Spontaneous volunteers can assist emergency services in crisis situations by providing complementary expertise and resources. Sumayyah Ahmad’s research analyses advances in technology and social media and how they have enabled spontaneous volunteers to participate in the crisis communication for major disasters.
Sumayyah’s research highlights the subtleties of spontaneous volunteers’ experiences, discovering and clarifying their nature and giving them a voice by recording their suggestions. While official responders have mixed feelings towards social media, spontaneous volunteers have taken the lead in utilising these platforms during disasters. This study will enable emergency services managers to understand the process of social media reinvention that can guide their own social media policies and approaches.
Sumayyah has presented her research findings at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference in Birmingham in 2019, to the Emergency Management Network in the Department of Premier and Cabinet SA, the Volunteering WA researchers’ network, and at a webinar for the Islamic Circle of New Zealand and Australia. She currently works as a research assistant and instructor at Curtin University and teaches casually at the University of Western Australia.
As a mother who witnessed the devastating 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, Sumayyah Ahmad realised the importance of spontaneous volunteers in crisis management. However, because of the lack of the training, emergency service organisations were hesitant to involve spontaneous volunteers.
Sumayyah was chosen to represent her College at the first meeting of the United Nations Youth Pakistan and received a distinction and first position in her class for her Master’s Degree. She is now studying the social media engagement of spontaneous volunteers in emergency disaster management at Curtin University.
