In all the hubbub about how great Twitter is for real-time communication, we often overlook one potentially critical usage of Twitter - Twitter as a communication system for emergencies of all shapes and sizes. During the unrest in Iran following the disputed presidential elections, we saw extensive use of Twitter as a tool for organizing protesters - so effective, in fact, that the authorities in Iran allegedly began using Twitter to try and stay one step ahead of protesters, even spreading misinformation with the tool. In light of how effective Twitter was in that case, we should consider Twitter's effectiveness in the case of emergencies.

In 2008, a British surgeon volunteering in the Democratic Republic of Congo used text message instructions to perform a life-saving arm amputation. He was outside of normal communication channels, in an extreme situation, and used SMS to contact the only person he knew who was familiar with the procedure, a surgeon in Britain. That surgeon communicated the instructions back to him via SMS and the surgery, despite being performed in less-than optimal conditions, was successful.

Now imagine how Twitter could play out, if more people used it and if people were better at finding the people they need on the microblogging platform. On Twitter, at any given moment, you have thousands of people who are experts in their particular fields, and whose help may be sorely needed by others, somewhere in the world. If people were better connected through Twitter (and it stands to reason that the more people use Twitter, the better connected Twitter users will become), they could route emergency requests to the proper, knowledgeable Twitter users, who could provide their expertise as needed.

Case in point: I recently became the unexpected surrogate mother to an abandoned baby kitten - something I know absolutely nothing about. After sharing my problems with bottle-feeding on Twitter, I quickly received responses from people who weren't even on my follower list - apparently someone who follows me on Twitter also follows several cat breeders, and contacted them on my behalf to ask them for their help in my situation. The help they gave over Twitter proved to be effective and timely - and if it weren't for Twitter, I'm not sure who else could have answered my questions at 2:00 in the morning.

Twitter's potential to be a powerful tool in emergency management goes beyond simple household emergencies - in the case of more large-scale emergencies, Twitter could well prove to be a crucial tool for organizing emergency response. Imagine how Hurricane Katrina might have gone if more people (most notably, FEMA) had been using Twitter and had made a greater effort at monitoring communications in the storm-stricken city of New Orleans. What went wrong in that situation was a critical lack of information, and a critical breakdown in the line of communication between the survivors and rescue personnel.

One of the best things about Twitter is that it can be used via SMS - meaning that when regular phone lines are tied up (in emergencies, frequently all circuits become tied up), people can continue to use Twitter via SMS to remain connected with the rest of the outside world. The infrastructure is already there, and the more people begin to use Twitter, the greater its potential as an emergency management tool becomes.

Do yourself a favor - get onto Twitter now, not later. As with all emergency management planning, an ounce of preparation now can make all the difference in the long run.