The crucial aspects of emergency management

You’re a small team with a big emergency. What software can help you respond rapidly?

We caught up with Riz Omar and Celine Shabbas Murphy from Locate Global, to discuss the crucial aspects of emergency management, and how incident management tech can help organisations keep their people safe.

Q: What role does situational awareness play in emergency management, and how can software assist in achieving it?

One of the most crucial aspects of emergency management is situational awareness, or the ability to understand what is happening, where it is happening, and how it affects your objectives and operations.

Tech platforms provides teams with the tools they need: real-time location data, emergency alerts, user profiles and hazard reporting. Valuable information can be used to visualise heatmaps, identify trends, and share information with your team.

Q: How does communication software contribute to effective emergency response?

Communication is key in emergency management. The ability to exchange information, coordinate actions, and resolve issues with your stakeholders. Clear and timely information helps people understand risks, take appropriate actions, and avoid misinformation that can lead to panic or confusion. It is worth noting that stressful situations can lead to heightened emotions and less systematic processing of information, making clarity and consistency vital.

Technology works wonders in this regard, helping organisations communicate more efficiently. You can create and update plans, assign tasks, track progress, and send messages through a centralised platform – keeping those on the ground informed.  Software can provide timely and accurate alerts enabling your team to react quickly during an emergency. Time is a critical aspect of any emergency response.

Q: Can you elaborate on the importance of decision support and automation in emergency management?

An essential component of emergency management is the ability to make informed and time-critical decisions –  automating processes and tasks that require human intervention. Offering tools and features, such as dashboards, scenarios, simulations, and recommendations, emergency management systems can help you evaluate options, assess risks, and choose the best course of action. Software will automate some of the workflows and procedures that are repetitive, time-consuming, or prone to errors.

Q: How can emergency response planning software aid in training and evaluation processes for small teams?

The ability to prepare your team for emergencies, learn from experience and improve your performance is crucial.  Incident management tech helps business leaders create and conduct exercises, tests, and drills, that can simulate realistic emergency situations and the challenges they present. The data will support management teams to identify gaps, strengths, and areas for improvement – Ultimately identifying if you are more effective or not.

Q: Any final words of advice?

Do not try to implement new software in the direct aftermath of an emergency or a disaster – in the immediate aftermath there is limited information, high stress and the need for decisive action. New solutions will have to be tested thoroughly, stakeholders need to be trained and you need to evaluate your goals, your processes and your results. The important thing to remember is that proactivity is key. If your organisation remains forward-thinking, you can improve your team’s efficiency, effectiveness, and resilience, ultimately protecting assets, and reducing losses.

Effective communication in disaster situations is essential for promoting public safety and minimizing confusion or panic. By employing clear, consistent, and transparent communication strategies, authorities, individuals and organisations can enhance trust and resilience.

​If you’d like further information contact our team at info@locate.global.