The DHSEM Strategic Communications Team recently participated in a podcast with DC Public Safety Radio to discuss the Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team (COVOST) and the use of VOSTs in emergency management. Use this link to listen to the podcast:
http://media.csosa.gov/podcast/audio/2016/04/social-media-emergency-operations-virtual-operations-support-team/
Showing posts with label VOST. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VOST. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Thursday, May 28, 2015
COVOST Article in FEMA Tech-Hazards Digest
By Micki Trost, CSEPP Public Affairs IPT Co-Chair
Recent disasters have illustrated how social media are used increasingly by both emergency management organizations to communicate public safety information and members of the public to update their status, location, or describe events they are witnessing. Emergency managers now use a VOST to provide situational awareness through social media and online information sites during emergencies.
VOST is a team of trusted agents who lend support via the Internet to those onsite in an emergency. The volume of data generated during a disaster may be overwhelming to has been trained on the VOST.
CSEPP public information officers in Colorado and Kentucky participated in COVOST activation as members for the Colorado 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships and 4/20 events. The training and participation in a non-emergency enabled the CSEPP PIOs to use the specific skills that would be performed during a real emergency. The activation also highlights the importance of maintaining situational awareness during non-disasters affecting our communities.
The CSEPP PA IPT is currently discussing how the VOST concept can be used program wide.
Micki Trost is the Strategic Communications Director for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She also serves as the co-chair of the CSEPP PA IPT.
View original article posted in the May-June FEMA Tech-Hazards Digest - Scroll to page 4.
Recent disasters have illustrated how social media are used increasingly by both emergency management organizations to communicate public safety information and members of the public to update their status, location, or describe events they are witnessing. Emergency managers now use a VOST to provide situational awareness through social media and online information sites during emergencies.
VOST is a team of trusted agents who lend support via the Internet to those onsite in an emergency. The volume of data generated during a disaster may be overwhelming to has been trained on the VOST.
CSEPP public information officers in Colorado and Kentucky participated in COVOST activation as members for the Colorado 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships and 4/20 events. The training and participation in a non-emergency enabled the CSEPP PIOs to use the specific skills that would be performed during a real emergency. The activation also highlights the importance of maintaining situational awareness during non-disasters affecting our communities.
The CSEPP PA IPT is currently discussing how the VOST concept can be used program wide.
Micki Trost is the Strategic Communications Director for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She also serves as the co-chair of the CSEPP PA IPT.
View original article posted in the May-June FEMA Tech-Hazards Digest - Scroll to page 4.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Remarkable Colorado Social Media Exercise
Colorado is a remarkable state!
How remarkable is it? Find out through the first ever Remarkable Colorado social media exercise during the Colorado Integrated Emergency Management Conference - February 24-26, 2015.During this conference the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) Strategic Communications Team will lead a conference wide social media training and exercise opportunity. Inspired by Colorado's 50+ remarkable Fourteeners, the training will consist of over 50 unique questions and tasks each designed to encourage conference attendees to use their personal accounts to practice and exercise social media tools and concepts.
The social media exercise will have two tracks. The first will be centered around the hashtag #CEMA15. The tasks and questions in the #CEMA15 training track will challenge users to engage in the conference using social media and are also designed to get users thinking conceptually about how they could use social media tools to benefit their own emergency management program.
The second track is focused on Remarkable Colorado. The Remarkable Colorado social media exercise will present over 50 unique tasks and questions to the hashtag #RemarkableCO. These tasks will use the backdrop of our majestic Fourteeners to challenge users to learn and use new social media tools, tips and tricks.
How will the exercise work?
The DHSEM Strategic Communications Team will lead both the #CEMA15 and #RemarkableCO training tracks through the @COVOST social media accounts. Throughout the conference tasks and questions will be posted on the COVOST Twitter and Facebook pages using the appropriate hashtags. Users are encouraged to respond directly to the posts.The questions and tasks will simultaneously be made available in hard copy at the DHSEM table at the conference and listed in full on www.COVOST.blogspot.com. This will be done to allow interested users to go through each task and question on their own time as they are able.
