A guide to effective communication during disaster

 

A Guide to Effective Communication During a Disaster

Good communication is a fundamental element of society. A smooth communication flow can foster love, care, and healthy development giving it a place of pre-eminence for the success of any relationship, or society at large. However, in a disaster, communication does more than soothing. 

Effective communication can help you, and your loved ones to make pronto but pungent decisions that might determine survivability, and to keep an eagle's eye on each other. In an unprecedented case of a calamitous contingency, dissemination of accurate, rapid, and live information can de-escalate chronic effects, saving lives and properties. 

A calamity that could have registered major ruination can be well mitigated when a smooth communication flow is affected. Here is how you can establish effective communication flow with your loved ones in the nasty face of a calamity.

Organize a Fore-Disaster Plan

Disaster isn't on any man's wish list and nobody hopes to experience any calamity, whatsoever. But what of when it suddenly strikes? Having an emergency plan is very essential to mitigate the effects of an unexpected disaster; the best time you can plan is before a catastrophe. And consider making placing communication an important element of your plan. 

You've got to provide detailed answers as to when and how you'll contact your family and loved ones in the emergency plan. You can establish a rendezvous point of contact, and specify how many minutes or hours before each person will head to the rendezvous during a calamity. 

Then, consider delegating specific roles to each member after you've duly established the communication channels you'll employ in a disaster. You can create an organized hierarchy of the desired communication channels. Get everyone aware of the plan, and let each person know what he/she is to do, should a disaster strike.

Build an Emergency Contact List

Consider building an emergency contact list of all your loved ones. You can gather all their active contacts such as phone numbers and emails which you can easily contact in an emergency. Having a paper contact list gives you access to the list, anytime, anywhere. Then, apart from that of your loved ones, you can also get active contact with someone who stays in a different part of your country, such as a faraway location in the country. 

Doing so is specifically important in case the disaster affects a wide area of your locality. You can also gather relevant contacts of emergency organizations such as insurance companies, utilities, local police, medical offices, etc, which you might find helpful in an emergency. Keep the list in an easily accessible location and you can also include your physician's contact.

Create a Calling Cycle

Creating a calling cycle is another tangible step you can take in ensuring effective communication during a disaster and which also plaster the importance of having an active contact list. You can delegate a designated caller in your pre-disaster plan whom everyone is to call to check-in, after a specific period. 

That person will be readily available, prepared, and will be able to contact everyone. The designated caller could be your out-of-town guy. After you've set the necessary time frame for calling, then the person will be the one to continue the intermittent check-in, on other members. Most times, in a disaster, especially which affects a wide area, the usual and the conventional communication method of calling might be ineffective such as the network's traffic is congested. 

Thus, consider investing in other methods of communication like text messages which require far less bandwidth than phone calls. Sending emails also proves effective since emails servers are globally located, and are therefore less likely to be dead simultaneously.

Use Social Media

In this 21st century, social media is becoming increasingly popular, and with 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, it can be an impressive means of communication in a disaster. And with the vast amount of social media users, you can even contact more than your friends and family whenever a sudden calamity occurs. 

Damaged or congested phone lines give social media an unrivaled edge as a concrete tool in contacting your loved ones, and the necessary emergency services during a calamity. Likewise, apart from the fast and reliable chatting, you can also upload visuals such as live images of the affected areas, to create damage estimates, and help people understand the extent of the emergency, and thereby take the necessary actions.    

Similarly, in this present pandemic period, coronavirus which is a good example of a biological disaster caused some health measures like the lockdown which can substantially reduce socialization. However, social media can serve as a rescue means that you can readily deploy to ensure the smooth relationship between you and your loved ones never dies. 

Giant social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram can serve as great communication channels in this period. You can likewise use the popular video platform, Zoom, to check in on your loved ones, and show you care about their well-being, in these unpleasant times and seasons.

Opt for Local Text Alerts

Apart from interacting with your friends and loved ones in a disaster, You'll Want To Gather As Much Helpful information you can, especially when the regular means of communication become ineffective. Therefore, subscribing to local text alerts from a local government, weather personnel, local law enforcement, etc, for important updates is a great option. 

Conclusion

As said earlier, disaster isn't on any man's wish list, but being prepared for any contingency can boost your self-confidence and largely increase your survival chances during a calamity. Therefore, as you'd love to have your house beautified, and get your kitchen an attractive look, having a communication guide is a substantial survival factor in a disaster.