I'm really happy to say that Emergency Management Ontario has climbed on the social media bandwagon. This long-overdue development comes thanks to some very good work and policy development from a great bunch of people.
(DISCLOSURE: I work for the same provincial ministry that is responsible for EMO and I collaborate closely with them.)
The EMO twitter feed http://twitter.com/#!/OntarioWarnings also comes in French and will be used to provide emergency preparedness tips in routine situations and will be used as an emergency information tool during disasters/crises. This first step in the integration of social media into emergency management is often the hardest to take. Congrats to EMO!
The Twitter account is only one way that EMO will use to warn Ontarians about impending emergencies. They have a well thought out process to let as many people know as possible.
I'm certainly pleased with this development. I can now point at tangible achievements from our emergency management organization. Beyond the use of Twitter, other small steps are occurring and paving the way for a bright future toward a systemic integration of social media into our programs.
Earlier this winter, we worked with CrisisCommons/CrisisCamp Toronto to put up a pilot crowd map. This was done in preparation for a giant snowstorm that never really materialized. However, EMO linked to this volunteer-created map as a proof of concept.
As the digital volunteer/technical volunteer community develops and refined its standards, training and partnerships with official agencies, this sort of collaboration is going to become commonplace.
There is fantastic work being done currently on the Manitoba and Saskatchewan floods. That work could certainly be of great value to the emergency management organizations of both provinces. There have been preliminary contacts between the volunteers that created and are updating the maps and officials. That's very good. The next frontier will be in achieving some kind of more formal partnership. This needs to be done without dampening the enthusiasm and dedication that drives the digital volunteer communities.
But, progress is being made, in Ontario and elsewhere and I must say it's a great era to be involved in emergency management. Again congrats to all my colleagues at EMO.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Latest post on PTSC-Online: Flipping the switch and going into crisis communications mode
A back to the basics post but very relevant.
Here's the link:
http://www.ptsc-online.ca/blogs/crisisemergencycommunications/flippingtheswitchandgoingintocrisiscommunicationsm
Here's the link:
http://www.ptsc-online.ca/blogs/crisisemergencycommunications/flippingtheswitchandgoingintocrisiscommunicationsm
A turning point in the integration of SM
The Japanese disaster perhaps marks a general acceptance of social media as emergency management tools that go beyond emergency information.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byv6t
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Japanese disaster and crisis communications
A month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, 30 days marked by the worst nuclear disaster since Tchernobyl, there's been lots of comments recently on how different Japanese officials handled crisis communications.
I'll review some of those comments here and then add, modestly, a few of my own.
Bill Salvin had this post in late March, a mere two weeks after the disaster struck. One of his key observations centers on the mistrust of TEPCO, the large utility company that owns the stricken nuclear generating station in Fukushima. Lack of clarity, obfuscation, misleading comments are clearly not words normally associated with good crisis communications practices. Yet they sum up this post and many reports from journalists from around the world. Here's an excerpt:
"The company that owns the nuclear power plants, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has been accused of withholding information and downplaying the severity of crisis. It got so bad, a senior government official asked a TEPCO leader, "What in the world is going on?"
A story published in the Japan Times Online this weekend takes another approach. It looks at the different perception of the communications response between internal Japanese and international audiences. The article cites a poll done by the American Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo and it's pretty revealing of how foreigners viewed the response:
"When asked, "What was the biggest challenge you confronted during the crisis?" time and time again, the same messages came back: "misinformed and sensationalized rumors"; "lack of consistent and accurate information about nuclear risk and rolling blackouts"; and "obtaining accurate, complete and timely information to make prudent business decisions" were typical of the responses.
This illustrates that the government's crisis communication response was inadequate, especially from the perspective of the international community."