Micki Trost, DHSEM Strategic Communications Director, and Nathan Hunerwadel, Communications Specialist, will be available in person at the conference to answer any questions. They will also be available via their social media accounts (@PIO3Micki and @Hunerwadel respectively).
Ready to get started?
Start out by making sure you are following and liking the following accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Questions and tasks will be posted on this site beginning 2/24/15 at 7 a.m.
Twitter:
Facebook:
Not attending the Conference?
You can still play! If you would like to sharpen your social media skills please feel free to play along with us! Experienced social media users and COVOST members are encouraged to participate and are welcome to help answer questions that new social media users might ask during this exercise. Remember, there is no such thing as a social media expert. We all can learn something new during this conference!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Thank you from DHSEM Director Kevin Klein
The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team dedicated 400 hours in support of Eagle County during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships. We could not do it without the dedication of our many volunteers. The video below shares a thank you from DHSEM Director Kevin Klein.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
COVOST Supports Eagle County during the #Vail2015 Alpine World Ski Championships
The mission of the COVOST is to lead and support the State of Colorado and our local Colorado communities through the innovative use of social media and other online tools. The team has been activated by Eagle County to watch social media for emergency management concerns, rumors, mentions of agencies & amplification of official messages sent by approved agencies during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships.
Three days into the event the COVOST is happy to report that the trend on social media shows excited spectators, busy media and engaged vendors.
The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team is managed by the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and is made up of volunteers spread across the state, the nation and the world. Multiple members across seven different states have been involved in this activation. The team as whole will have logged over 100 hours in support of Eagle County by the end of the day today. The team will remain activated through February 15th.
Wonder how the team works? Check out this VOST Introduction and Orientation Video:
For more information visit www.covost.blogspot.com. You can also follow the COVOST on Facebook and Twitter. Contact Nathan Hunerwadel, COVOST Manager, if you would like to join the COVOST, activate the COVOST or if you have any questions.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Junior VOST: Guidelines for an Under 18 Program
These guidelines were recently posted to the Virtual Operations Support Group site.
The COVOST supports these guidelines.
This post has been reprinted with permission.
Recently, the #SMEM and #VOST communities were presented
with a new VOST Volunteer initiative for under 18s, a wonderfully
innovative idea, but one that raises concerns about involving children
in supporting official response agencies during all phases of the
disaster life cycle.
Research clearly shows risks to children and teens from exposure to
visual materials that can trigger a strong visceral reaction, yet
Virtual Operations Support Teams routinely tasked with monitoring
social media in an emergency or disaster situation cannot control the
material to which they are exposed in the live stream. Once something
is seen, it can’t be unseen.
This paper aims to:
- help agencies and organizations address key issues related to the participation of youth and children in VOST missions, including monitoring social media accounts.
- raise awareness of the science and research about the risks to children, and
- establish responsible and safe VOST policy guidelines to recommend to those considering a Junior VOST or community youth volunteer program as part of their social media emergency management strategy.
The Science
Carol Dunn is a Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist who specializes in raising awareness of the implications of current findings related to cognitive neurology and how organizations deal with and communicate risk. She has put together the following collection of research work and articles to assist planning decisions:- The teenage brain processes fear learning differently than adults. Teens are unable to extinguish fears, and trauma experienced as a teenager has a greater chance of causing long term changes in behavior. http://weill.cornell.edu/news/pr/2012/09/learning-to-overcome-fear-is-difficult-for-teens.html
- Studies also show that when children are immersed in information about a traumatic event, they risk experiencing PTSD symptoms even when they aren’t directly affected by the event. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/basics/media-coverage-traumatic-events.asp
- Professional advice is for caregivers to limit children and teen’s exposure to traumatic situations. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/mhdpr/child-tv.pdf and http://dartcenter.org/content/children%E2%80%99s-reactions-to-trauma-related-news-media#.VIjGhGd0w7U
- A study has found that dispatchers face greater risks from trauma linked to duty related exposure to traumatic experiences that happen to others, implying that direct physical exposure isn’t required for an individual to undergo the long term changes related to experiencing trauma.
- Wired has an article about the evidence of people who moderate images experiencing long term effects. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/#slide-id-1593151?src=longreads
From the moment you see the first image you are changed for good .… But where law enforcement has developed specialized programs and hires experienced mental health professionals …. many tech companies have yet to grasp the seriousness of the problem.
