Social Media and Emergency Response

OK, I have to admit it.  My blog yesterday about the just released paper called “Transforming the Response Enterprise” ended up a little short on analysis and related opinion.  Earlier in the evening Kim Stephens asked me how I was ...

A few days ago I read an advance copy of a paper:  2011 Social Media Emergency Management Camp –Transforming the Response Enterprise, written by Clarence Wardell III and Yee San Su. It summarizes the efforts of a charter group of ...

This week I led a four hour session on crisis response for the leadership of the three higher education institutions in my community; a four-year state university, community college and a technical college.  Presidents and key administrators gathered to learn ...

Last weekend I tapped the #SMEM community, asking for their “Commandments” related to use of social media in emergencies.  It generated a dozen or so replies, many with a common theme.  I’ve incorporated them into my own list below.  What ...

In one of his recent blog posts for Emergency Management Magazine, Eric Holdeman declared the debate over as it relates to the need to use social media tools in emergency management.  I’m not so sure the debate or discussion is ...

One of the most frequently expressed mantras in the social media for emergency response world is; “Engage before the big one, or you will be irrelevant.”  So what does that mean?  It is fairly easy – but time consuming – ...

This week I flew to Washington D.C. along with three fellow thought leaders in the use of social media for emergency management/response.  Brian Humphrey, Lead PIO for LAFD, Mark Basnight, PIO for Charlotte, North Carolina FD, and Denis Gusty, DHS ...

The little trembler on the east coast yesterday afternoon was fascinating and fun to watch. I’m sure it wasn’t fun for those caught up in it. But for those of us on the “left coast” who have experienced earthquakes it ...

I just read CNN’s article describing the current mindset of the British Prime Minister after the disastrous London riots.  I don’t know where he is getting his information and advice, but blaming the use of social media tools for the ...

The tones hit just as the battalion chief is pulling into the station from a morning of station inspections.  “Battalion 1, Engines 1, 5, 7, 14, Ladder 4, Medic 16, Safety 1, Training 1….. Unknown type fire in a building, ...