Another good analysis comes from reputed crisis communications expert Dr. Peter Sandman, author of the Risk = Hazard + Outrage technique. Sandman pays a lot of attention to what wasn't said by Japanese authorities and how that contributed to creating confusion and resentment. His approach focuses on communicating risks that cause alarm and addressing the topics head on. That's something that didn't happen as he writes here:
"But they failed to predict that there would probably be increasing radiation levels in local milk, vegetables, and seawater; that Tokyo’s drinking water would probably see a radiation spike as well; that plutonium would probably be found in the soil near the damaged plants; that the evidence of core melt would probably keep getting stronger; that all that water they were using to cool the plants would probably become radioactive, probably make repair work more difficult and more dangerous, and probably begin to leak; etc. After each of these events occurred, the government told us they were predictable and not all that alarming. But it failed to predict them.
My guess is that officials did in fact predict most of these events – privately. But they failed to predict them publicly."
That failure, according to Sandman, made things much worse in terms of public perception and heightened fears.
Another look at the handling of the Japanese nuclear crisis takes aim at how information was delivered and proves very positive for the main spokesperson for the Japanese government.
The post from Jonathan Bernstein's blog (citing a Japanese colleague) goes over the key aspects of delivering crisis communications.
So, what are my own thoughts? Well, I somewhat agree (I don't speak Japanese so I can't judge, but the key points mentioned in Jonathan Bernstein's post certainly ring true) that the delivery was adequate. But what was sorely lacking was coordination, unity of messaging and a clear sense of strategy.
First, from the onset, there was always an impression (in my mind certainly), that TEPCO and the Japanese authorities were not singing from the same song sheet. There always seemed to be some daylight between their respective positions and statements. The inaccuracies of certain radiation readings didn't help either.
Second. we never really knew until a few weeks in, who was speaking on behalf of a unified response. Were the TEPCO people in charge? Or was the government's Cabinet Secretary? Or the Japanese Prime Minister? There must be some coordination and unity of messaging established right from the start of any major incident from all the key stakeholders. With social media, rumours and contradictory information spread very quickly and it takes a lot of effort to correct that misinformation later on.
Finally, we never got the sense that there was a clearly defined strategy associated with the response. The nuclear incident overshadowed everything and other elements of the response (particularly dealing with the survivors of the earthquake/tsunami) were left exposed and subject to criticism from the media. The confusion regarding crisis communications and risk communications practices in relation to Fukushima helped to muddle the water for the overall response and how it was perceived by audiences, internal and external.
To summarize: a key lesson learned should be the need for immediate coordination of emergency information by all major stakeholders. There must be a sentiment that there is a singular purpose shared by all key parties involved: to inform audiences honestly, promptly, openly and efficiently, using social media and other tools.
That sentiment never materialized in the first weeks of this ongoing disaster.
What do you think?
Manitoba braces for floods
Lots of water coming from the Dakotas.
Amplify’d from www.ctv.ca
Manitoba prepares for flood as Red River crests in N.D.
Concerns about flooding are rising in southern Manitoba. Water levels in the area receded slightly on Sunday, but the Red River has now crested in Fargo, North Dakota, putting people in Winnipeg on alert.
Randy Hull, the city's emergency preparedness co-ordinator, says 2,000 volunteers gathered over the weekend to help sandbag 100 properties in the area that aren't protected by the ring dikes encircling the city.
"As of last night, we were able to finish the first phase of our sandbagging for those at-risk properties that are part of the first part of our response to this event. So we have about 400,000 sandbags that have been put in place," he told Canada AM Monday from Winnipeg.
As the floodwater starts to move up from North Dakota, his crew will move into the next phase which aims to protect another 460 properties, Hull said.
The city is hoping for 900 volunteers a day over the next few days to help sandbag those flood-prone neighbourhoods.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byt0o
A good read on climate change and EM
Some solid research work.
Amplify’d from www.reliefweb.int
Under Pressure: Reducing disaster risk and enhancing US emergency response capacity in an era of climate change
With disasters—and particularly climate-related disasters—on the rise, the global humanitarian response system is under increased pressure to assist growing numbers of people. The US government is the leading global player in this system. The US approach seeks to encompass a broad range of activities and allow humanitarian agencies flexibility in their missions and response. However, as a result, the myriad interconnected US agencies involved—civilian and sometimes military—are without clear leadership and mission, beholden to various legislative constraints, and focused more on disaster response than on proactive disaster risk reduction (DRR).
