Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management最新文献

This study aimed to explore how non-disaster missioned organizations extend their roles to respond to disasters, which is referred to as ‘extending organization’ or Type III in the Disaster Research Center Typology. To achieve this, the current study investigated the formation conditions and evolution processes of extending organizations of a cooperative consumer organization, Gyeongju iCOOP (GiCOOP), which extended its roles by self-organizing a disaster-response team after the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Gyeongju City, South Korea, 2016. Through a case study comprising in-depth interviews with GiCOOP members and public officials of central and local governments, this study found that the extending organization was successfully formed under several conditions, with the earthquake as a trigger and trustworthy relationships among the members, and evolved through diverse activities to strengthen community resilience capacity. Although the GiCOOP had sufficient financial resources and utilized external experts, its lack of workforce, expertise in disasters, and collaboration with local governments were critical hindrances in expanding its future activities. Based on these findings, several suggestions were made on the sustainability of extending organizations in the future.

Media framing of organizational crises is an important factor to consider in crisis communication since it can shape stakeholders' perceptions of organizations and discussions in the public sphere. This takes place in complex media ecologies where public communication happens at a large scale, both in the news and on social media. Here, computational methods offer new venues for analysing media framing in flux throughout the crisis life cycle. Especially methods for automated content analysis can quickly and efficiently reveal what media frames emerge in a crisis context and how they change over time across different channels and platforms. The present study showcases the benefits of such methodological approaches by critically exploring the example of the data breach at the national municipal health service in the Netherlands. Using computational methods for media frame analysis on news texts (N1 = 519) and social media postings (N2 = 2986), this article reconstructs how the incident was perceived throughout four crisis stages (build-up, outbreak, chronic stage, termination). The article critically discusses the relevance of researching media framing empirically with emphasis on the benefits but also limitations of computational approaches. It concludes with some general pointers for crisis researchers interested in such methods as well as their implications for practitioners in the field.

Disaster management, mainly related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, is a critical field that requires constant evaluation to improve preparedness and response strategies. This review synthesises evidence on global health sector strategies for CBRN preparedness, gathering lessons to enhance policymaking for future response and readiness. This review included original English and French research addressing healthcare preparedness for CBRN threats. Database searches, such as EBSCO, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Ovid, Lissa, and Santécom, were conducted until November 2022. The Joanna Briggs Institute's tools were utilised to assess the risk of bias. Al-Raayan® and Nvivo® version 12 software were employed for the review and analysis. 57 articles in English and 6 in French met the inclusion criteria. The analysis identified numerous strategies, concentrating on chemical and biological incidents (Chemical and biological bioterrorism: n = 27; Epidemics and Outbreak: n = 15). “Hospitals”, “responsibility”, and “health” emerged as prominent keywords, emphasising institutional roles and health outcomes in CBRN incidents preparedness. Key findings highlighted the need for a unified global definition of bioterrorism to align international efforts. Hospital-level initiatives were emphasised as the foundation for national preparedness, emphasising specialised training, community engagement, and robust coordination mechanisms. Geographical variability in response strategies was noted, necessitating a harmonised global approach. Continuous research, epidemic management, and addressing radiological/nuclear threats emerged as crucial elements. Among others, strategies defined under “Emergency Response Preparedness” and “Intersectoral Policy Development” outlined comprehensive preparedness contexts for CBRN incidents. The review suggests an imperative shift towards building collaborative networks and enhancing health sector operational readiness to mitigate the impacts of CBRN incidents.

Recent research on crisis communication has focused on the challenges of complex and protracted crises. In this essay, it is argued that such crises must be handled communicatively by putting the communication challenges, constraints and opportunities at the centre. To this end, the combination of the notions of the rhetorical situation and kairos is suggested as a keystone that provides a bottom-up, context-sensitive approach needed to cope with the fluid and changing situations of such crisis. Importantly, the life cycle of a protracted crisis can not only be understood in terms of physical factors (e.g., infection rates in a pandemic) but is also formed through the public's perceptions and the communicative choices of crisis communicators calling for action to mitigate or end a crisis. The rhetorical situation and kairos highlight the importance of spatial temporality, the uniqueness of the situations and the constitutive dimension of communication in a crisis. This implies the identification of the opportune moments to present a response and recognising the important ‘spaces’ between typical crisis situations.

Societies are increasingly subject to transboundary crises that pose new challenges to crisis management and require a structural rethinking of longstanding arrangements. This study explores which governance aspects could be embedded in legislation to facilitate the organization of such transboundary crisis management. It builds upon research findings from the comprehensive 2020 governmental evaluation study of the Safety Regions Act in the Netherlands and the relevant literature. First, we provide a framework for a systematic study of the relationship between law and practice. Second, we present a model on how legislation for crisis management could be adapted to better fit with transboundary crises. This consists of a set of 10 key aspects categorized into five pillars: the interconnectedness of the various phases of crisis management and risk assessments as a starting point; flexible crisis management organization and network collaboration; allocated facilitator and exceptional decision-making power; professional competences and netcentric information management; and learning capacities and democratic feedback. This model provides a point of departure for researchers and policymakers alike for rethinking the role that legislation can play in preparing for the crises of the future.

