Text messaging for emergency information
The United States is a nation with a growing number of texters — 3/4 of Americans can text message, and one-third of them do; yet, the method is not effectively used for offering detailed emergency information during disasters
For business people, time is money. For emergency services and first responders, time may mean saved lives. Last year’s tragedy at Virginia Tech showed, if such demonstration were needed, that lack of timely and detailed communication during an emergency may put more lives at risk than otherwise would have been the case. This is why public safety agencies are focused on getting detailed emergency communications to citizens as quickly as possible. Americans, though, may not be getting the message. A recent survey of 1,448 citizens in the top 20 metro areas reveals that many Americans indeed do not, according to CDW Government, Inc.’s “This is a Test — This is Only a Test” report.
Those surveyed said they still get most of their emergency information from television, despite the fact that wireless subscriptions and text messaging use are at all time highs, with 28 billion text messages sent in June 2007 alone. Despite rapid advances in communications technology, the report shows that many local governments are not harnessing those advances to accelerate and improve the delivery of emergency information. Just 4 percent of citizens rely on text messages, e-mail, or government Web sites for emergency notification information. As a result, only 36 percent of respondents rated their governments’ ability to communicate in the event of an emergency as very strong or good. One-third of respondents were unable to rate the effectiveness of their government’s emergency notification system — showing that they either lack information about or experience with the system.
