Case Study 1: Victoria Bushfire on 7th February 2009

Discuss About The Emergency Situation Awareness Case Studies.

Communication through social media helps in making the people aware of the different situations and the change in the environment where they dwell. It helps in making the people aware of the different methods that could be undertaken by them while facing an emergency situation. Social media plays a meditative role in making the mass aware of the various hazards and the manner in which they might react to the emergency. It helps in determining the safety and the security of the people living in the communities. Utilization of the social media platforms like the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram has helped in making the people aware of the steps that are required to be taken for proper management of the hazards. The assessment of the type of hazard and evaluation of the effects helps in determining the various aspects of the steps that can be taken in order to avoid the risks of being stuck in a natural hazard. The proper management of the hazard and tactfully attending the same helps in avoiding the circumstances of the hazard that might affect the health and the wellbeing of the people living in the communities.

The purpose of this report is to determine the value of communication in making the people aware of the required steps, which might help in the proper management at the time of the hazard. It is being administered through the careful study of the case of bushfire that occurred at Victoria on 7^th February 2009 and Morwell Coal Mine Fire case at Hazelwood (Blaikie et al. 2014). The study of the cases will be helping in understanding the value of communication through social media platforms and the strategies that might be taken by the local government and the businesses for making the people aware of the hazards.

Victoria has experienced bushfires since 1851 due to the wind directions and the particular climate and weather conditions that has affected the livelihood of the people (Linnenluecke  & Griffiths,  2013). Since the year 1851, the region has experienced some 52 major fire events that have caused the lives of several inhabitants of the area (Power, Robinson  & Ratcliffe,  2013). On February 7, 2009, the region experienced one of its deadliest outbreaks resulting to the death of some 173 Victorians (Youtube.com. 2018). The major issue that affected the life of the people was their ignorance to the steps for facing the hazards. The emergency situation required certain risk assessment and management steps and procedures, which was not communicated to the people leading to the devastation and the loss of life (Linnenluecke  & Griffiths,  2013).  The fire has affected the Grippsland area as well, which has affected the livelihood of the commoners living in the area. The trauma of the outbreaks has affected the smooth functioning of their lives and the normal livelihood (Linnenluecke  & Griffiths,  2013).

Case Study 2: Morwell Coal Mine Fire in Hazelwood

A lesson can be learnt from the devastating incident, which is to make the people and the inhabitants aware of the steps that can be taken by them while facing a crisis (Youtube.com. 2018). It is aimed at helping them in saving the lives and the property of the same through the proper identification of the different strategy that helps in minimizing the chances of crisis (Youtube.com., 2018).  Lessons are learnt of the crisis based on the lack of proper communication that was not undertaken by the authorities. It affected the lives of the people. On the other hand, the lack of the social media integration has affected the communication channels, which might have made the people aware of the possible steps that they could take in order to face the crisis (Youtube.com. 2018).

A bushfire incident occurred at the Hazelwood coalmine, which is situated in the Latrobe Valley 150 kilometers east of Melbourne in the year 2014. It burned for some 45 days and the toxic smoke from the bushfire travelled to the adjoining town Morwell (Hazelwoodinquiry.vic.gov.au. 2018). The burning of the brown coal emitted carbon monoxide, methane, sulphur, nitrogen oxides and potentially toxic trace elements such as arsenic and mercury, which affects the respiratory tracts of human beings. Therefore, the incident affected the residents of Morwell where reports were confirmed of the carbon monoxide poisoning and other effects such as damage of their homes and rainwater tanks through the falling ash and the smoke (Hazelwoodinquiry.vic.gov.au. 2018).

The scenario has helped in the understanding of the different flaws that affected the crisis and influenced its growth. There are steps that could be taken in order to minimize the impacts of the emergency situation on the health and the wellbeing of the people living at the adjacent town. The authorities and the organization could have made use of the crisis communication procedures for making the people aware of the impacts of the emergency (Hazelwoodinquiry.vic.gov.au. 2018). On the other hand, the initiative of the health and the environment authorities could have helped in the proper understanding of the issues in order to communicate through the means of the social media platforms.

The steps that might be taken by the local authorities and the environmental control board in order to make the people awre through the proper usage of the social media platforms are being discussed in this section of the report. It is aimed at facilitating the understanding of the various aspects of the change in the systems for communicating the strategies for managing the risks at the time of the natural hazards and the crisis (Olteanu, Vieweg  & Castillo, 2015).  The proper understanding of the scenario helps in determining the need of the governance bodies in spreading the message of control and the tutorials through their posts in the social media platforms like the Facebook, Instagram and the like (Dufty,  2012). It will help in educating the masses of the required mentality and the strategy that is required to be undertaken in order to face the crisis.

