The Four phases of emergency management as we know are mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. As discussed in the text, communicating with the community is one of the key parts of emergency management and is done so in a variety of ways throughout each of the statges. Communication is key in the preparedness stage as a way to educate the public about potential disasters, during the recovery phase communication lets survivors know when and where they can receive help after the incident. The most important phase that uses communication is probably the response stage as a way to notify the public about evacuation notices but also in that phase the first responders are on the ground helping the public and rely heavily on various forms of communication to complete their mission. Communication can be broken down into two levels strategic and tactical communication. Strategic communication would be the logistics planning whereas tactical communication would be the first responders on the ground. When it comes to strategic communications there are assets in place by FEMA in order to assist. One of these is the Mobile Emergency Response Support which are detachments located throughout the United States that can provide self-sustaining communications which can be deployed to areas that are affected by an emergency or disaster. In addition to basic communication capabilities these Mobile Emergency Response Support units provide other resources such as being able to create potable water, extra fuel and power generators for incident command posts. Tactical communication can be problematic when it comes to on scene command, especially when dealing with various agencies. After action reports from incidents or exercises often describe how various agencies cannot communicate on the same channel unless running through a dispatch center. This is why it is key to have a representative from each agency present at the incident command post to relay information to the first responders from their agency. Communication applies in another way and that is being able to address issues with the public, whether it is something as simple as a road closure or to notify a community that there is an amber alert or impending storm. Early forms of communicated disasters could even be sated back to the Revolutionary War when lanterns were lit to let communities know that an invasion was coming. Moving forward the United States began to use things such as air raid sirens or radio broadcasts, but much of this communication was one sided. The government agencies could communicate to the public as a whole but citizens had no immediate way to relay information to those responding and in command. That all changed with the advent of social media. If you look at most police departments or OEM departments within the United States, you will see that they probably have a Facebook or a twitter. Sometimes you will see them post photos of community policing events in order to build community relations but these sites serve a much more important purpose whether the public realizes it or not. Social media can be used for a variety of things whether it is to solve crimes by posting a photo of a wanted person or to help those in need by posting someone who is reported missing. Using social media in law enforcement is a two sided approach with benefits on either side. The police can communicate their messages to the public, for example in my town yesterday there was a shooting near one of the schools. Within a few minutes it was posted on the towns Facebook page in order to let the public know what is going on and informing them not to call police headquarters (which Im sure many people still did anyway). Throughout the incident there were updates including where parents could pick up their kids. On the opposite side of the spectrum after the incident was concluded there was a post providing the public about what happened and also included phone numbers of detectives if anyone had tips about the incident. In addition to events such as the active shooter social media can also be used as an outlet to let everyone know about weather alerts or road closures. Social media is just one example of how technology has changed communication in emergency management, other services such as nixel and mass communication programs allow for people to be notified in a timely manner about incidents Sources Communications: A Critical Emergency Management Discipline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://d4htechnologies.com/blog/20150706-communications-a-critical-emergency-management-discipline. George D. Haddow, Jane A. Bullock, & Damon P. Coppola, (2014) Introduction to Emergency FEMA Emergency Communications. (2018, February 18). Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/disaster-emergency-communications. William L. Waugh, Jr., & Kathleen Tierney (2007) Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government 2nd Ed , ICMA Press,
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