Emergency Comms

IRELAND HAS experienced some of its worst flooding in 800 years and with the ravaging waters saturating the land, my thoughts turn to emergency communications. As a driver, I would have been served by road closures coming straight into my car radio like with German autobahn updates. Only two regional radio stations in my area use the technology that causes newer radios to boost their volumes when triggered by a critical minute of information. I don't understand why the Irish broadcast spectrum doesn't use the traffic advisory function (PTY on many car radios). Thousands of motorists would have been well-served by updates about road conditions, civil defence musterings and special services. On another note, I wonder if formalised and authenticated channels of communication exist between county engineers and semi-state agencies like the Electricity Supply Board. I raise the point because radio reports talk about Cork City Council being surprised by the hundreds of millions of tonnes of water bursting the banks of the River Lee--as though the relevant authorities weren't talking to each other. That's disconcerting, because citizens deserve the reassurance of knowing critical public safety actions are undertaken expeditiously. As someone who used to manage phone banks for aircraft emergencies, I became accustomed to working with authenticated messages nd dedicated hotlines. Listening to some local radio reports, it sounds lke voice mail and text messages facilitated part of the emergency actions. That doesn't sound right.

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Sent mail2blog using O2-Typepad Nokia E90 service while Foursquaring in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland.

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