Social Media Platforms for Making People Aware of the Required Steps

The usage of Facebook as a medium for making the people aware of the steps for managing the hazard helps in the time of the crisis. The enumeration of the steps that are required to be taken for the proper evacuation procedure and to face the crisis helps in saving the lives of then people (Dufty,  2012). Therefore, the government must formulate and create hazard management committees who will dedicate themselves to make the people aware of the reaction and the strategy that is required for facing the atrocities of the crisis. In order to do so, the committee members must post the procedure and keep updating the posts in their walls to make the people aware of the procedures that are required to be taken at the time of the bushfire or the like. On the other hand, Olteanu, Vieweg  and Castillo (2015) stated that the committee board must also take steps to make the people aware of the climate change and the possible outbreaks of the hazard in order to keep the commoners aware of the upcoming hazard so that they can prepare to face the same (Williams,  2013).  Devising a flowchart of the activities that are required to be undertaken while facing a crisis will be helping the committee members in making the people aware of the chain and the flow of the practices that are required to be taken by them in order to prevent the outbreak (Abbasi et al. 2013). The proper utilization and the application of the steps through the social media platform will be helping the committee in making the most favorable steps for making the common people aware of the strategies that are required to be taken (Chhetri et al. 2012).

The utilization of Instagram will also be helping the committee that is being formed by the government in making the people aware of the necessary steps that will help in preventing and controlling the bushfire and the like (Haworth,  2016). The major aspects of the change that is being undertaken by the local authorities and the Environmental Information officers helps in determining the effectiveness of the communication procedures that are undertaken by the same. The authorities could have used the social media platforms to make the people aware of the situation that might occur and the preventive measures that would help in saving them of the atrocities of the impact (Eriksen, 2014). The committee can post pictures of the bushfire prone zones of the region in order to keep the tourists and the local inhabitants aware.  On the other hand, they can even share their views on controlling and preventing the bushfires and the like in their page. It will help the same in making the people aware of the situations of the region (Power et al. 2014).  Using Instagram as a social media channel helps in determining the effectiveness of the communication that might be undertaken by the authorities and the committee members.

Role of Facebook

The usage of Youtube as a tool of undertaking effective communication with the commoners and creating awareness among them will be helping the environmental specialists in undertaking ways for educating the same (Crowe, 2012). Youtube serves as an efficient tool where the authorities post videos, which state and make the people aware of the activities that can be undertaken to control and prevent bushfire and the like visually. It helps in making the approach of making the people aware more promotable (Smith, 2013).  Making videos based on the required activities and streaming them on the net will be helping the authorities in making the people aware of the scenario and the manner in which they must react to the crisis (Crowe, 2012). On the other hand, it helps in keeping the viewers aware of the practical methods of evacuation and control over the natural calamity or hazard, which will helps in saving their lives and property (Dufty,  2012).  The usage of the media helps in determining the change in the systems and the functioning that was not taken earlier which resulted to the deaths of the people living in the bushfire prone zone (Paton & Johnston,  2017). Proper communication through the social media channels helps in making the people aware of the varied risks in residing in that particular zone (O’Neill  & Handmer,  2012). The proper documentation of the change in the communication methodology has helped in improving and facilitating the awareness among the people.

The utilization of Twitter as a social media platform for reaching out to the people helps the committee in making the people of the regions aware of the different change in the climate and the hazards that might create havoc issues in the smooth livelihood of the people (Imran et al. 2015). The usage of this social media platform through the posts that are shared by the authorities of the region helps in making the people aware of the latest updates and the changes in the nature that might affect the atmosphere of the region (Dufty,  2012).   The information that is shared by the authorities are mainly based on the possible strategies that might be undertaken by the people in order to face the hazardous situations. Making the people aware of the hazard helps in saving the property and the livelihood of the people (Hughes  & Palen,  2012). Therefore, critical communication is  being facilitated through twitter, which helps in determining the awareness of the people in the region.  The proper utilization of twitter will be helping in determining the changes in the systems and the functioning of the communication that is being taken by the authorities (McCaffrey,  2015).

Role of Instagram

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above analysis it can be stated that the proper understanding of the steps and the strategies helps in determining the lives and the properties while facing a crisis situation. Critical communication helps in making the people aware of the mentality and the approach that must be undertaken by them in order to survive the crisis. The case studies that are being enumerated as a part of the report helps in determining the effects of the lack of communication that affects the livelihood and the property of the people. On the other hand, the determination of the strategies and the communicative measures helps in determining the probable steps for overcoming the crisis. The proper identification of the different factors helps in determining the various attributes of the change in the communication system that will be helping the inhabitants of the region to gain primary data of the whereabouts of the region

References 

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