ABSTRACT
Chapter Objectives ◾ To analyze the need to incorporate social media and Web 2.0 strategies into
commonly utilized emergency noti„cation and warning systems ◾ To evaluate the impact of mobility and portability on mass noti„cation ◾ To consider the reliability of various emerging and new emergency noti„ca-
tion and warning systems
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◾ To consider the components of a strategically diversi„ed emergency noti„cation and warning system
◾ To understand the foundations of the next generation 9-1-1 systems ◾ To consider the limitations of modernizing emergency warning and noti„ca-
tion systems
DISASTER FOCUS-LONDON BOMBINGS
On July 7, 2005, at 8:50 a.m. (local time) in London, three separate bombs on the London Underground exploded within 50 seconds of each other. e „rst bomb exploded on subsurface Underground train #204 that was traveling between two stations. e second bomb exploded on subsurface Underground train #216, which had just left a local station. e third bomb exploded on deep-level Underground train #311. All three bombs caused signi„cant primary damage to the impacted trains but also caused secondary damage to passing or nearby trains as well as the tunnels around them. Local emergency responders initially thought there had been six rather than three explosions in the underground train system. is confusion was caused by the fact that the train explosions occurred between stations, which resulted in casualties to emerge at stations both forward and to the rear of the train on each track. At 9:19 a.m., a Code Amber Alert was declared, leading to the cessation of the operations of the Underground train system. By 9:47 a.m., a fourth explosion occurred in Tavistock Square on a double-decker bus operated by the Stagecoach London Stratford depot. Earlier, the bus had traveled past train stations where crowds of people had been evacuated due to the earlier explosions. e explosion on the bus ripped the roof oš the top deck and destroyed the back of the bus, causing witnesses to report seeing “half a bus §ying through the air.” Fortunately, the bus explosion took place near the British Medical Association building and a number of doctors in or near the building provided immediate medical attention. Four Muslim men aged 18-30 were later identi„ed as the suicide bombers. ese men were unknown as terrorist threats prior to the bombing. Ultimately, 56 people (including the four suicide bombers) were killed by the bombings and about 700 were injured. is incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the United Kingdom since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie that killed 270 souls. Police forensic investigators examined about 2,500 items of closed caption television from the scenes of the bombings to determine the details surrounding the event. Interestingly, the most in§uential evidence was the eyewitness testimony of hundreds of witnesses who reported the event via social media.2 In the hours immediately after the bombings, the British government put forth that the shocking damage and related casualties had been
The Fallacy of Traditional Approaches Outdoor warning sirens have long been one of the primary emergency noti„cation systems utilized by emergency managers to warn their citizens about severe weather threats or other community hazards. (See Figure 8.2.) ey are based on the infrastructure and philosophy of civil defense sirens and are often distributed throughout communities based on budgetary availability and population density. Unfortunately, technology, human behavior, and social science have reached the point where sirens may no longer be capable of serving as the primary system for emergency warnings. Dennis Mileti and John Sorensen state that ešective public warnings include consideration of the warning source, message content, frequency of warning, and the need for dišerent warnings (e.g., to address multiple languages).18 is complexity is not solely achievable through the use of outdoor warning sirens and other traditional methods and therefore necessitates the consideration of a new approach that embraces new and emerging technologies.
