Hurricane Katrina focused attention on improving the command-and-control management response to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. But what if the command-and-control approach itself is so fundamentally mismatched to dealing with unpredictable, rapidly-changing circumstances (including the incapacitation of command personnel and technology), commonplace in natural disasters or terrorist attacks, that, even if improved, it is still unequal to the task?
The emphasis placed on improving command and control should instead be focused on creating a new, alternative emergency management approach capitalizing on a combination of new communications technology and the science of social networks and “swarm intelligence” that is fundamentally better matched to the circumstances encountered in disasters. The hallmarks of such a strategy would be flexibility, ease of incorporating situational awareness into decision-making, and the ability of anyone available after a catastrophe to create ad hoc strategies with available resources.