The Dirty Bomb Question & Social Media

An informative discussion on the e-mail reflector list for the International Association of Emergency Managers for the past few days has had the subject line of “The Dirty Bomb Question”.

It started off as a technical discussion about the types of radiation likely to be generated by a so-called “Dirty Bomb” attack, and the public reaction to the threat. Then, as discussions do, it morphed into a more broad based discussion about public information, and the need for accurate timely information.

One participant made the point that social media had changed the landscape. In order for agencies to be effective in a disaster, they have to get accurate, reliable information out very quickly. Otherwise, the media and now, the public will fill that void with a mixture of fact, rumors, and misinformation.

Our advice for clients over the past few years has stressed the need to prepackage public information response in advance of an incident. This starts with a review of potential threats, the probability of experience that incident, and the need for public information in the event of it occurring.

For example, nearly every police department should have prepackaged public information ready for a natural disaster such as a tornado. It’s happened before in all 50 states, it’s highly likely to happen again, and the public will need information quickly if it does.

On the opposite end of the scale might be a nuclear attack in your city. It’s never happened in the United States, isn’t highly likely to happen in most cities, but if it did, the need for public information would be off the scale. Thus it’s still a good idea to have public information prepackaged for such an event.

After you determine your needs, then you figure out what kind of information you need to have “in the can” should the event occur. For most agencies, this will take the form of Video News Releases (VNR), press releases or at least “fill in the blank” forms for a release, dark web sites, canned radio spots or announcements, etc.

In recent months, more progressive agencies have added social media templates to the mix. That’s generally a great idea, and gives your agency a head start at putting out information on social networks quickly.

But it’s important to use the right tool for any job. The advantage of social media is that it’s timely, mobile, works well on overloaded networks, and information is easily shared with others. Despite those definite advantages, it’s not good at everything.

During recent incidents such as the tsunami on American Samoa, some agencies have used Twitter and Facebook to try to “feed” links to web sites or press accounts to their followers.

On the surface it seems like a great idea, but it amounts to using the wrong tool. Users who are in the incident area may have very limited access to the mobile network. Voice calls on the network may be difficult or impossible due to infrastructure damage, or network overloading. The chances of someone in the impacted area being able to access a 3-G network to pull up a web page are pretty slim.

Plus, not all web pages display well on mobile devices. Instead of deploying this strategy of “oh, just send them a link to our web page on survival after a tsunami”, instead why not have those survival tips prepackaged into short messages that will fit well into the Twitter or Facebook formats?

Think of it this way, a “dirty bomb” goes off in downtown Chicago, and you’re the local EMA Director. Sure, you can send out a “Tweet” with a URL link to your agencies web page on dirty bombs, and your boss will likely pat you on the back later for your forward thinking use of technology.

Or you can help your citizens by sending out a series of three short messages that you’ve prepared in advance.

MESSAGE #1

SUSPECTED DIRTY BOMB EXPLOSION NEAR MIDTOWN. GET INSIDE A SHELTER. TURN OFF VENTILATION.

MESSAGE #2

SURVIVE DIRTY BOMB. GET INSIDE SHELTER. STAY INDOORS. IF NEAR MIDTOWN, REMOVE CLOTHING AND WASH HANDS & FACE WITH SOAP WATER.

MESSAGE #3

DIRTY BOMB UPDATE. STAY INDOORS. MONITOR LOCAL TV RADIO FOR INFO. CONSERVE CELL PHONE BATTERY POWER. STAY OFF PHONES.

If you put enough thought into it, you can distill the most important things that the public can do to protect themselves in nearly any scenario. To be effective, social media must be timely. You can’t use it to force feed your latest press releases on routine arrests, or to drive followers to your web site three times a week. They’ll quickly tire of that and simply turn off their mobile updates for your agency.

AVOID SOCIAL MEDIA OVERLOAD

Nor can you ignore them for months on end and expect them to still be there when disaster strikes. You must provide a balance in your usage of social media. During September, my cell phone was overloaded with “Preparedness Tips” from national agencies and organizations. Well meaning to be sure, but after just a few days, damn annoying too. Don’t “preach to the choir”. If someone is aware enough to follow a public service or disaster relief organization, then their level of preparedness is probably much better than average.

Law enforcement agencies are guilty of sending out their routine press releases via Twitter too. If a reporter is looking for a good story to fill that days column, then a normal press released routed via e-mail, fax, etc. is a much better tool. You want them to think of social media as their “breaking news” device.

If a reporter or media contact gets a Tweet from your agency, it should be an important case, major incident, or response information. Don’t be guilty of overloading your audience with routine information on their mobile devices. While most of us carry our e-mail in our hands these days, not everyone does.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Last week one of our clients in emergency management argued against all the “hype” surrounding social media. His point was “Less than 30% of all Americans have a Facebook or Twitter account. Most folks still want to get their information from TV or radio during a disaster”.

It’s a great point and valid if you’re looking at the numbers, but it ignores the influence that social media has had on traditional media coverage. Watch an afternoon of Fox News or CNN. Nearly every host and reporter have incorporated their Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, or blogs into their coverage. During breaking news events, photos pour in from “I-Reporters” and Twitter updates from citizens are reported in the same breath as official press releases.

All too often, the “official” press releases lag far behind the social media networks, and misinformation can spread quickly. It’s no longer a matter of “if” your agency should embrace social media, it’s clear that you can’t afford to ignore it.

To be effective, you must revisit your “canned” media materials and incorporate a solid plan of how social media will be a part of it. Plan to get their first with tips that will save lives, reduce confusion, and bring stability to the situation.

THE NEED FOR REVIEWS

Whenever we’re tasked with preparing “canned” emergency messages and public information for our clients, we always insist on incorporating a plan for those materials to be reviewed on an annual basis.

In most cases, reviewed materials require little if any changes from year to year, but if that formal review isn’t incorporated into the agency’s emergency action plans, then five years can go by quickly. Suddenly, an incident occurs, and the PIO finds that their prepackaged materials are out of date. They don’t have the latest guidance, or account for major new highway construction that started last year, etc.

Make a formal written review by both the PIO, and their immediate supervisors a mandatory requirement at your agency.

SUMMARY

Use the right tool for the right job. Social media is highly mobile, near-real time communications tool. It isn’t just an extension of your PR efforts.

Pushing URL Links to mobile users isn’t usually effective, and in a real incident, it may be useless.

Prepackage the most important response actions that your audience can take into your incident planning. Be prepared to send those messages immediately after an incident occurs. Follow them up with the best information you have.

Review your prepackaged media response kits at least annually.