October 2000 Progress Report: Small Communities Working Group of the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN)

The Small Communities Working Group is the virtual group which is considering how GDIN can be of service to local governments: cities, counties, provinces and other sub-national governments. The Working Group will also try to identify local resources of value to the greater GDIN community, and link GDIN to local disaster managers.

Deliverables scheduled for GDIN 2001, Canberra, Australia, March 2001:

  1. Strategy Paper. How to expand participation by leaders from sub-national governments around the world.
  2. Liaison with appropriate related associations.
  3. Identification of the most serious problems local governments face in disaster information management, especially in technology-challenged countries.

Progress:

Liaison with appropriate associations: The annual conference of the UK Emergency Planning Society (EPS), July 4-6, 2000 in Bournemouth England was attended by the coordinator of the working group.

Discussions were held with the International Relations contact of the Institute of Civil Defence and Disaster Studies, July 7, 2000 at Weymouth, England.

The conference of the Local Authorities Confronting Disasters and Emergencies (LACDE) 2000 held August 27-30, 2000 in Reykjavik, Iceland was attended by the coordinator and a Poster Paper was presented, "Virtual Working Group: How GDIN Could Help Local Communities". see also www.ulai.org.il/lacde.htm#about

GDIN Information Technology Exposition & Conference, October 9-11, 2000 in Honolulu, Hawaii will be attended, and a Poster Paper will be presented, "How GDIN Will Help Local Communities".

Disaster Forum 2000, November 1-4, 2000 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada will be attended, and a paper will be presented, " Disaster Information Networks for Emergency Management".

International Association of Emergency Managers.

American Society of Professional Emergency Planners.

Pacific Disaster Center see also www.pdc.org/pdc/pub/KauaiConf_briefs.htm.

Western Disaster Center.

Center of Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance.

National Institute fot Urban Search and Rescue.

The International Emergency Management Society.

News Items about this Virtual Working Group:
News items about GDIN and invitations for participation in this virtual working group have been submitted to a number of professional organizations for publication in their respective newsletters, as indicated below:

Natural Hazard Center, University of Colorado. Disaster Research # 327, August 24, 2000 published a news item, "On Making GDIN Work for Local Governments".

American Society of Professional Emergency Planners. ASPEP NEWSLETTER 2000 - 07/09, 15 September 2000 published a news item, "The Local Government Virtual Working Group of the Global Disaster Information Network".

British Home Office, Emergency Planning Division Civil Protection, Issue No.50, page 22, Summer/Autumn 2000 published a news item about the GDIN virtual working group, "Global Action on Comms".

UK Emergency Planning Society, London. News item about the virtual working group will be published in the December 2000 issue of BLUEPRINT, the Emergency Planning Society newsletter.

Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association. News item about the virtual working group will be published in DisasterCom, the DERA Newsletter.

California Emergency Services Association. News item about the virtual working group has been submitted to editor of Califormia Emergency Manager, the CESA Newsletter.

UK Institute of Civil Defence and Disaster Studies. News item about the virtual working group has been submitted to the editor of ALERT, the ICDDS newsletter.

International Association of Emergency Managers. News item about the virtual working group has been submitted to the editor of IAEM Bulletin, the IAEM newsletter.

Identification of disaster information management problems at the local government level, especially in technology-challenged countries:

Communications in technology-challenged countries. The Working Group is gathering information about possible solutions to communication problems which might face a small community's use of GDIN. The United Nations World Food Program UNWFP has developed an innovative Deep Field Mailing System (DFMS) which uses high-frequency short-wave radios to transfer e-mails at very low cost without using commercial electricity or telephone lines. Peter Casier, Technical Support Officer and a specialist team of experts have demonstrated how users hundreds of miles away deep in the bush can send and receive, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, e-mails to and from anywhere in the world. The World Food Program on 27 May 1999 announced formation of its "Fast Information Technology and Telecommunications Emergency and Support Team (FITTEST).

Information Requirements of Disaster Victims. Julie Riley presented a paper at the Emergency Planning Society's 1995 conference at Scarborough, England entitled "After Disaster: information in emergencies" which had a typology of disaster victims. Her classifications included: (a) dead; (b) survivors; (c) bereaved; (d) family and friends of the survivors and the bereaved; (e) first-responder rescuers; (f) providers of assistance; (g) community affected by the disaster; and (h) the general public.

For example, the information needs of the survivors (those directly impacted by the disaster but not killed) during the disaster and immediately afterwards might be:

  1. Warnings and evacuation orders
  2. Severity estimates
  3. "What is happening?": a need for information that can be acted upon
  4. Help in treating injuries and shock
  5. Information on missing friends and relatives
  6. Where to get emergency transport, accomodation, food, etc
  7. How to contact family and friends

The information needs during the mid to long term period might be:

  1. Where to go to get help of all kinds
  2. Health information, eg. living with disabilities caused by the disaster
  3. Legal information, eg. claiming insurance and compensation, help with attending inquests and inquiries
  4. Financial information, eg. claiming from the distress fund, claiming state benefits
  5. Reassurance that individual stress reactions are normal
  6. Advice on how to cope, both with practacalities and emotions
  7. Where to go and who to talk to for counseling, including family counseling for children's problems, or marital problems that might arise from the disaster experience
  8. Information on self-help or survivors groups, action or campaigning groups that exist
  9. Understanding why the disaster happened, including apportioning blame
  10. Looking at archives of media coverage of the disaster (helpful in assimilating the experience)

General Information:

The Working Group intends to take note of the information technology developments which will be presented at the GDIN Information Technology Exposition & Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, 9-11 October 2000,

Information on the activities of the local government working group at the Mexico City GDIN meeting is available at: http://www.state.gov/www/issues/relief/coile.html.

Information on this local government working group at the Ankara, Turkey GDIN meeting is available at: http://www.gdin-international.org/ankara/coile.doc.

Those interested in participating in our virtual working group are invited to contact Russell C. Coile, CEM, Disaster Coordinator, Pacific Grove Fire Department, Pacific Grove, California 93950-3317 USA, Tel: (831) 649-8946 Fax: (831) 648-3107, e-mail: russell@coile.com.

Coordinators:
Dr. Russell C., Coile, PhD, CEM
Disaster Coordinator
Pacific Grove Fire Department
Pacific Grove, California

Patricia Jocius
Emergency Coordinator
City of San Mateo
San Mateo, California