A Role for CERT in Social Media Monitoring Steve Peterson, President - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

May 13-14, 2014 Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, DC

Steve Peterson, President Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

A Role for CERT in Social Media Monitoring

Agenda

• Share details on CERT’s role in social media

monitoring and situation reporting initiatives

– Key takeaways – Lessons learned – Future enhancements

CERT Can Help

May 13-14, 2014 Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, DC

Initiative #1: Social Media Monitoring

Weather Forecast – March 6, 2013

Pre‐Deployment Strategy

• Began contacting pre‐identified participants
• Developed timeframe to monitor social media

platforms (contingent upon EOC’s length of activation)

• Sought additional CERT members’ participation
• Captured contact information of newly identified

participants

– Developed a communication thread between this small group

Authoritative Tweet

ReTweet ReTweet

Authoritative Tweet

3

ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet ReTweet

4

provided verified info for

2

Posts

Tweets

Tweets Posts Posts

Tweets

Tweets Posts

1

GENERAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS GENERAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS GENERAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS GENERAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

Deployment: How It Worked

with certain terms

• r combination of

terms

– E.g., snow + hospitals

How It Worked: Finding Information

• Hashtags provided a quick and easy way to follow a

discussion:

– #mocosnow, #mdwx, #saturn, #mdsnow, #moco, #snowquester, #snow, #dcwx, #vawx,

• Search strings provided the ability to look for tweets

How It Worked: Verification

• Is the information from a reliable source?

– Was the report made by a trusted source? – Individuals’ input desired but verified more closely

• Is the information confirmed by several sources?

– Retweets do not qualify

• Does the information fit into the larger picture for

the snow storm?

– Is this information just “noise” or does it improve your situational awareness?

Trending Topic: D.C. Snow Ball Fight

Assessment of Beneficial Posts

6am 7am 8am 9am 10am

Need information about Maryland roadways and bridges? Follow @MDSHA @MDOTNews @TheMDTA for the latest. #MDSnow You can also follow our live updates on Winter Storm #Saturn, including photos, storm reports, and analysis here: wxch.nl/14oZhb3 MT @MontgomeryCoMD: County's 311 Call Center is open today. Call 311 (or 240‐777‐0311 from a cell phone), bit.ly/YBQlLF. #mocosnow The Baltimore County Emergency Operations Center will be opening at 10:00a.m. ^JW Va state police: I‐81 northbound Exit 235 (Weyers Cave) blocked by disabled tractor trailers. MT @AndrewFreiden: Let me be

• clear. Snow will be extremely heavy

through 10 AM Western Hanover, henrico, Chesterfield. Don't drive #rva Power out? Please do NOT call 911! Use 911 for true emergencies! List of power co's contact info: ht.ly/irmTi#mocosnow Help us filter out the noise of millions of tweets by using #MDSnow to discuss the winter storm in #Maryland. #smem State Power Outage Map: http://ow.ly/ir5mV #MDSnow

May 13-14, 2014 Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, DC

Initiative #2: Situation Reports (SITREPs)

Situation Reports (SITREPs)

• CERT members developed

29 SITREPs from home

• Provided a comprehensive

picture of weather conditions

• SITREPs were readily

available for decision makers within the EOC

2014 CERT SITREP Participation

20 40 60 80 100 120 140

1 2 3 4

Number of SITREPs Tues, Jan 21 Mon, Feb 3 Thurs, Feb 13 Mon, Mar 3

113 32 125 83

Expanded County Coverage

Within

• ne

year March 2013 SITREPs February 2014 SITREPs

2013 Honorable Mention Award

Key Takeaways

• Social Media Monitoring Initiative

– Pre‐established understanding (proactive vs reactive) – Non‐disruptive EOC physical presence (transparent)

• Observed verbal and nonverbal cues within the EOC
• Disciplined in providing updates to EOC manager

– Overlap in shift times (debrief) – Same computer for each shift (centralized)

Key Takeaways – cont’d

• SITREP Initiative

– Data available in real‐time at the EOC – Complete, consolidated report provided to officials within 24 hours

May 13-14, 2014 Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, DC

Future Enhancements

Enhancements: Team Participation

• Seek to expand number of CERT members who

participate

– Solicit participation at general meetings, social media channels, website, and email messages – Assess skillsets before assigning to specific roles and responsibilities

• Example: Volunteers who are skilled in producing, analyzing, and
• rganizing information would be an asset to use in the EOC for

monitoring social media

Enhancements: Training Offerings

• FEMA EMI Training IS‐42a
• Red Cross webinars
• Social media basic training from a variety of sources

Enhancements: Internal Training

• Monitoring strategies

– Who and What to Monitor

• EOC Standard Operating Procedures

– Standardize information flows and formats – Develop standard style of handout and verbal communication – Identify set times to report – Identify instances where immediate communication would be preferred

Enhancements: Mobile App Integration

Montgomery County CERT is pursuing the opportunity to utilize the FEMA mobile app

Conclusion: Volunteers

• Volunteers are an effective resource for providing

both on‐site and virtual support to public safety agencies

– They are always on standby 24/7 and are available to monitor social media traffic – They are trustworthy, credible, trained, and experienced and flexible to changing assignments

May 13-14, 2014 Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, DC

Thank You

Steve Peterson Montgomery County CERT president@montgomerycert.org @montcocert