Social Media in Emergency Management: The Virtual Operations Support Team Concept

DESCRIPTION Background Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Emergency Management Office personnel established a social media presence in late 2009. However, the emergency management coordinator recognized that the office’s personnel would likely be unable to sustain both their operational and social media responsibilities during an incident. As a result, the coordinator developed a concept for a team of trusted agents that would provide virtual support to social media operations during incidents. These agents would help emergency management personnel manage the large volume of social media information generated during a disaster. The coordinator called this concept the “VOST”. On March 14, 2011, the coordinator posted a request on Twitter for volunteers interested in participating on a VOST. More than 20 volunteers responded to his request. On March 16, the coordinator organized 16 of those volunteers using a modified Incident Command System (ICS) Assignment List (Form 204) and began communicating with VOST members using Skype for orientation and collaboration purposes. The coordinator provided training on ICS structure and terminology for team members who were unfamiliar with the system. Initially, the coordinator planned to have 4-5 people in a single VOST. The

PRACTICE A Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Emergency Management Office, New Mexico, emergency management coordinator established a group of “trusted agents,” to assist with the office’s social media presence. In a large-scale incident, this Virtual Operations Support Team (VOST) can manage aspects of social media operations for the office or for other jurisdictions and organizations that need support.

Skype is a Voice Over Internet Protocol service and software application. Calls between Skype users are free.

Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico, is located within the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area and has a population of more than 6,000 people.

The Los Ranchos de Albuquerque emergency coordinator’s Twitter request for VOST volunteers

(Source: VOSG Blog)

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coordinator established 2 additional VOSTs after receiving additional offers from volunteers interested in the program. The coordinator then created a Virtual Operations Support Group (VOSG) to provide overall management of the VOSTs while maintaining effective span of control. VOST Organization and Reporting During an incident, the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque emergency coordinator activates VOST members to support the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Emergency Management Office or other impacted organizations and jurisdictions that need assistance with social media operations. Each VOST has a team leader that reports directly to the impacted organization or jurisdiction. A VOSG may be activated to coordinate the VOST’s activities while maintaining span of control. The VOSG has a group supervisor that reports to the affected organization or jurisdiction; VOST leaders would then report to the VOSG group supervisor instead of reporting directly to the affected organization or jurisdiction. Currently, a total of 18 people participate in the VOST managed by the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque emergency coordinator. They are located throughout the U.S. in 4 time zones. VOST members use the time zone of the affected organization for coordination. In addition, the modified ICS 204 Assignment List is necessary for incorporating VOST members into the current concept of operations. Deployments 2011 National Emergency Managers Association Conference The VOSG conducted a proof of concept exercise at the Social Media in Emergency Management (SMEM) Camp as part of the 2011 National Emergency Managers Association conference on March 24, 2011. During the SMEM Camp, the coordinator assigned leaders to 3 VOSTs, which were managed by an incident commander and logistics chief as part of a VOSG. The VOSG coordinated communications among the team members; maintained situational awareness throughout the SMEM Camp; facilitated remote viewing of and participation in the SMEM Camp; and developed solutions to challenges with remote viewing and participation. Throughout the exercise, the VOSG members contributed information to Google Docs for inclusion in the ICS 204 Assignment List. At the conclusion of the exercise, VOSG members had revised the form more than 15 times without facing the challenges of emailing and version control. 140 Conference NW The VOSG was activated for the 140 Conference NW conducted by Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency in Vancouver, Washington, on May 19, 2011. VOST members who worked on site at the conference posted information about the conference to Twitter in real time, communicated problems to the Internet audience, and helped answer questions posed through Twitter. Other VOST members provided support from remote sites. These VOST members monitored the Twitter stream of the event and searched for relevant material available on the Internet to supplement the information shared on Twitter. Hurricane Irene VOST members provided support during a large scale disaster for the first time during Hurricane Irene in August 2011. Prior to Irene’s landfall, VOST members populated maps and compiled information about contacts and social media accounts for use by emergency

Additional information about the VOST concept is available at The Virtual Operations Support Group blog.

Google Docs is a free, online office suite that allows users to create and edit documents simultaneously.

