Emergen-tweets: is Twitter replacing the phone when it comes to 9-1-1?

[Dana Gulick]

I attended a social media program hosted by the PRSA Boston chapter and Publicity Club of New England a few nights ago and was floored when Elaine Driscoll, director of communications for the Boston Police Department, shared with us that the city's 9-1-1 dispatchers assist with round-the-clock Twitter monitoring and response out of NECESSITY.  Of late, Twitter has evidently become a preferred platform for city residents to report emergencies, and the BPD has its hands full reminding followers that Twitter is no replacement for the 9-1-1. 

 

One would think this is an anomaly, but a quick Google search shows this isn't true: a blogger in San Antonio posts about a nurse in Atlanta who tweeted for a medflight after his Grandma's aorta ruptured, and a study conducted last summer shows that on average, one-third of respondents would look to social media to report an emergency.

 

There's been a call for hospitals and emergency response systems to up their protocols to accomodate this new phenomenon, but I shudder at the thought: anyone who's hear a 9-1-1 call played back on a nightly newscast can tell you there's no substitute for the real-time interaction and instruction that comes with talking with an operator on the other end of the line. A medical emergency shouldn't be approached with a "tweet and wait" philosophy, and typing wastes precious time (even if you are a speedy thumb typer).

 

Seems to me that BPD has it right by establishing a mechanism to process the influx of "emergen-tweets" without allowing them to take the place of 9-1-1.

[Tanya Holloway]

Interesting post Dana, and a concerning topic at that! I wrote a post a few months ago about doctors responding to patients on twitter (I didn't think they it was the right platform for doctor/patient discussions) however the issue of flagging an emergency on twitter is a more significant and more complex one altogether! The sense that social media is immediate and real time will no doubt be a hindrance to those in medical emergencies who may think that someone is monitoring social media round the clock, when it is not always the case (BPD seems to be an excellent exception). It will be interesting to see how this develops over time and if this practice is adopted more widely, with similar or different procedures in place for response.