Adoption of Technology in Emergency Response and Management

Response to Jessica Williams

The major impact of technology in the field of public health relates to how public health data is shared and managed (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2017). There are various ways through which technology is adopted in healthcare preparedness and emergency response including through geographic information systems (GIS). As you pointed out in your article, these systems primarily help in the analysis of information and displaying geographically referenced information. GIS can be utilized in the field of public health to track the geography, risk factors, at-risk populations, and disease hot spots. While your article highlights the role of GIS in the management of public health information, it does not show how it can be employed in healthcare preparedness and emergency response. Given its use to display geographically referenced information, GIS can be used as a mapping tool in emergency response. This would help enhance rescue efforts through better situational awareness in real-time.

Response to Luke Whittemore

Crowdsourcing is one of the examples of how technology can be used in healthcare preparedness and emergency response. Emergency managers and workers can leverage the capabilities of crowdsourcing to enhance information sharing. The use of crowdsourcing enhance emergency communications by enhancing information sharing between the various stakeholders. However, while crowdsourcing improves people’s involvement in emergency response, there are some inherent risks relating to the veracity of information shared. Your article should have highlighted potential crowdsourcing risks and their probable impact on healthcare preparedness and emergency response. The risks of sharing inaccurate information could end up compromising emergency response initiatives since information sharing through crowdsourcing is neither validated nor necessarily accurate.