Despite considerable efforts to issue emergency preparedness ideas across a number of mediums, the population has largely ignored the instructions and in doing so, placed themselves at increased risk. Social capital represents the ties with our communities – between individuals and organizations, where norm of reciprocity and trust form the foundation, or the glue and lubricant, for achieving our goals.

Recent research has shown that there may be opportunities to use these identified connections throughout the community as trusted pathways, upon which important crisis communications may travel, thereby benefiting from the trust embedded in the structural pathway.

This presentation will explore one such model, leveraging the identification of social connections through network analysis, mapping the sectors of society and discussing a methodology to connect these networks and the local emergency management team.