In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

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A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Kansas EM Office Smartly Uses Facebook & Twitter To Ask Public If Emergency Outdoor Siren Tests Are Working; Helps Improve System, Community Relationships

August 4th, 2010 · No Comments

The same people who brought you Preparedness Piggy, Johnson County Emergency Management & Homeland Security in Kansas, have come up with another creative idea — using Twitter and Facebook to ask the public whether its emergency sirens are covering the area adequately.

Today, just after drill testing its 177 outdoor warning sirens, officials requested through Facebook and Twitter that residents tell them if they had heard or not heard it. On Facebook (below) they received a “fail” from one resident.

Below is the Twitter tweet:

They received two positive confirmations (below).

I think this a terrific use of Facebook and Twitter by emergency managers to get instant public feedback. Johnson County Assistant Director Adam Crowe told me by e-mail that it has also has helped improve the relationship between the office and the community:

“In the past we have always struggled with getting feedback from the community-at-large in a constructive format. Typically, we only heard from citizens who were extremely upset about the timing or location of our siren testing, while now it has become more of a partnership with the community to know when, why, and how our emergency preparedness program works.”

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Tags: Emergency Alerts · Preparedness 2.0

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