The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.Gov program and the American Red Cross are adding mobile phones and chargers to its recommendations for basic supplies in citizen emergency preparedness kits. This marks both a real and symbolic step for wireless communications and social media in public emergency preparedness and response.Â
The Red Cross has already changed its “Be Red Cross Ready” sheet which provides the “minimum” basic supplies every American should have to prepare for a disaster. DHS will make the changes to its Ready.Gov website later in the week, Ready’s acting director Rebecca Marquis confirmed today. The addition of mobile phones and chargers to the list is something that this blog has advocated.
Marquis says that the proliferation of cell phones and their value as a communications asset for citizens in emergency situations were the main reasons for the change. She says that the Ready.Gov website will also explain ways a mobile phone can be used in a disaster (e.g. text messaging when circuits are overloaded), and the site will also suggest that citizens add an ICE/In Case of Emergency entry to their mobile address books.
The move comes as mobile communications and social media are becoming increasingly central to public disaster preparedness and response. In fact, with information so important in an emergency, it can be argued that a mobile phone may be a citizen’s most valuable disaster tool. There had been some hesitation in the past about including mobile phones in minimum recommendations due to “digital divide” concerns, but their widespread proliferation has made that objection anachronistic. The need now is to explain to the public how best to use their mobiles in emergency situations. As I have witnessed first hand, including at a Red Cross relief shelter, having a phone charger is also very important, as would be an extra cellphone battery.
Credit for the web site changes should go in part to Boston-based homeland security consultant and blogger David Stephenson who has been in the forefront of promoting the use of wireless communications and social media in disasters. Stephenson interested the The Wireless Foundation, which had been involved in getting Amber alerts distributed wirelessly, in the subject. And, they collaborated on a very useful guide, the “VITA Advisories”, for using mobile phones in emergencies. Over the past couple years, the Foundation has been actively pushing for governmental and non-profit preparedness sites to include mobile phones. Mobiles are also a way that citizens have accessed social media applications, such as Twitter, in disaster situations. And, I would expect that social media will be increasingly integrated into government preparedness websites in the near future.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Ready.Gov, Red Cross Adding Mobile Phones To Basic Emergency Preparedness Supply Kit Recommendation | Security Debrief - a blog of homeland security news and analysis // May 20, 2009 at 11:59 am
[...] Ready.Gov, Red Cross Adding Mobile Phones To Basic Emergency Preparedness Supply Kit Recommendation The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.Gov program and the American Red Cross are adding mobile phones and chargers to its recommendations for basic supplies in citizen emergency preparedness kits. This marks both a real and symbolic step for wireless communications and social media in public emergency preparedness and response. var addthis_pub = “”;Print this article [...]
2 Postcard From This Weekend’s “CrisisCamp”: No Swimming, Hiking Or S’Mores, But Progress On Improving Emergency Preparedness/Response…And A Lot Of Fun Too // Jun 15, 2009 at 10:27 am
[...] (and other communications) companies make an effort along with the government and Red Cross to promote the safety uses of their devices to the public (during, for example, National Preparedness Month in [...]
3 Two Interesting Webinar Takeaways: CDC Believes Mobile Phones Help Bridge Not Broaden ‘Digital Divide’ On Public Health, Philly OEM ‘Following’ Hundreds Of Citizen Twitterers To Foster Two-Way Communications In Emergencies // Nov 20, 2009 at 9:54 am
[...] well off citizens at a disadvantage. That has, for example, kept many emergency management sites from adding a mobile phone (and backup power source) to their recommended list of supplies. But during the webinar Aikin made the point that the “divide” does not exist in mobile [...]
4 Fugate White House Briefing On Tenn. Flood Highlights Value Of Mobiles/PDA’s In Response & Need For Govt. To Add Them To Basic Kit, Educate Public On Their Uses During Disasters // May 12, 2010 at 9:36 am
[...] their lists of what every citizen should have for an emergency. Last year, FEMA and the Red Cross added it to their recommended list. (As I have witnessed first hand, including at a Red Cross relief shelter, having a phone charger [...]
5 It’s Time To Get Business Far More Into Citizen Preparedness: A Win-Win-Win-Win Plan To Raise Public Readiness Using Incentives, Product Marketing Techniques // Sep 27, 2010 at 5:38 am
[...] outlets and supermarkets. The campaign would also involve corporate trade groups, such as the Wireless Foundation and the Business Roundtable, which have been very involved in getting their members involved in [...]
Leave a Comment