There is one thing emergency teams need ready on arrival, and it's not what most organizations prepare for (opens in new tab)

In January 2023, World Central Kitchen teams traveled to recently liberated communities in Kherson Oblast, delivering hot meals and food packages. People came for aid, but almost immediately they asked for a way to call home — to reach their children, spouses, relatives in another city, anyone who might know whether the others had survived. That experience changed my understanding of critical connectivity. A system matters only when it is ready when a team arrives: a vehicle stops, people gat