As I have been working on my crisis communication project, I wonder how people in history dealt with crisis situations. Did they have as many crises as we have seen now days?
It’s amazing how much we have come to rely on technology. We are very fortunate to be able to communicate a crisis through so many different ways. Some of the methods used during our flooding here in Wahpeton were: television stations- channels 4/6/11/10, Wahpeton and Fargo newspapers including the online editions, Wahpeton/Fergus Falls, MN/ Fargo radio stations and word of mouth. At the North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) we also used our Web site, emails and the NotiFind System. All these various ways of communication made it easy for us to know what was happening no matter where we were.
The NotiFind System that NDSCS has started using this past year is a great crisis communication tool. Through this system we are contacted by telephone, cell phone, text messages and email of school openings or closings, emergencies, etc. The one drawback is that students, faculty and staff have to register with the system themselves. Unfortunately, we have a few that haven’t done this so they don’t get the needed information as quickly as everyone else. Also, I got a phone call at 5 a.m. one morning when they cancelled school for the day, but I knew then that I could sleep in!
These same communication systems helped us all across the state of North Dakota. Those communities needing volunteer help depended upon the communication system to help them deal with their crisis. It was great to see in the news all the good people out there helping each other. Volunteers from other states even came, which goes to show how effective the crisis communication system can be.
We here in the U.S. are very fortunate to have the communication tools, volunteers, and even financial assistance to get through a crisis. When I look at other countries and the damage they sometimes never fully recover from or they take a very long time to recover, we are very blessed here.
It sounds as though you have lots of material for your project having lived through and in the middle of the crisis in your area. I am thankful not to have had to deal with that (at least not this year!) but it would have certainly made researching the project easier.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we do depend on technology a lot. I remember as a kid just listening to the local radio and watching the local news channel while I ate my breakfast hoping to see my school listed on the blue banner announcing school closures. This is actually how things have been up until last year with Notifind. If it wasn't for Notifind, I'd still be watching the news and listening to the radio hoping to be able to go back to bed. (And hoping they actually called the news station to let them know if we were closed.)
i agree that it is nice that we have so many ways to communicate with each other that it makes it possible for just about everyone to find the same information using different types of resources. i know i used the radio a lot during the crisis in valley city to find out what was going on and to find out what the sirens were about when they went off. Good luck with your project and have a great summer.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your blogs this semester, and this one in particular! It is hard for us to think about a world without technology, and that is what you made front and center in your blog. Just think about what crisis communication looked like before computers and NotiFind…I can’t imagine!
ReplyDeleteWe are truly lucky to have the technology at our fingertips to alert people of danger, to tell them about school closings, and to plead with them to assist their community in its time of need. Without these valuable tools, we would have had a much different fight on our hands.
I do believe that people long ago did have as many crises as we do today but maybe they are different than what we face today. They probably also had floods, tornadoes, and fires, but they proabably faced many different challenges that we do not even have to worry about today. We have all of this technology that does stuff for us that they had to do by hand and foot. We are able to let the nation know what we are going through and what help we need within seconds, but back then they had to wait probably days before they were able to get help from out of town.
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