1) What do you believe are the greatest challenges related to culture, race, and other identifiers, for emergency and security managers as COMMUNICATORS; and

2. what have you learned or are you learning that you can suggest to operators and managers in the field as the encounter lifestyles, philosophies, familial traditions, regional nuances, and so much more in their  (or your!) future adventures -- FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIONS, TRUST, AND RELATIONSHIPS

400 Words, 2 sources 

Course Syllabus: 

This is an advanced examination of modern emergency management concepts, national and international trends, practical and political issues and policies, technological applications to emergency management, and the development and practical implementation of sound emergency management practices designed to protect people, communities, critical infrastructure and key assets. Course content includes reviews of emergency management policy and procedures in the U.S. and other countries, legal issues, social science perspectives, planning concepts and techniques, disaster modeling, operational problems, analytical methods, special populations, and management styles. Case studies are used to examine examples of effective and ineffective plans, responses, and recoveries from natural and technological disasters.

 

Emergency Communication- Challenges Related to Culture, Race, and Other Identifiers,

There are three salient challenges related to culture, race, and other identifiers that emergency and security managers face as communicators. These challenges pertain to tailoring of messages, translation of messages, and trust issues. In regard to the tailoring of messages, there is a general concern that targeted messages that adequately address the unique characteristics of culturally and linguistically diverse (CADL) communities are not provided by emergency agencies as they should (Ogie et al., 2018). Emergency communication is expected to be appropriate, effective, and clear to enhance response. Tang and Rundblad (2015) posit that failure to be keen on the cultural and ethnic characteristics of people when customizing emergency messages can undermine the interpretation of emergency warnings. Concerning translation of messages, there is the risk of failing to provide emergency messages in languages that reflect the lingual diversity of communities. A report by the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland noted that lack of translated messages during the 2011 Queensland flood led to many CADL communities not adequately heeding to warning messages. Consequently, they underestimated their vulnerability to risk and failed to take the appropriate safety measures (Ogie et al., 2018). The absence of messages customized to the lingual uniqueness of different people indicates a failure to recognize the difference in language proficiency and comprehension in a multicultural society which is critical in emergency situations. Third, trust is equally crucial in emergency communication. However, when it is broken, it undermines effectiveness of response to emergency warnings.  Racial discrimination in the cultural context is one aspect that has caused institutional distrust especially by the Black population and other minority groups (Ogie et al., 2018). In an environment of distrust, warning messages from emergency institutions may be overlooked by some communities (Ogie et al., 2018). The three factors limit the effectiveness of communication by emergency and security managers. They should be identified and addressed to ensure that emergency communication optimally achieve the intended purpose.

From what I have learned, technology can offer solutions to the challenges that emergency and security managers when it comes to emergency. Artificial intelligence emerges as a potential technology to support emergency communication through the development of natural language processing (Ogie et al., 2018). An example of this AI technology is POLINT-112-SMS system that provides support to emergency information management and decision support (Ogie et al., 2018). This system depends on natural language processing capabilities to process meaningful SMS texts generated by humans (Ogie et al., 2018). This way, challenges associated with the tailoring and translation of warning messages are mitigated. On the other hand, the use of local channels such as radio stations and working with multicultural organizations and leaders are important in enhancing trust in emergency communications. Using messages and channels that identify with cultural diversity should also improve the emergency and security managers’ relationship with communities and subsequently alleviate trust issues.