Global health and natural disaster alerts: preparing mobile phones to endure the unthinkable

Abstract

Despite the increasingly positive role of portable communication technologies for socioeconomic development and their growing use in global health and other emergency contexts, several challenges still hinder exploring the full potential of mobile phones as effective mitigation tools in natural disasters, public health emergencies and in the aftermath of extreme disruptive events. Mobile devices are designed and advertised to withstand predominantly the demands of normal daily situations, being fraught with fragilities that limit their utility for effective communication and coordination of help in emergency situations. We discuss ways to overcome some of these limitations in the future by the incorporation of features to increase their resilience and effectiveness as aid tools at relatively low cost. Improvements in autonomous energy generation and use, based on existing and rapidly emerging technologies, as well as further improvements in physical durability and off-line operability are encouraged. We also identify the possibility to combine capabilities from other devices, such as space-based telecommunication systems and traditional two-way radios, to enhance the utility of mobile devices for these applications. The solutions we propose can help millions of citizens around the world to manage the risks and impacts of natural and health-related hazards. They should also promote further resilience to avoiding and recovering from such events, especially in vulnerable regions with limited infrastructure.

Response and Recovery Strategies for Disaster Management: a case of National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan

“…Some other human activities that are directly involved in generating disasters are industrial in nature (Alonso, Schuck-Paim & Asrar (2014). An example of this is the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that killed eleven workers instantly (Erickson, 2010).…”

Communication and information exchange between Emergency Medical Teams during emergency situations in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An explorative qualitative study

“…The use of mobile phones and landlines enables medical staff to access updated data and disseminate information in life-threatening situations [24], as does the use of a two-way transmitter and receiver such as the Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) (Protogerakis et al, 2011;Kunavut, 2014). TETRA enables effective and safe wireless communication for all authorities involved in emergency communications, such as ambulance, police, re and rescue services [27].…”