Disaster data through 2007 indicate increases in the frequency of climate-related disasters, the damage caused, and the number of people affected. On average, during 1998–2007, disasters affected 250 million people a year, with 98 percent affected by climate-related disasters. In 2007, the global humanitarian community spent $700 million (10 percent of all humanitarian assistance) in response to "natural hazard disasters." Oxfam research projects that, with business as usual, climate-related disasters will affect 375 million people a year by 2015. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the most vulnerable regions are Africa and South Asia, where hunger and poverty are already heavily concentrated.
As climate disasters increase in frequency and intensity, the impacts of climate change on food and water security, human health, vulnerability, migration patterns, and conflict potential will likely create increased humanitarian need. If developing-country governments and communities, who are the first responders to these impacts, fail to become more resilient, they may call more frequently upon international disaster responders. Additionally, if a state tips from vulnerability into instability, the presence of a security situation will have implications for the US government. Humanitarian organizations could face a staggering challenge in the coming years, with 634 million people—nearly onetenth of the world's current population—living in at-risk coastal areas and 2 billion living in arid regions expected to become severely water-stressed.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byszb
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The full scope of a terrible tragedy
Going beyond nuclear ...
Amplify’d from www.reliefweb.int
Japan: no end in sight to the unthinkable
A woman at a north Japanese shelter supported by ACT Alliance laments that the unthinkable has happened to her people - and continues to plague them.
"You know, this disaster we thought was something that happens in far away countries, and we never expected that it will happen to us. Aftershocks come every three minutes, and it is still unbelievable what has happened here."
Then, she offers visitors to the shelter a piece of steamed sweet potato, her spirit of generosity stronger than her own wish to eat.
The scale of the twin earthquake and tsunami, with by the threat of nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has now been compouned by severely cold weather. Although Japan is equipped with superior disaster response mechanisms, even it is struggling to deal with the disaster. Police report that 27,000 are dead or missing since March 11. About 300,000 people are living in over 2300 official evacuation sites across Japan, with possibly thousands more in unregistered centres, putting the number of people living at evacuation sites at possibly well over 500,000.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/byood
Friday, April 8, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Going with the flow: SM for flood info
Use social media to communicate promptly and efficiently during a crisis or disaster. Adds built-in resilience to your emergency info program.
Amplify’d from www.mbchamber.mb.ca
City Of Winnipeg to Use Social Media for Flood and Emergency Preparedness Communication
The City of Winnipeg activated new Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts on Monday, April 4, 2011, as part of our overall flood and emergency preparedness communication strategies.
The three emergency specific social media accounts will support the City’s existing EmergWeb site and provide residents with additional sources of up-to-date information on emergencies within the City.
“By adding social media tools to our emergency communication strategy, Winnipeg residents will have multiple ways to stay informed,” said Randy Hull, Coordinator of the City’s Emergency Preparedness Program.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/by8lp
Social Media as a CT tool
Well, certainly in the emergency info sense
Amplify’d from news.yahoo.com
US to use Facebook, Twitter to issue terror alerts
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government's new system to replace the five color-coded terror alerts will have two levels of warnings — elevated and imminent — that will be relayed to the public only under certain circumstances for limited periods of time, sometimes using Facebook and Twitter, according to a draft Homeland Security Department plan obtained by The Associated Press.
Some terror warnings could be withheld from the public entirely if announcing a threat would risk exposing an intelligence operation or an ongoing investigation, according to the government's confidential plan.
Like a gallon of milk, the new terror warnings will each come with a stamped expiration date.
The 19-page document, marked "for official use only" and dated April 1, describes the step-by-step process that would occur behind the scenes when the government believes terrorists might be threatening Americans. It describes the sequence of notifying members of Congress, then counterterrorism officials in states and cities and then governors and mayors and, ultimately, the public. It specifies even details about how many minutes U.S. officials can wait before organizing urgent conference calls among themselves to discuss pending threats. It places the Homeland Security secretary, currently Janet Napolitano, in charge of the so-called National Terrorism Advisory System.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/by7j0
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