Virginia Tech Tragedies: From First Responders to First Preventers

April 25th, 2007

On Thursday, April 26, Fox School of Business will meet to discuss ways and means to increase preparedness in emergency notification and management in the wake of the recent Virginia Tech tragedy. See http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

I applaud FOX responsiveness to the VT tragedy and the emphasis on notification and preparedness. Temple University Computer Services is responding as well with enterprise wide plans for emergency notification across a broad spectrum.

However, I believe there is value in having FOX perspective, even redundancy, regarding emergency notification and preparedness. I believe one key to preventing further tragedies of this kind is not only post-emergency contingency planning (”first responder support”) but also addressing the human factors and attitudes that promote prevention and harm reduction before and during an emergency (”first preventer support”).

Anyone paying close attention to the VT incidents must reckon with the critical role of mobile, social technology during and immediately after these incidents. In the weeks following, accounts are appearing now that…

1) VT victims, especially students, who were facing gunfire responded with cel phones, texting, instant messaging, and other mobile social networking tools during the first and second incidents. Such responses may have saved lives… more lives than the VT administration’s single email broadcast.

2) VT victims and eyewitnesses immediately posted text, pictures, and video from cel phones to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YOUTUBE, and others. Cel phone video was posted within 15 minutes of the first incident. Compare that to VT administration who sent a single email broadcast more than 2 hours after the first incident.

3) In the VT aftermath, social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, and others offered immediate “I’m OK” verification to the world. Major TV media turned to Facebook and Myspace to verify victims and survivors. One parent, attempting to get official verification from VT administration, waited until 11PM on Monday evening (14 hours after the incidents) to confirm that her child had been killed at VT.

Need I point out that cel phones, instant messaging, MySpace, FaceBook, and other mobile, social networking systems are among the most opposed, and in some cases most banned, technology on college campuses?

I believe this terrible tragedy should prompt a reappraisal of those attitudes, at least in the context of emergency notification and preparedness. Adopting and adapting newer and more technology for notification after the fact will not be enough, if the attitudes, biases, and decisions of higher education administrations are not in alignment with the forensic realities being uncovered in the wake of the tragedies at Virginia Tech.

For more information, see…
School Shooting Seasons:
http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2007/03/school-shooting-seasons.html

Virginia Tech Shooting. Eyewitness testimonies and footage dominate news

http://www.smartmobs.com/archive/2007/04/17/virginia_tech_s….html

Virginia Tech shootings: the web reaction: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/virginia+tech+shootings+the+web+reaction/439052

Lessons From Virginia Tech: A Disaster Alert System That Works
http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/04/vtech_disaster_alerts

The Virginia Tech Shootings: A Case for Redundant Communications:
http://www.nixatron.com/StratT-VirginiaTech.htm

Entry Filed under: eduWeb Conference, Crisis Communications