Is information overload leading to information non-appliance?

Citation

Harry C. Wilson, D. (2010), "Is information overload leading to information non-appliance?", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 19 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2010.07319daa.001

Is information overload leading to information non-appliance?

Article Type: Editorial From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 19, Issue 4

Over the past 20 years that I have sat as editor of this journal the amount of information that bombards my computer everyday is quite overwhelming. E-mails, twitters and blogs galore every day all about the topic of disasters, their effects, their prediction, the responses that should and should not be applied, the effects on the population, effects on industry, effects on tourism, effects on health services, effects on governments and legislators, effects on the financial sector, it just goes on and on.

What really concerns me is the fact that we have this information transfer system for the past 20 odd years, when a disaster strikes the same old mistakes re-occur. The lack of sufficient planning and response, for example, in the recent Haitian earthquake the news media showed the survivors scrabbling through the rubble to try to release victims. I fully understand that heavy lifting equipment cannot be made to appear immediately after an earthquake or tsunami and that it takes time to re-open the roads and railways so that this type of equipment can be brought in. That being said, the immediate rescuers on the scene are the survivors and they are the people who will give that immediate aid to trapped victims. About 20 years ago, there was a move to supply basic digging equipment to communities which were vulnerable to earthquakes. Basic equipment such as spades, wheelbarrows, picks and shovels and these can and will save lives. No specialised training needed to handle this type of equipment, in fact, in rural agricultural areas the population are probably more used to that type of equipment than city dwellers. This type of equipment is cheap, very cheap when compared to power shovels, etc.

Our science and technology has leapt forward over the past 20 years at an enormous rate. The acoustic equipment that the rescue parties bring with them from the developed world is fantastic and can even detect the sound of breathing of trapped victims. This type of equipment is a god-send when it arrives with the fully trained personnel to operate it. It is expensive, and the training is intensive, and both out of reach of poor communities and countries.

It still staggers me that we will fly in several 100 media personnel from all over the world into a disaster zone instead of water and basic medical supplies from those countries. To me it is quite simple, a plane load of news media personnel and their equipment must weigh at least 30 odd tonnes, so would not it be more appropriate to put 30 odd tonnes of medical supplies, water, or shelters in first? We will not die in our homes if the video footage of the event arrives a day later than it usually takes, but for victims of the event, that first 24 hours is a matter of life or death and they may die in the rubble of their homes. Yes, I appreciate that the people of the world will start to donate monies and goods as soon as the disaster is announced by the media, but these good people will do that anyway, plus the fact that it takes time to collect the donations and turn them into supplies, and that will not be done in the first 24 hours, and that is the critical period. These basic supplies need to be stored in areas of high vulnerability so that there is a good chance that some of them can be immediately available to the survivors.

So, my plea is please can we get back to the basics of a response by ensuring that there is an adequate supply of the basic equipment available to the survivors so that they can attempt to save their family members and neighbours. Yes, some will be lost, yes some will be stolen, but some will survive and these are better than human hands and muscles.

Ask yourself this question:

[…] if you were unfortunate enough to have your home destroyed and your family buried under the rubble by an earthquake, which would you rather have – picks and shovels or a media team recording your attempts to release your family by using your bare hands?

I know my answer!

Dr Harry C. Wilson

Welcome – new editor for Disaster Prevention and Management

Emerald welcomes the new Editor of Disaster Prevention and Management, Professor Douglas Paton, who is currently receiving submissions for the 2011 volume of the journal.

About the new Editor

Douglas Paton is a Professor in the School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (Australia), and a Research Fellow at the Joint Massey University/GNS Science Disaster Research Centre (New Zealand). His research focuses on developing and testing all-hazards and cross cultural models of community and organizational resilience to natural and technological hazards. Douglas has authored or edited some 15 books and published some 180 articles and chapters in the field of disaster and hazard psychology.

Research is currently being undertaken on bushfire (in Australia and Portugal), earthquake (in Japan and Taiwan), volcanic (in Indonesia and Japan) and pandemic hazards (in New Zealand and Australia). This work will be used to develop more effective risk communication strategies and describe strategies to facilitate individual and community resilience. From an organizational perspective, Douglas is working on models of resilience in emergency responders and organizations and on researching how emergency management agencies can work to engage and empower communities to develop resilience.

At a policy level, Douglas’ work contributes to the development of best practice in integrating community capacities with hazard planning, readiness and reduction strategies, and with developing effective methods of implementing natural hazard policies and risk reduction strategies. The application of the research outcomes has been accomplished through collaboration with several national and international organizations.

In 2003 and 2008, Douglas consulted to the General Accounting Office (Washington, DC) to develop national standards for human resource aspects of disaster business continuity planning. He also worked, in 2002, with the US National Centre for Disaster Psychology and Terrorism (Stanford University) to develop multi-agency and inter-disciplinary aspects of disaster response management policy for terrorist events. In 2005, Douglas was the Australian delegate to the UNESCO Education for Natural Disaster Preparedness in the Asia-Pacific program. In this role, he was involved in the development, communication and dissemination of information to inform education and policy formulation for disaster prevention, recognition and preparedness, and to produce education materials tailored and adapted to the needs of different local populations, sectors and stakeholders. These materials will be integrated within a sustainable planning framework to develop effective long-term solutions to issues associated with future tsunami and other disasters. He was also a member, in 2005, of NATO working part tasked with developing a European strategy for facilitating the development of hazard (natural and terrorist) resilient communities. He is currently a member of the Australian Psychological Society Disaster Preparedness and Response Advisory Group and is a member of the Expert Work Group of the National Mental Health Disaster Response Taskforce (Australia).

Douglas has a continuing relationship with the New Zealand Earthquake Commission and the New Zealand Ministry for Civil Defence and Emergency Management in New Zealand on several projects concerned with natural hazard planning, risk management and inter-agency and multi-disciplinary aspects of disaster response public hazard education, public hazard education, the development and assessment of community resilience and the professional development of emergency managers.