- Some adolescents have a strong negative response to negative imagery, which is linked to an increase risk of PTSD http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/07/15/brain-responses-to-emotional-images-predict-ptsd-symptoms-after-boston-marathon-bombing/
- Greater exposure to post disaster information and imagery increases children & youth’s risk of PTSD: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17276653
- Previous exposure to traumatic situations has been found to increase risk of long term brain changes, so even if individuals don’t respond negatively in the short term, the situations they are exposed to today can play a role in later trauma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816923/
Potential Benefits of Junior VOST
We also recognize that volunteering at a young age has been found to: promote a healthy lifestyle and choices, enhance development, teach life skills, improve the community, and encourage a lifelong service ethic. (source) Therefore, it is not our intention to squelch student VOSTs, but to ensure that programs operate with full awareness of the risks.The same good management techniques apply to children as to adults. However, they may need to be modified or adapted to appropriately relate to children.The VOSG seeks to ensure the highest standards of safety to everyone under any program we are asked to endorse or recommend. With this in mind, we have outlined a suggested program that we think would provide a good model for how to incorporate student volunteers appropriately within a Virtual Operations Support Team. Examples given are for guidance purposes only; responsibility lies with the Agency or Organization managing the VOST or student program.
Example Junior VOST Program Outline
The team’s purpose, objectives and goals are outlined in an age appropriate way to maximize youth opportunities and the community vision for team growth and progression towards joining a professional team when old enough (18+). This program is designed to mitigate risk to children by aligning the Junior VOST more closely with a “Preparedness VOST” than any other phase in the disaster life cycle, with some activities and tasks explicitly excluded that a fully operational VOST would engage in when deployed during a disaster to support an overwhelmed or under resourced agency. Team members may not be placed in a situation where they could be exposed to the risks and stress that even hardened digital first responders often find challenging, such as a situation with fatalities. Students are encouraged to participate in live VOST Exercises using benign events, such as a sports game, to become familiar with how to use social media and to communicate with authorities should a real live emergency be presented to them during their day-to-day activities or as a survivor of an incident in which they are directly impacted. With this in mind, we strongly recommend any mission that includes minors explicitly excludes monitoring the live stream in a real emergency or disaster situation, allocating such tasks only to a professional social media monitoring team or VOST comprising adults with more advanced training. To manage risk, Junior VOST missions and tasks are classified prior to activation using a common rating system and re-evaluated during operations should unforeseen escalations occur. Parents and guardians are asked to sign a waiver and are given information about what is involved.Example Junior VOST Program Values
- Educating and acquainting the student with a modified, age-appropriate VOST environment, encouraging an interest in using social media for emergency management (SMEM) and fostering future leadership.
- Recognizing that service of Junior VOST volunteers is both needed and appreciated.
- Recognizing that serving as a VOST volunteer is a privilege and carries great responsibility.
- Acknowledging that a Junior VOST cannot replace or replicate an adult team.
- Encouraging students who are responsible, dependable, caring, have the ability to follow direction, and who can provide high quality support service to our professional teams, and eventually, join them.
Example Mission Rating System
- G: General - All Ages
- PG: Adult Supervision and Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.
- PG-13: Adult Supervision and Guidance Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.
- R: Restricted. Under 18 Requires Adult Supervision and Guidance.
- NC-18: No One Under 18 Authorized To Support Mission
Example Junior VOST Tasks
Selected tasks that might be safely allocated to a Junior VOST team, grouped by phase. Each task would be rated for age appropriateness.Preparation:
- Create VOST workbook templates and populate with search strings, key websites and resources, ready for use.
- Create “Lay of the Land” lists of official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc.
- Create or source local community maps to mark emergency related resources - shelter locations, hospitals, school etc.
- Monitor app use in the local community and keep the Agency informed of new apps and trends of interest, especially in use amongst youth.
- Assist and support Preparedness Messaging: Junior VOST could pull together fact sheets on all-hazards events and possibly assist in breaking those down into social media messages to be available for PIOs to use. This age group might also assist with official preparedness accounts such as @READYColorado messaging or monitoring instead of the operational @COEmergency side of the house.
