A dynamic perspective of emerging coordination clusters in crisis response networks

Disasters and crisis create complex conditions that require intra-organizational and inter-organizational coordination throughout the duration of response operations. Emergency response plans and Incident Command Systems that are implemented at times of crisis are well defined on the intra-organizational level, following organization's own hierarchy and resources. However, in reality, units of different organizations behave differently as they form sub-networks to carry out tasks involved in response operations, despite differences in operating protocols and training background. In this paper we introduce a novel approach to study crisis response networks: the emergence of coordination clusters. The results indicate resilience in the behavior of response units from different organizations as they reorganize into coordination clusters and collectively respond to the unfolding emergency events. Understanding characteristics of coordination clusters helps to identify critical tasks and units beside resources required during emergency response operations. Our results contribute to the continuous change in the concepts of crisis response management and the shift towards a network and function based response protocols.