Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
radio, and print) are vital partners in public dissemination of emergency manage-
ment messages; however, these groups inherently filter the message. This type of
message adjustment can be positive or negative, but inherently happens for a variety
of reasons ranging from media bias due to time (or space) limitations based on the
format utilized for distribution. Social media helps eliminate and/or control this
process and allows emergency managers to have an outlet for an unfiltered and fully
developed preparedness or response message, which is critical to ensure that public
citizens receive clear and consistent information.
Likewise, the operational processes such as donations and volunteer manage-
ment have been significantly improved because of the involvement and applica-
tion of social media. For instance, in 2009, the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was
responding to significant flooding from the Red River and was having difficulty
arranging for enough volunteers to support efforts during the middle of winter.
The community implemented a Facebook group and generated interest in volun-
teerism that was roughly equal to 5% of their local population, which significantly
improved their response capabilities.
16
Similarly, donations management has successfully moved into the social media
and Web 2.0 realms after the American Red Cross utilized donations through
text messaging in support of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Specifically, the Red
Cross was able to generate a grand total of $5 million in donations within the
first 48 hours
17
and $30 million within 10 days of the disaster.
18
This figure ulti-
mately accounted for approximately 10% of the total funds donated to the relief
funds. This figure represented a significant reduction in the time commitment and
resources often necessary to collect, manage, and process donations generated in
response to an emergency or disaster.
Another example of a cost-effective, direct access training and public edu-
cation venue is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)
utilization of Second Life. Second Life is an online virtual world where users cre-
ate avatars (or digital likenesses) and within the virtual world can engage in the
physical environment and communicate openly on various topics of interest. The
CDC created an area within Second Life in the spring of 2008 with the hope of
providing information exchange and health education on a variety of issues sup-
ported by the CDC.
19
The CDC's support of Second Life has also ventured into emergency prepared-
ness and response. For instance, in the spring of 2010, the CDC held a virtual talk
in Second Life that was later captured on video and shared via blogs and YouTube.
20
Likewise, Second Life has also been utilized by the University of Illinois-Chicago
School of Public Health to simulate POD sites and distribution of prophylaxis
materials after an anthrax attack.
21
This type of systematic utilization of a virtual
environment has the opportunity to ultimately decrease the cost of trainings and
exercises by minimizing costs related to physical setups and elimination of perish-
able items necessary for public health emergency preparedness training and exercise
activities.
