Service-Based Crisis Management: Local and Global Community Roles and Communication Options

Health-related crises impact each community differently depending on the geographical dimensions of the crisis. Both local efforts and the efforts of global communities sharing the same relief goals are needed to prepare for and respond to emergencies. In this paper, local and global communities providing relief services for prevention and response are described. A specific attention is paid to service-based organizations in a local community that are essential for crisis management. These organizations respond locally to the individual needs of citizens faced with large scale disasters. To achieve an effective response, these organizations must play multiple roles. A high degree of collaboration among the responders of these organizations who serve on the front-line of a crisis is needed. This paper reviews the varying roles of these responders and how information and communication technology (ICT) device usage relevant to their respective roles can help. Increased ICT training and device usage is proposed for timely coordination when responding to a crisis. Focusing on examples from two organizational settings in communities small grassroots organizations and philanthropic organizations we discuss communication issues and options for the practitioners associated with these organizations. The contribution of this research is to identify methods and tools to increase device usage and collaboration effectiveness among servicebased responders in local communities.