Community as first responder: social media in emergencies

The Black Saturday fires devastated Australia and shocked the world. Now, the Country Fire Authority of Victoria has become a leading example of the use of social media for emergency management, winning this year’s Australian eGovernment award.

Martin Anderson, CFA’s Digital Media Manager and Australian Government 2.0 Innovator of the Year for 2012, explains how the experience of the February 2009 fires highlighted the importance of social communication tools in emergency situations, and that even within a command-and-control environment, agencies need to look outside the box, be flexible and improvise.