This paper analyzes issues in organizational needs for extracting information from social media during emergency response. By interviewing 16 Canadian emergency professionals, we gained insight into such things as: how they currently monitor social media; what types of information they are interested in, what challenges they encounter and what strategies they use to overcome those challenges. T...

REQUIRED) In this paper, we examine emergency response through the theoretical lens of organizational capability literature. Specifically, we theorize the crucial roles of dynamic capability and improvisational capability in improving functional competence of emergency management, which in turn determines main response outcomes such as response effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction. We als...

This article examines the underlying architecture guiding the development and use of enterprise decision support systems that maintain the delivery of time critical public services. A normative architecture, developed from comparative cases involving San Mateo County and Mayo Clinic Emergency Medical Services systems, provides a collection of characteristics meant to guide an emergency response...

" This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. " —-from a declaration of the ...

Emergency response organizations are faced with complex, unprecedented events with the potential for catastrophic losses. To assist emergency response organizations in responding to unprecedented events, new models must be developed and the traditional command and control structure of decision making must be revised to accommodate greater flexibility and creativity by teams. In this paper we pr...

Especially since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments worldwide have invested considerable resources in the writing of terrorism emergency response plans. Particularly in the United States, the federal government has created new homeland security organisations and urged state and local governments to draw up plans. This emphasis on the written plan tends to draw attention awa...

The number and kind of threats to life and property in an emergency situation is immense. Couple the magnitude of the potential threats with their typically rapid evolution from first detection to response, and the need for fast, coordinated response is apparent. This need is only increased by the threat of chemical, biological, or nuclear terrorist acts. The wide array of potential threats tog...