5 Steps to Social Media for Fire, Police and First Responders Print E-mail
By Chris Burdge

 What are the 5 most used "new" media options for public information officers with police, fire and first responder departments and when is using social media appropriate?


Micro-blogging

Micro blogging makes perfect sense in an emergency when the message needs to be short and no interpretation or further details are required.

"4 alarm fire at 1786 Main Street. Re-route traffic."

Twitter is all about the micro blast the text equivalent of a sound bite. The other use of twitter is to counteract the rumours and misinformation that the general public can fall prey to. The standard best practice is still to have a single point of contact trained in media relations to understand that every word matters and can be used later as either a positive or negative record of the handling of the event. Twitter has found its place in the crisis communication continuum.

Broadcast Text Messaging

The context for these broadcast text messaging are communications tools for messages that are pushed directly those who already belong to a group. Communicating via text message to groups of the public requires more sophisticated and costly infrastructure such as that provided by ConnectCTY. Mobile communications like short message system (SMS) or text messaging are character limited and sent from a centralized, controlled list requiring the communicator have access to cell phone numbers. As such these systems are usually reserved for emergencies such as earthquakes and evacuation orders, rather than geographically limited events like fires.

Blogging

Blogging is a positive tool that has "made it incredibly easy and virtually free to create content, both consumers and the media and everyone in between are creating content at unprecedented rates" (Paine, 2007, p. 2).
Though blogging is just like a written journal it can take some time to collect data and thoughts. Blogging during a crisis is best used to communicate when there is time to thoughtfully collect data. All of the text based communications can be used for communicating facts though the written word is problematic as it cannot convey emotion and is not accessible for the disabled.

Podcasts

Podcasts are like creating your own on-line radio station or public information hub. Whether audio or video, podcasts have become a technology tool of choice to augment text based tools. According to a study in Public Relations Review (Eyrich et al, 2008) , 35% of public relations practitioners use podcasts. Podcasts are effective media during a crisis when writing time is limited and the spoken word or video can be used to communicate more effectively than text.
For example, a calmly spoken message directly from the Director of Fire Services can restore the sense of control in a difficult situation. The View Royal Fire Department in Canada relies on audio podcasting to get the word out during an emergency event to the media and stakeholders including city officials, freeing the Fire Chief to deal with the emergency. They also use podcasting as a public information hub to create engaging content on fire safety.
Further, podcasting no longer requires special streaming to preserve bandwidth.

Tools like DailySplice's Podcast Station host the content on their own servers making the tool available to most sites and do not carry ads like YouTube video content. The Podcast Station is cost-effective, professional looking and allows non-developer PR and PIOs (even Fire Chiefs!) to upload and manage their podcasts from anywhere, at anytime. Podcasting effectively fills the space between the hyper immediacy of the micro or the text based standard blog and the media conference without requiring inordinate time to prepare or post.

Traditional Tools - Media Conferences and E-Mail

At the other end of the communication continuum is the media conference a traditional media tool. Any PR person worth their salt will prepare for the media event and will take the time to prepare their clients carefully. This takes some time and may be best used to debrief when the crisis is no longer pressing.

Text based E-mailing is still the most popular tool for PR, with intranets second (see endnotes). Obviously, we all have our email distribution lists and company communications will naturally flow through established internal processes. During an emergency event, email will have its use though it is limited to the distribution list rather than being available to the general public.

Preparation

Preparation is the key to communicating before, during and after an emergency services (police, fire, first responders) event. Public Relations (PR) professionals and/or Public Information Officers (PIO) who work in the emergency services field will have prepared contact lists, media kits and undoubtedly are set to coach their clients though traditional media conferences.

Yet, seasoned emergency services communicators and practitioners know that there are events that demand disseminating vital information for which the traditional media conference may take too long and in fact, can do harm to your reputation and communications strategy.

The goal for communicating during an emergency event is to provide facts from a respected and trusted source that can be relied on. We are only too familiar with the slow response and consequences of delay as evidenced in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. During an emergency event, communicating facts can save lives.

During a recent flood in Fargo, North Dakota, a member of the public posted information about the height of water to his twitter subscribers. The city used its Facebook account to gather volunteers to sandbag and save portions of the town. Some cities broadcast text messages to citizens to advise of evacuation orders, other cities use audio and video media (podcasting) posted to their websites.
The reality is that all these new media tools have a place in emergency services communications for targeting particular messages to different target audiences at different stages of emergency events. The continuum ranges from the micro-blog of Twitter to a full and formal media conference that is scripted and prepared.

Conclusion
Finally, we all have come to accept that even new media that is "free", has a cost our time and commitment to an effective and complete communications strategy. The efficiency of using any new media technology tool always starts with a plan. For that, we need to ask ourselves the basic questions, "what are we trying to accomplish?", "who will maintain the information", and "how will we measure success?"
Best practices demand that communicators in the emergency services field consider the continuum of new and traditional media tools available to them during emergency events and prepare by having those tools ready to use before the inevitable crisis hits. In the meantime, while we don't know what the next big crisis will be, PR practitioners are becoming more knowledgeable and comfortable using tools higher up the technology continuum as they become more effective and easier to use.

References
Nina Eyrich, Monica L. Padman, Kaye D. Sweetser, PR practitioners' use of social media tools and communication technology, 2008, Grady College, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, United States
Hoggatt, (2008) Diffusion of Technology in Public Relations, University of Oklahoma
WCCO-TV website news article, Using Twitter, Facebook to face the Flood, wcco.com/local/twitter.facebook.flooding.2.968582.html, accessed March 26, 2009
Yoshida, Social networking: boomer adoption up, Gen Y plateaus , Review of Accenture Report, www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216300191, accessed May 27, 2009

For more information on podcasting for Police and Fire departments Multimedia for Emergency Services. For more information on podcasting Podcast Station Chris Burdge of Bwest Interactive is an Internet marketing consultant with expertise in email, online and social media marketing who combines analytical skills with a passion for social media to create strategic marketing campaigns that produce results.
 
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