Author: Jim

‘Tis the holiday season! Some call it the season of giving,
which is something I can always get behind. So, in that spirit, I’ve
got something for you. And this is something that will hopefully be
interesting to both my PIOs and my public health friends. A series
of twelve posts highlighting the very best uses of social media in
public health emergencies. For the next three weeks, every Monday
through Thursday, I’ll publish a new post with the full story and
links for more information. Best practices from around the world, with
a variety of emergencies, and even some preparatory groundwork in case
of an emergency.

And that’s not all! This isn’t just something I’m doing. My very good
friends, Patrice Cloutier and
Kim Stephens, are doing something
very similar, highlighting social media in emergency management best
practices and lessons learned all through the holiday season. All of
this effort will culminate in a joint post by all three of us listing
our choices of the top 10 SMEM destinations on the web.

Please feel free to comment, gripe, disagree, share and otherwise get
involved all throughout the month of December. I’ll be making my
recommendations on what the top 10 should look like based upon your
feedback, so if you love something, let me know!

It’s funny, as more and more of my job becomes about dealing
with the “real media,” the more evidence I see elsewhere that they’re
not the future of public information dissemination. And while some
PIOs will blame that change on members of the media, I think it has
more to do with the amazing state of the art in citizen journalism.
For example…

The amazing Xeni Jardin, of
boingboing.net recently talked on the
Madeline Brand radio
show
about what she calls the “backpack journalists” of the Occupy
protests. Ms. Jardin posted a quick
blurb
on the gear used by these folks, and it is nothing like what Jim
Long uses.

A cell phone. And maybe some backup batteries. And that’s it.

And they’ve broadcasted live for up to 21 hours. To up to 31,000
simultaneous viewers.

Mind you, this isn’t CNN, either, where everyone has that channel
number memorized. You’ve got to seek it out and deal with herky-jerky
livestreaming. Wait till these “backpack journalists” start to get
more user friendly distribution channels (YouTubeLive, anyone?), and
that’s when the media will really start to flip.

I did a bit more digging and found Ms. Jardin’s interview with Tim
Pool, a citizen
journalist overnight the OccupyWallStreet protests in NYC. This is a
definite must-read (and if Ms. Jardin’s cheerleading isn’t your cup of
tea, keep reading, if only to learn about the video streaming drone
they’re planning on deploying).

This interview cemented in my mind how the modern media is losing
relevance. As more and more of the public are confronted with half- or
limited-coverage due to overly restrictive police cordons and access
rules and dwindling newsroom staff, they will seek out—and find—full
coverage elsewhere. This is just the start. If Occupy does nothing
else, it might just hasten the new media paradigm.

A new Twitter friend popped up yesterday, and boy did he
jump into the deep end. Mr. Poirier goes over the why (and more
importantly, how) social media should be integrated into the
day-to-day of your friendly neighborhood
PIO.

He boils it down to four points: 1) Be the official source, 2) Open
the two-way street, 3) Be honest, and 4) Recruit, standardize and
innovate. I have no quibble with any of them. In fact, I don’t know
any governmental PIO who would argue with numbers one and three.
Number two is a sea change that many will come around to eventually
and number four? This is the area that, while not wrong, could use the
most fleshing out and is something I’m actively investigating and hope
to update you all on shortly.

Mr. Poirier uses the Red Cross quoted term, “digital first responder,”
as a possible way to surge our public information staff. I’ve been
working with some emergency managers on the idea of a “virtual
operations support team,” or VOST to do just that. It’s a really neat
idea that ends up being a trust exercise done on a high wire. Scary,
but once it works, man do you have a powerful tool.

The thing I wanted to comment on specifically here was Mr. Poirier’s
term, “digital first responder,” though. While I’ve heard the term
many times before, it never jogged a specific memory before today, and
what a powerful image it presents.

Thanks to the amazing public safety sector here in Philadelphia, I’ve
had the opportunity to hear from folks in Magen David Adom, the
Israeli EMS organization. They cover the entire country and, as you
can imagine, are stretched to the breaking point with such an amazing
charge. They have developed a volunteer corps that is actively
integrated into day-to-day activities of the MDA, the first
responders. Regular, everyday citizens with specialized training and
24/7 notification ability. When something happens, MDA dispatch
contacts the first responders closest to the scene and, if they’re
available, they respond. And start sizing up the situation, and start
administering aid if necessary. They are in contact with central
dispatch the whole time.

This digital first responder could very much be the same. A deployable
volunteer with special training that is actively integrated into our
responses. They’re most likely to spot the initial problem, be closest
to the scene and available to help. By working closely with your PIO
(central dispatch), they could start assessing the situation,
collecting and correcting rumors, and issuing official, approved
messages HOURS before the JIC is set up.

What an amazing parallel! Thanks so much, and well met, Chris!

Definitely check out his blog at
ChristopherPoirier.com.

Update from Nedra Weinreich for those of your interested in the work that MDA does. Apparently, there is a similar volunteer EMS service that is run by chapters around the world called Hatzalah. Just goes to show that with volunteers and a need, anything can happen.