Amanda Ripley 's The Unthinkable, She Covers Disasters When They Happen

Explain the importance of having an emergency plan in place to deal with unforeseen incidents

In this modern age, the majority of society has adapted to social media and the newest technology to fit around our lives. Technology provides tools that are imperative to the making and the use of other tools. It is a tool in itself. Technology is changing rapidly; so rapidly, in fact, there can be cultural gaps between generations. The construction of social media has enabled access to innovative phenomenon, broken barriers, changed our perspectives on ideas, and has even opened doors to new opportunities.

When I lived in Los Angeles during high school, me and my neighbor Brandon would frequently take the Metro train to get to school. While we waited on the platform for the train to come, we would occasionally hear the automated intercom announcement say, “In case of an emergency, do not hesitate to locate the nearest emergency phones or Metro sheriff.” This recurring message was often ignored by not only us. Who seemed to also disregard the monotone voice were other passengers who either were occupied with other things or had earphones in and simply did not hear it. The problem with this is, if an emergency or disaster happened at that moment, how many of us would know the right way to react? If there was a fire, we wouldn’t know how to properly engage in saving ourselves. Unfortunately, the only warning us everyday citizens were given was to call officials. There were no specific instructions on what we could do in case an emergency arises at the train station. In Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable, she covers disasters when they happen and how humans that are involved respond to them. Ripley argues that when someone is involved in a disaster, they experience human responses such as being in denial or delaying proper reactions. Because we can not control the brain and our irrational thoughts tend to obscure us, we should raise more awareness of likely disasters and train regular citizens accordingly.

However, social media has granted us a “gateway” to fixing this issue. Now, we are able to live video chat and see uploads of what is happening anywhere. Social media also grants us the chance to send pictures and videos of our selection. “You can, in fact, stay up-to-date on hundreds of people all at once.” (12) Social media and the technology we have allows us to communicate in various ways, and to use the field of knowledge to our assistance.

Within the first chapter of Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication (2001), there were many things that caught my attention. Prior to the reading, I hadn’t thought about how different disaster preparedness would affect the elderly population, and how much consideration and planning is needed for them compared to the general population. I also wasn’t aware that such a high percentage of the elderly population developed chronic diseases. It would, however, make sense for the elderly population to require different treatment for these chronic diseases, and have different reactions to these diseases than the rest of the general population (Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication, 2014).

Technology today is more relied upon than ever before. If one needs to call someone half way around the world, simply take out a cell phone and dial their number. Within thirty seconds, one can be speaking to that person just as if two people were conversing face-to-face. In the same manner, one has access to endless knowledge and resources by the pushing of a few buttons or the click of a mouse. The usage of social media today is becoming more prevalent than ever before because of the convenience it offers. This convenience includes being able to instantly know where a person is, what they are doing, and how they are feeling. All of these instances have one main commonality : technology. The interminable technological advances one has

Individuals with less resources are often times unprepared for disasters because all of their time, money, and energy is spent on what is currently happening. For many, they cannot afford to pay all of their bills on time and cannot put money back for emergencies that may or may not happen. A lot of individuals with lower incomes or no incomes are already living in places that are unsafe, and many do not own their own homes and do not have renter 's insurance because in their opinion that is an extra unnecessary bill. Some individuals are not healthy enough to prepare for disasters because they cannot afford health care and can barely work enough to stay in poverty and out of homelessness. In the case of homeless individuals, they have no resources whatsoever. If they live in shelters or on the streets

What makes the situation worse, however, is how everyone is going to be taken completely by surprise for if and when disaster strikes. Even preppers who have spent years preparing themselves physically and emotionally and have stocked up a decade’s worth of resources

Sudden-onset of natural disasters disrupts daily life and, in the worst cases, causes devastation. Disasters are occurring at a rate many people cannot absorb psychologically and financially. Therefore, affecting people’s decisions to move away from disaster-prone areas, mainly if they were displaced, lost their possessions, or had a traumatic experience. To help alleviate some of these effects, FEMA has not only developed mitigation planning guides for local governments to adopt as a guide but also serves a starting point for reducing such disasters. (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2003). Political leaders, influential residents, fire department, police department and other participants are involved in the planning process in identifying

to the Model of Risk Perception – Risk Reduction Behavior process as postulated by Bennett and Murphy (1997), efficient and effective disaster preparedness is dependent on risk perception, self – efficacy and the social environment (attitudes and subjective norms). Most often people are of the opinion that they are not at risk for disasters placing themselves and their families in imminent danger.

Communication, in regards to some kind of emergency, has been something that has been around since the day the earth was created. The cavemen communicated with one another about a danger by grunting or throwing rocks at each other to get the attention across, the dinosaurs made noises of distress when something wasn’t right, the cowboy era had guns to shoot in the air or a simple yell for help would suffice, and with the invention of the telephone and television the warnings of emergencies were on their way to what we have today through the internet, television, outside alarms, smart phones and aps. This paper will focus on a little history of the emergency management programs that have evolved over decades into where we are today, as well

Problem: District three (3) falls within Zone D of the Miami-Dade storm surge zones, which makes it susceptible to a storm surge from category 4 and higher storms. Residents in the district do not prepare efficiently and effectively for hurricanes that are likely to occur in South Florida. Lack of hurricane preparedness among residents is due to risk perception, as persons believe that a hurricane is a periodic phenomenon instead of a random and probable event (Wilson, et al., 2007). In addition, limited awareness of what disaster preparedness entails and cultural barriers in communication were cited as reasons for lack of preparedness. If this problem is not addressed, quality of life can be severely affected if a tropical depression, tropical storm or a hurricane were to occur.

Throughout the last decade, social media has drastically changed the way people interact with others. Websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have taken the world by storm. It has never been easier to have a conversation with family members, friends, or even strangers who live millions of miles away. Due to the rise of social media, people have become more aware of social issues and have become aware of the world around them. They can easily read the news online or catch up on the latest celebrity drama. Social media improves the way humans communicate because it allows ideas to be spread quickly and efficiently to a global audience.

The world has never before been connected as much as it is today. One’s ability to communicate through various mediums is rapidly advancing, and this is much thanks to social media.

Some of the top benefits of social media over the years are that it is free to anyone, the content can get out to resources virtually immediately, and it can be delivered to a wide variety of people. For these reasons, communication through social media has become an extremely accessible and convenient way to communicate. It is also popular for those who need to be in contact with others. One example that comes to mind is a teenager who goes away on a trip to visit a friend or family. They can be hundreds of miles away but still talk to their parents as if they weren’t. Another example is a person who is shy and has a hard time making friends face-to-face, social media sites are a great way to meet people and build relationships.