- Help build Community Resilience by promoting the use of SMS alerts, Code Red, etc.
- Tech support: Help professional EM staff gain a better understanding of the world of social media, set up systems and troubleshoot tech issues.
- Prepare a coordination summary for Junior VOST reporting of 911 type issues.
Response and Recovery:
- Junior VOSTs are not engaged during the response phase of an emergency or disaster situation due to high stress levels and risk of trauma involved in routine VOST monitoring activities.
- A Junior VOST may be able to assist with some limited recovery tasks where pre-filtered feeds can be determined as suitable content, such as sorting, categorizing, or mapping, including identifying volunteer opportunities.
- At no time should a Junior VOST member be asked to monitor live unfiltered feeds while an emergency response is ongoing, neither to help identify 911 issues on social media, nor prepare official reports.
Junior VOST - Guidelines for an Under 18 Program by The Virtual Operations Support Group is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
#SMEMau Australian Disasters – 2nd Annual #SMEMchat Special Event
Members of the Colorado Virtual Operations Support team will be supporting this event. Check it out!
Join us on the #SMEMau tag as we explore the issues!
Where: On Twitter, event hashtag: #SMEMau.
For those new to twitter, follow the discussion at http://bit.ly/RPe6ow or search for the #SMEMau hashtag.
For other time zones: www.timeanddate.com
“Read Ahead” Participant information posted here
Some of the major incidents in Australia 2013 – 2014 are listed here
Here’s a list of some of the major incidents experienced in Australia since our last event, as provided to us by the Emergency Management Agencies in Australia, coordinated by VOST Vic for the Virtual Operations Support Group. http://bit.ly/1imWNEM
10 Questions (example only – actual questions may change).
When: Thursday 8th May 2014 – 1900 to 2030 US EDT
Friday 9th May 2014 – 0900 to 1030 Australia AET
For other time zones: www.timeanddate.com
“Read Ahead” Participant information posted here
Some of the major incidents in Australia 2013 – 2014 are listed here
10 Questions (example only – actual questions may change).
- How has the use of social media in emergency management in Australia changed in the past year?
- Social media lends itself well to community recovery. How can we encourage its use to enable people to help each other?
- Many people reach out for help with pets/livestock. How does social media assist in the management of animals during disasters?
- Emergency hashtags are an often-overlooked component of a communication strategy. Is your organization prepared with an emergency hashtag strategy?
- Do you use infographics to communicate with the public?
- Do you use press releases and infographics during your activations to inform the press/ public?
- What social media tools do you provide the public to help them prepare for disasters?
- Do you engage digital volunteers during a disaster? If so who?
- What social media tools do you promote to help the public help themselves and each other in the recovery phase?
- …. UAV use, Twitter Alerts, Project Self-Serve and more.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
COVOST Introduction & Brief History
Ours is a digital age where the
virtual world must be fully engaged.
The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team (COVOST) grew out of the preexisting Jefferson County Virtual Operations Support Team (JeffcoVOST).
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office realized that the modern information sharing strategy must differ from traditional press release based ‘pad n paper’ media outreach. The Sheriff’s Office thus created and activated, in 2013, the JeffcoVOST as part of its overall integrated social media and public information strategy.
The intent of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was to define and refine the integrated social media and public information strategy. To this end, the Sheriff’s Office used the JeffcoVOST to not only support the information strategy but also to gather information for the purpose of informing and influencing the planning and operational response while simultaneously providing vital overall situational awareness.
In March of 2014 the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) adopted the JeffcoVOST and restructured the team into the COVOST. DHSEM continues to work in close partnership with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to insure the continuity and success of the COVOST program.
The COVOST is specifically designed to be a resource that will be available to the State of Colorado and any local community that wishes to fully experience the dual benefits of both engaging with, and listening and responding to, the modern virtual landscape.
The COVOST is not meant to replace or substitute any social media response or plan. The COVOST is a resource that can be activated to supplement or enhance a community’s existing social media for emergency response (SMEM) plan.
The virtual operations and SMEM world is a relatively new realm with exciting possibilities. The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team stands ready to further define and refine this virtual arena while leading and supporting communities across Colorado as they continue to mold SMEM into the powerful reality we already know it to be.
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