The Effects of Social Networking on Disaster Communication Used by the Emergency Medical and Rescue Staff - The Case of the Van Earthquake

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the effectiveness and usage of social networking services used by The Emergency Medical & Rescue Staff are discussed in the case of the Van earthquake. Material and Methods: Emergency Medical & Rescue Staff working for the Ministry of Health in Republic of Turkey, who served in Van Earthquake Rescue Organization, has been determined as a universe. The questionnaires were prepared, sent, and applied via e-mail to the Emergency Medical & Rescue Staff, communicated by means of e-mail groups related to prehospital emergency care. Results: In total, 66.5% of participants stated that they had made use of social networking services to get information about the disaster area before going there when they were assigned for duty for the case of the Van earthquake. Participants used social networking services mostly to communicate with their colleagues working at the place of the incident to get information about climate conditions, socio-cultural organisms, and magnitude of the damage in the earthquake area. Also, 69.4% of participants stated that they shared information over the social networking systems related to the disaster area after their duties ended there. The experiences they gained in the disaster area and the risks they faced were the most frequently shared information. Conclusion: Social networking services have been used by The Emergency Medical & Rescue Staff widely and effectively in disaster communications. (JAEM 2014; 13: 58-61)

Full text

The Eects of Social Networking on Disaster Communication Used
by the Emergency Medical and Rescue Sta - The Case of the Van
Earthquake
Al Ekş1, Semra Çelkl1, Güçlü Selahattn Kıyan2
1Paramedc Program, Ege Unversty Atatürk Medcal Technology Vocatonal Tranng School, Izmr, Turkey
2Department of Emergency Medcne, Ege Unversty Faculty of Medcne, Izmr, Turkey
Abstract
Objective: In this study, the eectiveness and usage of social networking services used by The Emergency Medical & Rescue Sta are discussed in the case of
the Van earthquake.
Material and Methods: Emergency Medical & Rescue Sta working for the Ministry of Health in Republic of Turkey, who served in Van Earthquake Rescue
Organization, has been determined as a universe. The questionnaires were prepared, sent, and applied via e-mail to the Emergency Medical & Rescue Sta,
communicated by means of e-mail groups related to prehospital emergency care.
Results: In total, 66.5% of participants stated that they had made use of social networking services to get information about the disaster area before going there
when they were assigned for duty for the case of the Van earthquake. Participants used social networking services mostly to communicate with their colleagues
working at the place of the incident to get information about climate conditions, socio-cultural organisms, and magnitude of the damage in the earthquake
area. Also, 69.4% of participants stated that they shared information over the social networking systems related to the disaster area after their duties ended
there. The experiences they gained in the disaster area and the risks they faced were the most frequently shared information.
Conclusion: Social networking services have been used by The Emergency Medical & Rescue Sta widely and eectively in disaster communications.
(JAEM 2014; 13: 58-61)
Key words: Disaster communications, emergency health care, social media, Van earthquake
Original Article
58
Introduction
Social networks are online platforms used for fast communica-
tion where ideas, opinions, experiences, and perspectives are shared
in addition to personal proles. A signicant advantage of social net-
works in disaster communication is that they are accessible via smart
phones as well as computers and that they increase the speed of
communication every day. The most commonly used social networks
in Turkey are “Facebook” and “Twitter” (1).
In disaster management, the personnel that will make the rst
intervention need urgent information about the disaster area. They
want to receive information about the current status at the disaster
area as well as the risks. Most often, some information is transferred
to the personnel via ocial and formal means of communication.
However, the related people may want to access information by us-
ing alternative communication channels as well. The most commonly
used and fastest way to share information in our age is the internet.
The eectiveness of social networks has been increasing in every
area of human life in recent years, and the frequency of use of these
networks by the relevant personnel and their eectiveness during
disaster intervention come up as important questions that need to
be answered (2, 3).
The Van earthquake occurred on October 23, 2011, and its mag-
nitude was 7.2. While disaster intervention studies for the Van earth-
quake were ongoing, a second earthquake occurred on November
9, 2011; 604 people died in the rst earthquake, whereas 40 people
died in the second. The objective of this study is to evaluate at what
frequency and for what purposes the increasingly popular social net-
works are used for disaster communication by the personnel taking