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managers and disaster authorities operating in locations in the path of the hurricane. VOST members also reposted warnings and vital communications. One VOST member remained in New York as Irene passed through; other VOST members stayed in contact with her to provide support to local social media efforts The Shadow Lake, Oregon, Fire VOST members supported social media operations during the Shadow Lake Fire in Oregon. The fire began on August 28, 2011, in the Mount Washington Wilderness area. The Portland National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team began response operations on August 31. The Portland NIMO team adopted a strategy of actively monitoring the fire and confining it to the wilderness. This strategy prevented the dangerous situation of firefighters responding in a remote area that lacked roads, natural safety zones, and easy means of exiting the area. The burning of years’ worth of decadent fuels also reduced the remote area’s future fire risk. The fire grew to 10,000 acres and resulted in the evacuation of the Big Lake Recreation Area on September 3. By September 18, the fire was reduced to smolder and smoke. During the fire, U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines prohibited Portland NIMO personnel from using social media for public communication. During the fire, public information officers (PIOs) used InciWeb to share information with the public. However, InciWeb had several limitations. The system did not support video capability and it restricted images to a small size that made them difficult to view. Further, InciWeb lacked a mechanism that allowed the public to submit a comment or feedback. The Portland NIMO PIO was familiar with the VOST concept. She realized that utilizing this volunteer resource, which was unaffiliated with Portland NIMO, would allow her to extend her ability to communicate with the public and to overcome InciWeb’s social media limitations. The PIO requested VOST volunteers through Twitter, and five VOST members provided virtual support to response operations for 19 days. During the Shadow Lake fire, the VOST concept was renamed the Virtual Information Operations Support (VIOS) team to avoid confusion with the formal fire operations team. The VIOS team created new social media profiles, accounts, and blogs to disseminate official information, including maps, road closures, fire movement predictions, and weather information. VIOS team members linked to InciWeb and other social media accounts, blogs, and media Web sites to facilitate information sharing. The VIOS team also monitored the public’s reaction to the fire management strategy employed by Portland NIMO. VIOS team members consulted with the incident management team to help address questions and concerns from the public. Finally, the VIOS team archived its social media communications throughout the event and presented it to the Portland NIMO team in a final documentation package when the VIOS team deactivated. January 2012 Pacific Northwest Floods and Severe Weather VOST members supported social media operations during the January 2012 northwest floods and severe weather that impacted Oregon. During this effort, VOST members focused on short- and long-term recovery efforts in addition to response efforts, which is typically their primary focus. VOST members:

The Mount Washington Wilderness area is located in the central Cascade Mountains of Oregon.

InciWeb is the standard online information management system used to provide public information during wildland fires. It includes information such as photographs, maps, overviews, announcements, and closures.

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identified social media and other emergency contacts for impacted counties; developed a map that showed impacted areas as

reported by the media; created a Storify archive of the incident; and compiled information that that Oregon VOAD

could use in its efforts to develop a plan for conducting a multi-county recovery effort.

Next Steps The VOST concept has gained notoriety across social media platforms. Emergency managers throughout the nation are becoming increasingly interested in the services that the VOST can provide, particularly during catastrophic disasters. Some emergency managers are discussing the possibility of establishing Memoranda of Understanding for VOST members so that they can self-deploy if necessary. The VOST concept has gained popularity beyond the emergency management community as well. For example, the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque emergency coordinator who developed the VOST concept has begun ongoing dialogue with the National Weather Service about the possibility of involving VOST members directly in support of forecast offices. CITATIONS Eriksen, Kris. Public Information Officer, Portland National Incident Management Organization. Interview with Lessons Learned Information Sharing, 5 Dec 2011.

Phillips, Jeff. Emergency Management Coordinator, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico. Interview with Lessons Learned Information Sharing, 16 Nov 2011.

Reuter, Scott. “What is a Virtual Operations Support Team?” idisaster 2.0. 13 Feb 2012. http://idisaster.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/what-is-a-virtual-operations-support-team/ DISCLAIMER Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS.gov) is the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency's national online network of lessons learned, best practices, and innovative ideas for the emergency management and homeland security communities. The Web site and its contents are provided for informational purposes only, without warranty or guarantee of any kind, and do not represent the official positions of the Department of Homeland Security. For more information on LLIS.gov, please email feedback@llis.dhs.gov or visit www.llis.gov.

Storify is an online service that allows members to bundle related information from social media outlets in a single location and provide commentary.