Author Archive

Pitch your local media to feature your agency as the Facebook News Story of the Day. This video combines Facebook reader comments, news reporting, and interviews with paramedics.

Does your Social Media Policy Allow Photos of Members in Uniform or With Apparatus?

Headline: Jackson MS Fire Chief “No Social Media Pix in Uniform.”

Read the full article.

1. It is good to have a social media policy.

2. I am always leery of any policy that will be difficult to enforce and especially difficult to enforce consistently and swiftly.

3. The underlying assumption of a restrictive policy is that social media is a nefarious tool for evil.

4. No uniform/no apparatus policy eliminates opportunities for photos and posts that reflect pride in work, colleagues, and equipment.

5. I always wonder what is the causes of the embarrassment and worry about social media pictures of personnel in uniform. I like to ask, “Are you embarrassed by the low quality uniforms your organization has selected?” Or “Are you embarrassed by the people you have recruited, selected, hired, trained, and retained?” Or “Are you embarrassed by both?

If you are proud of your people and the work they do let them share it with the world. If your personnel work hard training, caring for equipment and one another, and serving the community use social media to shout to the world.

It has never been more important than now for emergency response organizations to share their value to their community. Don’t hide from view with a restrictive social media policy.

Instead create a social media policy that  puts you in the public eye as a high quality organization.

What do you think? Should policies restrict social media pictures in uniform? 

David and I were both quoted in this article, Social Media Provides Direct Channel to Engage the Public. The other experts provide timely and interesting advice. I was struck by the contribution of the legal expert that follower comments and remarks on an organization’s page could be protected by 1st amendment rights and removing those comments might be a violation.

I also advocate for not removing user comments, questions, or complaints. Instead try this strategy.

1. Try to resolve the complaint publicly. Provide information or links to other online resources that resolve the complaint or question. Other readers/users/fans may also aid in your defense with their own successes having questions answered and complaints resolved.

2. Next (or this could be done first) provide information on how the comment writer can privately contact you by phone or email at their earliest convenience to discuss the matter further. When the comment writer or another fan uses this contact information respond to them promptly.

3. Simultaneous to either of the above actions contact the comment writer privately. If the comment was on your Facebook page send them a private Facebook message, Google for their other online contact information, or (gasp) look them up in the local phone book. In your message invite them to contact you to resolve their complaint.

Generally, your organization should have a method for handling customer complaints regardless of how they are heard. What do you do when you receive a hand written letter complaining about service? That should give you guidance on how to handle the online complaints.

Start a New Conversation

Don’t let the unsatisfied customer and exchange of complaints linger at the top of your Facebook feed.

• Post other content of recent events, training completed, or links to useful resources.
• Add photos as those draw interest and traffic.
• Ask fans questions that will facilitate a positive question.

Most Facebook visitors don’t scan through all of your posts. They just look at the most recent. Provide content that is useful, relevant, timely and interesting on a regular basis. Invite interaction rather than shying away from it. Most people are satisfied with the service you provide. Give them opportunities to share that satisfaction.

How does your organization handle complaints on your Facebook page? Share your lessons applied in the comments. 

This post at ProBlogger.com about Auto Responder campaigns got me to thinking about how public safety agencies could use auto responders.

The PIOSocialMediaTraining.com email boot camp is an auto responder campaign. After signing up and opting into the campaign a series of emails are sent on a pre-determined schedule. The same content is automatically sent to every new sign-up, regardless of when they join the campaign. The process is totally hands-off for us.

Public Safety Agencies could create auto responder campaigns to deliver a series of emails that:

1. Teach readers how to perform CPR, use an AED, relieve an airway obstruction. Include links to demonstration videos.

2. Share the history of the department. One email per decade of service.

3. Showcase each of the department’s major services such as EMS, fire suppression, prevention, inspection, and specialized rescue.

4. Demonstrate a series of simple family and personal preparedness steps for natural disaster.

Email Bootcamp Follow-up Messages

Do you have other ideas for an auto responder campaign?

Auto responder campaigns also help you build a list of people that have opted in to receive emails from your organization. In addition to the email bootcamp we email our list once a week if a new post or posts has been added to the blog. We can also add additional messages to the campaign over time.

Does your organization use an auto responder campaign? 

2011 Hurricane season is underway and a new set of hurricane preparedness widgets is available from FEMA. Widgets, by pasting the HTML code into the appropriate location, are useful for:

1. Adding timely content to your blog

2. Linking blog readers to other preparedness resources

3. Ensuring visitors are referred to reputable content that is regularly updated

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of the PIOSocialMediaTraining.com podcast we chat with Attorney Doug Wolfberg, a founding partner of Page Wolfberg and Wirth, about social networking in EMS. Doug is a former EMS field provider and service director that specializes in legal representation of EMS services. Social networking and social media usage is a growing concern of his clients.

During our conversation we discuss common legal and ethical pitfalls, essential social networking policy elements, and immediate actions employers should take regarding social networking usage. It will not be of any surprise to our regular listeners and readers that Doug’s top recommendation is to have a policy that covers important issues related to disclosure of patient information and employers’ rights to monitor social networking usage.

Doug is presenting a webinar: Social Networking in EMS: the legal and ethical pitfalls and how you can avoid them on April 7, 2011. Webinar participants will also receive a model policy. Learn more at PWWEMSLaw.com or by calling 877-EMS-LAW1

JEMS.com has an article about the San Ramon Valley Fire District App that alerts app users of CPR nearby and the location of the nearest AED. David and I appreciate being asked for our thoughts on how social media is being used to increase the likelihood of bystander CPR.

Read the full article at JEMS.com

Read David’s post about the app.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode of the PIOSocialMediaTraining.com podcast we chat with Sgt. Timothy Burrows of the Toronto Police Services Traffic Safety Division about his innovative use of Social Media to engage with his community to lower traffic related collisions, injuries, and fatalities.

We specifically discuss how Sgt. Burrows uses Twitter quizzes to spread traffic safety messages. Sgt. Burrows shares several keys to success, best practices for using hash tags, and the importance of having fun while engaging with his community. Blog post about the Traffic Safety Quiz.

Sgt. Burrow’s social media secret, “Talking and engaging with his social media community.” and “Always follow back.”

Show links:

• @TrafficServices
• Facebook.com/TrafficServices
• Facebook.com/TimBurrows
• @104KDrive
• TrafficServicesTPS.Blogspot.Com

The prospect of social media is overwhelming for many organizations. After a long period of dismissal and denial the first tentative step is to assign [Insert Name] to be the organization social media person. Meanwhile, [Insert Name] continues to have all the same duties they had before this new assignment. Thus [Insert Name] is faced with either doing less of the things they already know how to do well to step off a cliff into social media or to keep doing their usual tasks and flirt with social media a bit while the boss forgets about social media.

You can observe this phenomenon in lots of Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Blogs, and Podcasts. An initial burst of posting is followed by long periods of inactivity.

Social Media can be Everyones Job

I just read this interesting article, Why the NY Times eliminated its Social Media Editor Position. The times doesn’t need a social media person anymore because social media is everyone’s job. Other members of the organization are actively participating in social media.

Do you have a customer service person?

Or is everyone’s job customer service? Sure you might have someone at your organization that is in charge of customer service or maintenance, but everyone in the organization is expected to provide customer service and perform basic cleaning and repair tasks.

Demobilize [Insert Name] as Social Media Person

Many of your employees are already using social media and probably frequently using it related to work. How can you stand down your social media person and empower everyone to use Social Media?

Listen to Chris Montera, host of the EMS Garage podcast, discuss the potential and growing impact of social media on EMS on a special episode of the FISDAP open airways podcast.