part in the disaster intervention work (4).
Correspondence to: Ali Ekşi, Paramedic Program, Ege University Atatürk Medical Technology Vocational Training School, Izmir, Turkey
Phone: +90 505 588 86 68 e.mail: a_eksi@yahoo.com
Received: 27.03.2013 Accepted: 21.06.2013
©Copyright 2014 by Emergency Physicians Association of Turkey - Available online at www.akademikaciltip.com
DOI:10.5152/jaem.2014.19971
THE JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC
EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Material and Methods
The population of the study was T.R. Ministry of Health personnel
who worked as emergency health and rescue personnel during the
Van earthquake. The total number of personnel who worked at the
disaster region until 19.02.2012 was stated as 5902 by the T.R. Min-
istry of Health in reply to the letter of application dated 14.03.2012.
In addition, it has been stated that personnel from 80 dierent cities
also worked in the disaster region (5). Calls to participate in the study
were sent to the health personnel who were determined as the pop-
ulation via e-mail groups for pre-hospital emergency maintenance.
Survey forms were sent via e-mail to 315 people who accepted to
participate in the study, and 170 replies were again received via
e-mail. Personnel working in protective health services and health
institutions at the disaster area were excluded from the study. The
survey included 5 questions on descriptive data that were asked
to the participants, whereas 4 questions were asked to determine
the frequency and eectiveness with which they used social media
during and after the Van earthquake task.
Statistical Analysis
The acquired data were analyzed via SPSS (Statistical Package
for the Social Sciences Chicago, III, USA) 16.0 statistical software. Fre-
quency distribution and percentages were used for data analysis.
Results
Participants from 42 dierent cities were contacted during the
study. The age average of the participants was 28.54 (standard devi-
ation: 7.066). The youngest participant was aged 20, and the oldest
was aged 51. The career experience average of the participants was
6.27 years (standard deviation: 5.357). The participant with the least
experience had an experience of 1 year, whereas the participant with
the highest experience had an experience of 28 years. Information
regarding the genders, career groups, social network membership
status, and their task durations at the disaster area has been given
in Table 1.
In total, 66.5% (n=113) of the participants indicated that they
used social networks to acquire information after their task assign-
ments were made and before they went to the region. Of these peo-
ple, 61.1% (n=69) used social networks to contact and carry out co-
ordination with their colleagues and other health vocation groups in
the study area, whereas 56.6% (n=64) used social networks to gain
information about weather conditions and social and cultural struc-
ture; 47.8% (n=54) to learn the damages after the disaster; 42.5%
(n=48) to learn about the experiences of people working at the di-
saster area; and 27.7% (n=31) to learn about the risks in the disaster
area (Table 2).
Of the participants, 64.7% (n=110) was able to access and eec-
tively use social networks during the time they spent working at the
disaster region; 69.4% of the participants indicated that they shared
information in social networks about the disaster region after they
completed their tasks (n=118). Of these people, 71.2% (n=84) stat-
ed that they shared their experiences with those who were going
to work there after them, 64.4% (n=76) stated that they told those
who will work after them about the risks at the disaster region, 61.9%
(n=73) stated that they shared the current status and damage at the
disaster region, 56.8% (n=67) stated that they shared information to
JAEM 2014; 13: 58-61
Ekşi et al.
Disaster Communication 59
Variable n %
Gender
Male 129 75.9
Female 41 24.1
Vocational Groups
Emergency medcal techncan 65 38.2
Paramedc 42 24.7
Ambulance drver 18 10.6
Nurse 17 10.0
Doctor 14 8.2
Other* 14 8.2
Are you a member of any social network?
Yes 164 96.5
No 6 3.5
Your task at the disaster region?
Emergency medcal personnel 125 73.5
Rescue personnel 45 26.5
Your period of work at the disaster region?
1 Week 26 15.3
2 Weeks 106 62.4
1 Month and above 38 22.4
*Other vocatonal groups nclude those, such as anesthetcs techncans, radology
techncans, psychatrsts, and pharmacsts
Table 1. Defntve nformaton on partcpants
Variable n %
I consulted socal networks n order to provde communcaton and coordnaton between my colleagues or 69 61.1
other vocatonal groups workng at the dsaster regon.
I reached local nformaton about the dsaster regon (weather condtons, socal and cultural structure, etc.) 64 56.6
va socal networks.
I consulted socal networks to gan nformaton about the current status and damage at the dsaster regon. 54 47.8
I consulted socal networks to learn about the prevous experences of those workng at the dsaster regon. 48 42.5
I consulted socal networks n order to learn about the new rsks (contagous dseases, secondary accdents, etc.) 31 27.4
that occurred at the dsaster regon after the earthquake.
*The partcpants were nformed that they can select more than one answer.
Table 2. Reasons why partcpants consult socal networks pror to gong to ther task area*

