comparable to the traditional relief provisions such as food and shelter, and we shall include it in the following considerations. [example 1.4.b]
When responding to an emergency situation, it is mandatory to think beyond the initial needs. A disaster is always also a disruption of a continuous process of development. Whenever possible, emergency assistance provided in response to an event should also be a contribution to further development, without however introducing elements that would not be sustainable beyond the acute response phase. [illustration 1.2] [illustration 1.3]
For telecommunication this means, that whenever possible, outside assistance should use sustainable systems, based on technologies, which can be handed over to local partners at a later time. Such networks can then make a valuable contribution to the overall development in addition to their role of enhancing preparedness and response in case of future disasters. When looking at possible technologies, we shall consider the options, but also their limitations.
In all stages, development activities should consider not only existing hazards and vulnerabilities, but also the inherent risk of development activities to increase either of these factors, and consequently the risk of disasters. Furthermore, they should include measures to prevent disasters or at least to improve preparedness to cope with emergencies. [example 1.5]
In the case of telecommunications, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommends, that in all telecommunication development projects due consideration be included for the use of systems in possible emergency situations. We shall come back to this important recommendation, when discussing the regulatory framework of emergency telecommunications in a later module of this course.
Once an emergency becomes a disaster, a multitude of institutions and organizations will be involved in the response. These partners have one common goal - the alleviation of human suffering. At the same time, they have their own structures and corporate cultures, and coordination is a prime but not easy task Coordination depends on telecommunication. [example 1.6.a]
In the prevention and preparedness phase there are the observers and the analysers, providing the information to the decision makers. In this phase, all tasks are of a continuous nature. For the exchange of information, they use mostly permanent communication links, provided either by public services or by dedicated, private networks. Reliability is a prime consideration; security might be an additional concern.
In the alert phase, the speed of dissemination of reliable information becomes the prime issue. The decision makers, typically the government authorities responsible for initiating actions, need to reach the public. Depending on local conditions, they will in most cases be able to rely on existing networks and on the media.
Dissemination of information however is not limited to direct links from authorities to individual citizens: Reaching the largest possible number of individuals needs a re-distribution of the information by those who received it first. Social structures determine the mechanisms for such a pyramid scheme. It is thus the responsibility of each individual in turn to also act as alerter, again following the principle of using what is available.
Alerting the handicapped, those not able to receive an alert or to understand its meaning, needs particular consideration when an alert system is being designed. The same applies in respect to those, not able to take necessary action without additional assistance. [example 1.6.b]
To be able to do so, needs awareness of what is available. In one of the next modules, we will look at the potential of various communications means as multipliers.
In the impact phase of a disaster, in the widest sense upon the occurrence of an emergency, the information flow changes its direction. A "cry for help", a request for assistance, will be directed from those affected to those expected to help.
On the local level, the request for help is addressed to the institutional rescue services. In case of major disasters, the request goes to the providers of national, regional, or even international assistance. In all cases, the normal channels of the information exchange might already be affected by the event itself: The physical impact of an event might have destroyed essential parts of existing telecommunication infrastructure, and in any case public networks will not be able to handle the sudden surge in traffic load. Institutional providers of emergency services maintain their own, non-public networks, which will come into play only once the responders reach the affected location.
International response is commonly mobilized through global, public networks. Overload of these systems is likely to affect the possibilities of obtaining the information needed to provide appropriate assistance. The overload-proof broadcast network of the media provides only some of the information the international responders need. For specialized information, they need access to two-way communication links that cannot be overloaded by public traffic. Disaster resistant, non-public networks are in some cases maintained as a backup tool. In the same way as the local emergency services, international responders will be able to use most of their own telecommunications links only once they reach the site of the event and complete the set-up of the necessary equipment or the extensions to an existing infrastructure of their network.
In the relief phase, assessment of the often rapidly changing situation and coordination of assistance need a continuous exchange of information in two dimensions: Vertically, between the on site relief operations and their headquarters, horizontally on two levels, among the different teams in the field and between the headquarters on national and international level.
Finally, in the rehabilitation phase, and even more so in the transition from relief to development, an additional factor needs to be considered: Sustainability. The tools of rapid response are not necessarily suitable for local long-term use. During the acute phase of disaster response, telecommunication needs to be established literally "at all cost"; in order to be an element of sustainable development, telecommunication must be affordable.
In the following modules of this course, we shall look at the capabilities as well as the limitations of different telecommunication tools in all phases, from monitoring and alert to response and rehabilitation. We shall look at what technology can offer, we will look at the limits set by the physical laws governing electronic networks, and we shall also have to look at the restrictions imposed by the administrative and regulatory environment of telecommunications.
In the context of emergency and in particular in disaster response the difference between professionals and volunteers is not a difference of qualification. The fact, that time and location of a disaster are almost without exception unpredictable, prevents the establishment of permanent institutionalised response with sufficient full time professional staff to cover all eventualities. The difference between professional and volunteer is therefore one of permanent occupation rather than of qualification.
In any case the needs caused by a disaster might well go far beyond the capacity of even the best-prepared, institutional emergency services. People willing to leave their normal occupation and environment are needed to complement the work of the professional responders. To be able to perform such voluntary work needs preparation acquired by training.
Furthermore, a coordinated approach is a key element of success in emergency and disaster response. Contributing to a relief effort means to become part of an often very complex mechanism. Knowing about the concepts of the partners you will work with is a precondition for all voluntary work. Communication is the basis of cooperation and coordination, and in the following modules of this course we shall therefore look at the role of telecommunications in the work of all partners, the institutional, "full time" responders as well as the spontaneous, voluntary partners.
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