Have You Seen These

Social Media and Emergency Response

Trump Is Right

President-Elect Donald Trump is right…about one thing… Twitter, kicks ass when it comes to getting a message out. Folks in emergency services better take heed, for more reasons than The Donald’s methods. First, a disclaimer.  I didn’t vote for him. ...

Read More »

A New Form Of Twerorrism

“Verify twice, tweet once” is a mantra continually hammered home whenever quickly evolving, controversial or incredulous situations breaks on social media. But, an unsettling New York Times piece published yesterday reveals new challenges in “verifying twice”, and should be required ...

Read More »

It’s A New Day

I’m stating it right up front: The recent introduction of Meerkat and Periscope will soon turn the world of #SMEM for emergency response professionals upside down. Let me explain. Last month I heard about Meerkat, a live streaming app that used ...

Read More »

More On Meerkat

Well, it’s been two and a half weeks since I blogged on the new #SM kid in town, Meerkat. As the #SXSW conference started, the buzz over this new live streaming video tool evolved into a roar. It became the ...

Read More »

Is It Time For Meerkat?

In a few days the iconic South By Southwest (SXSW)  festival opens in Austin, Texas.  The future of music, film and computer technology is presented and explored, including new social media apps.  Twitter was introduced there in 2007 and Foursquare ...

Read More »

It’s Time To Herd The Cats

“Volunteers bring risk that is hard to manage.” This recent tweet, made by someone with purported emergency management experience, was made in response to my asking the question about several tweets they posted discounting the concept of using volunteers for ...

Read More »

Somebody Needs To Own It

Who’s tired of hearing about the ugliness in Ferguson, Missouri? Me, for one.  I’m tired of watching a community commit suicide by Molotov cocktail, while dedicated police officers try to contain the chaos without getting hurt. I’m tired of hearing ...

Read More »

FSACK-A New Epidemic of Arrogance

Is there something in the water?  Recent stories of leadership faux pas  by fire chiefs, including allegations of criminal and racial activities are damaging the reputation of their departments and the fire service in general.  Dave Statter’s blog, Statter911 features ...

Read More »

Response Times-Time To Get Real!

On October 23rd, the Los Angeles Times published an article about LAFD’s response time performance to emergency calls. “No progress on LAFD 911 response times, new data show” blared the headline, summarizing data about how long it takes to; 1. ...

Read More »

Fearbola Is Here

A couple months ago I wrote a piece about public concern with bringing an Ebola infected U.S. citizen back home for treatment. At the time I thought the hysteria surrounding this maneuver was way out of proportion to the potential ...

Read More »