Türkiye has long been plagued by deadly natural hazards, including earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, and floods, which have caused widespread destruction throughout the country. 2021 Wildfires in Türkiye, the most destructive in the country's history, have disrupted the region's ecological balance by destroying vast swathes of forests and the habitats of many species. This study aimed to explore crisis management and communication practices during the 2021 Türkiye wildfire. This qualitative research utilized a phenomenological approach and the discourse analysis method to study the data. The study's methodology aimed to delve into the lived experiences surrounding the disaster and analyze the statements of the responsible minister to uncover best practices. The results indicate that wildfires were not contained during the initial day, and a needs assessment was impossible. During the response, frequent disinformation, rumors, and suspicious situations arose, indicating difficulties in information management. A consistent call for solidarity is beneficial for crisis management and communication. However, a debate about inadequate resources highlights trust and transparency issues in crisis communication. Moreover, drawing comparisons with other countries and making self-congratulatory statements about success and strength are not aligned with crisis management or crisis communication and may be perceived as politically motivated.

One of the most time-sensitive and critical tasks for first responders in the aftermath of a disaster is to locate people for effective and successful rescue operations. The existing solutions for large-scale location detection of citizens depend on expensive equipment that may not be readily available in many urban areas and also cannot cover a vast area quickly. To address this challenge, the present study proposes a novel location estimation method by creating a Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) using citizens' mobile phones. The proposed solution can accurately estimate the location of mobile devices in a MANET based on their Received Signal Strength (RSS) and communicate the estimated location coordinates to first responders without any dependencies on telecommunication infrastructures. This system will help first responders locate and map mobile devices in the affected area in a matter of seconds to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of postdisaster rescue operations. The envisioned solution offers unique capabilities that differentiate it from previously existing methods. The proposed method directly estimates device locations using their basic cellular signal strength without any dependency on GPS and relies only on basic cellphone signals. Therefore, nonsmartphones can also join and function in the envisioned MANET system. It also does not impose any computational operations or requirements for installing an app on citizens' phones. The performance of the proposed system was empirically evaluated using a simulation analysis. The results indicated that the method could efficiently and accurately discover more than 93% of mobile devices and estimate their locations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge level of teachers about basic fire and extinguishing and the effectiveness of the fire training received. This is a cross-sectional study. The research population comprises teachers employed in educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education (MNE) in Konya, Turkey, during the year 2021. The sample of this research consisted of 2649 participants who voluntarily agreed to participate in the research and answered all questions completely. Data were collected from the questionnaire forms prepared by the researchers by examining the literature in the electronic environment via Google Forms. Of the participants, 53.7% were women, 39.8% were between the ages of 35 and 44 and 93.0% were working as teachers. The fire safety knowledge score is higher for those who attended the fire training. While the fire knowledge score increased as the end-of-training attainment score increased in those receiving fire training, no significant relationship was found between the education environment and content score, the educator effectiveness score, the status of having a fire extinguishing task and having encountered a fire and this score. Teachers' fire safety knowledge score is higher and at a moderate level compared to the attitude score. Participating in fire education positively affects both knowledge and attitude toward fire.

Refugees often face structural inequities, a disproportionate share of environmental challenges, and receive inadequate risk information. In most cases, the host country, United Nations, and other humanitarian organizations provide critical weather and climate information and disaster risk management support. This is equally true for the Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, who fled their home country Myanmar as a response to political violence. To provide critical humanitarian services to the Rohingya population, the in-country United Nations agencies formed the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG). This paper investigates the effectiveness of the ISCG's strategies for communicating monsoon risks in the Rohingya context. Particularly, it measures ISCG communication effectiveness by both the increased formalization of ISCG communication and the number of Rohingya refugees affected during the monsoon seasons in the years 2021–2022. The paper highlights the importance of the ISCG's existence in this humanitarian context as an effective coordinating institution. The ISCG provides impoartant environmental risk information to partner organizations that benefit the Rohingya's overall physical well-being. Even though the geographical focus of this paper is on the Rohingya populations in Cox's Bazar, the discussions and findings have important policy implications in other parts of the world facing similar social, environmental, political, and humanitarian challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the corporate sector's communication requirements to maintain organizational reputation among employees. This situation has led to lacklustre organizational performance and a decline in employee well-being. However, little is known about how the sophisticated execution of internal crisis communication can foster productive employee responses. This study examines how internal communication during times of crisis strengthens employee task performance and well-being, both of which are crucial for organizational success following the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing inspiration from situational crisis communication theory, the study primarily investigates the outcomes of internal crisis communication that generate favourable employee perceptions of their organization. A quantitative survey of 384 employees from various organizations was conducted, and the results indicated that efficient internal crisis communication enhances employee task performance, boosts employee well-being and reduces crisis attribution, thus promoting employee behaviour that improves reputation. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature in public relations focused on understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying positive employee behavioural intentions during times of crisis. More importantly, strategic internal communication and maintaining a human element in employee interactions will benefit organizations in the long run. Practical implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.