Using technology to communicate in an emergency
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ken Frazier is serving as interim Director of DoIT and campus Chief Information Officer. Frazier is also Director of UW's General Library System. Here's a point of view that you didn't hear very much on TV: Virginia Tech did a good job of developing and following its emergency procedures.
Even if you now believe that any university shooting should prompt an immediate full-scale emergency response, very few people (then or now) can describe exactly what that response should be.
All American universities will review and improve emergency response systems as a result of the murderous rampage on the beautiful Blacksburg campus. Indeed, UW-Madison's Police Chief Susan Riseling was on the phone asking me questions about emergency communications on the day of the Virginia Tech shootings. Working with the University Police and Dean of Students Office, we have launched a focused review of emergency messaging systems. We intend to take action to improve emergency messaging, but “Reverse 911” - as it is sometimes called - will be more of an organizational challenge than a technical one.
Here are some of the general principles that may help guide decision-making about emergency messaging at the University of Wisconsin:
- When speed is essential, university leaders must have the power to act without group consultation. The Chancellor, Provost, Chief of University Police, and their designees must have the unilateral authority to initiate the emergency message before gathering the university's emergency response team.
- Emergency messaging can be effective without being perfect. It is unlikely that any current emergency system will operate 24/7 or provide 100% coverage of the university community. A message that causes 20-40% of students to take immediate action to protect their safety (and the safety of those around them) could be profoundly beneficial in a real emergency.
- One technology isn't enough - not yet anyway. There are a dozen different ways of sending an emergency message. Each has strengths and liabilities, and none will reach everyone promptly. For now, we should use some combination, perhaps email and cell phones.
- Anticipate the emergency messages - and their possible consequences. At UW-Madison, we have already drafted some of the messages that we may need in a crisis. The message describing a (potential) data breach, for example, is ready to be sent, minus the specific facts of the occurrence. Of course, a canned message rarely fits perfectly with a new situation. Careful review and editing of the message must be part of the emergency process. However, it beats starting from scratch.
On April 16, Virginia Tech had an emergency response procedure in place. Unfortunately, the incident that launched the mass murders at Blacksburg appeared to be cause for a criminal investigation - and not a public emergency message. We know more now than we knew before this tragedy. What we have learned may save lives in the future.