The deeper we go into this new millennium the more dependent we become on technology to make our lives easier and to do the things we need to do with a greater level of convenience and efficiency. The field of emergency management is no exception in this regard as it is becoming increasingly reliant upon various aspects of technology in order to allow EM agents to better carry out their appointed tasks.
Disaster response is particularly dependent on technology and there are several tech companies that offer everything from services to software to make handling large-scale disasters easier.
The primary reason that technology is so critically important in the field of emergency management is that it allows for modeling, supply management and a means of internal communication. It also serves as a means by which management officials can communicate with the public to provide information and instructions when disasters take place.
Lines of communication can easily be broken because of damaged equipment resulting from storms and other disasters. Technological contingencies help to restore communication quickly and efficiently so that emergency management duties don’t skip a beat.
Then there is what is known as “the cloud” – the collective network of internet servers and processors around the world where information is collected and stored. The cloud has been integral over the last few years in helping EM agents to better prepare for and manage disaster situations when they occur.
Local communications infrastructure can become damaged or overloaded during a disaster and having a cloud-based data and communication system allows agents to circumvent local systems and access the data they need in order to do their jobs. It also allows for local EM agencies to maintain an online presence after a disaster area has been secured from outages.