attract attention to the troubles in disaster management at the re-
gion, and 39.0% (n=46) stated that they shared information about
disaster relief materials required at the region as well as the needs of
organizations (Table 3).
Discussion
Today, social networks are frequently used in disaster manage-
ment both for training and informing during the preparation stage
and as part of the disaster communication during intervention work.
The number of tweets sent during the Fukushima disaster in Japan in
March 2011 reached 5000 in a second. One of the followers of a news
anchor on a TV channel sent the addresses of his relatives who were
trapped under the rubble during the October 2011 Van earthquake
via Twitter, and the anchor was able to transfer this message to the
search/rescue teams, saving the lives of 2 people (6, 7, 8).
A study carried out by the American Red Cross in 2011 has put
forth that the social network participation ratio of the general pop-
ulation is 48.0% (9). The social network participation ratio of disaster
health and rescue personnel was determined as 96.5% in this study.
A study carried out by Williams and Pittman has put forth that during
the August 2011 earthquake in the state of Virginia in the USA, the
disaster aid personnel working in New York City used social networks
to acquire information about the current status at the disaster region
during the rst few hours (10). Social networks are seen as important
tools in disaster communication by both the general population and
the disaster intervention personnel. Sutton et al. have carried out a
study on the October 2007 South California forest res sample event
and have determined that the ratio of the local people who used
social networks during the disaster was 10.0% (11). The ratio of per-
sonnel working at the disaster region who consulted social networks
for information was determined to be 66.5%. The fact that the social
network membership ratio and the use of social networks in disaster
communication of emergency health and rescue personnel use are
higher than those of the general public shows that social networks
can be used eectively for disaster communication.
A study carried out by the Canada Virtual University has put forth
the areas in which social networks can be used for disaster communi-
cation: evaluation of the current status and damage; attracting atten-
tion to problems in crisis management; sharing of expertise and expe-
riences about rescue and intervention operations; and informing the
intervention personnel about the disaster region (12). It is shown that
social networks were used eectively during the Van earthquake ex-
ample in all areas reected in the literature. The fact that 64.7% of the
participants had access to social networks during their time at the di-
saster region shows that social networks are important tools in the in-
tervention process. When we consider that one of the important goals
of disaster communication is to ensure proper coordination among
disaster intervention personnel as well as provide the adaptation of
the personnel to the disaster region, the importance of social net-
works in disaster communication becomes even more striking (13).
The evaluation of the current status and damage as well as plan-
ning the aids that will be made is very important during the rst few
days of a disaster (14). It is observed that a signicant portion of the
participants in the study shared information on the current status at
the disaster region as well as the aids that were required via social
networks. Another topic that is important for disaster intervention
personnel is being aware of additional risks they might face in the
disaster region (15). The study carried out has put forth that interven-
tion personnel consult social networks frequently to get information
about the additional risks that might occur in the disaster region and
share relevant information as well. Another area where communi-
cation should be used in disaster management is the sharing of the
lessons learned as well as the successes and problems that occurred
during the intervention. Disaster management is a form of process
management where success can be attained via eective evaluation
studies (16, 17). It was observed in the study that 71.2% of the partic-
ipants shared via social networks the experiences they gained during
their work at the disaster region, whereas 56.8% shared the problems
that were faced.
Study Limitations
National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) from the Ministry of Edu-
cation was evaluated during the study as the rescue personnel, and
rescue teams from the Presidency Emergency and Disaster Manage-
ment Department as well as from non-governmental organizations
were not evaluated. Hence, the study results cannot be generalized
for all rescue teams.
Conclusion
Emergency health and rescue personnel use social networks
frequently and eectively in order to provide coordination and har-
mony at the disaster region as well as to evaluate the current status,
dene the risks, and share the experience acquired during disaster
management.
Ethics Committee Approval: Due to the nature of this study,
ethics committee approval is waived.
Informed Consent: Written informed consent was obtained
from emergency medical personnels who participated in this study.
Peer-review: Externally peer-reviewed.
JAEM 2014; 13: 58-61
Ekşi et al.
Disaster Communication
60
Variable n %
I shared my experences and the nformaton that I acqured for those who wll go to the dsaster regon after me. 84 71.2
I told the rsks to those who wll go to the dsaster regon after me. 76 64.4
I shared nformaton about the current status and damage. 73 61.9
I shared nformaton to attract attenton to the problems n dsaster management. 67 56.8
I shared nformaton about the ad materal requred n the dsaster regon and how to organze ths materal. 46 39.0
*The partcpants were nformed that they can select more than one answer
Table 3. Shares n socal networks of partcpants after completng ther tasks at the dsaster regon*

Author Contributions: Concept - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Design - A.E.,
G.S.K., S.Ç.; Supervision - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Resource - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.;
Materials - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Data Collection&/or Processing - A.E.,
G.S.K., S.Ç.; Analysis/ Interpretation - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Literature
Search - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Writing - A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.; Critical Reviews -
A.E., G.S.K., S.Ç.
Acknowledgements: We sincerely thank İsmail Cem Kantarlı for
his technical aid.
Conict of Interest: The authors declared no conict of interest.
Financial Disclosure: The authors declared that this study has
received no nancial support.
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Disaster Communication 61