Abstract
When communications are needed the most desperately and most urgently, the difficulty of effecting the desired communications increases exponentially. Recent natural disasters in different parts of the world have provided eloquent testament to this. The history of disaster or emergency communications can provide us with a foundation for understanding the problems encountered today, and can offer us insight into how we might improve the systems and processes for communications. The first applications of communication technology that allowed messages to be sent more rapidly than the fastest form of transportation were mainly military in origin. This review takes us from the days of optical or visual telegraphy, through the early development of mobile and radio communications, and up to the current sophisticated technologies. We pay particular attention to the use of amateur radio operators in times of emergency, and relate their activities to those of the most effective military communications. The germane assumption made in this discussion is that any emergency or disaster communications would necessarily be involved in response and resolution of medical aspects of those emergencies.
Highlights
It is a virtually immutable universal law that when communications are needed the most desperately and urgently, the difficulty of effecting the desired communication increases exponentially
The English word ‘disaster’ comes from a Greek prefix and root word meaning ‘bad star’. This harks back to the notion that calamitous things happen under the influence of bad star alignment
The significance of this ability must not be underestimated. This system represents the first recorded use of error control, flow control, and message priority. These three essential concepts have remained a vital part of all disaster or emergency communications since that time
Summary
It is a virtually immutable universal law that when communications are needed the most desperately and urgently, the difficulty of effecting the desired communication increases exponentially. These three essential concepts have remained a vital part of all disaster or emergency communications since that time. Telephonic communication along wires developed for a number of years, but the first transatlantic cable, from Newfoundland to England, did not open until 1956.
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