Thursday, July 28, 2011

Social Safety

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article, "Integrating Social Media into Emergency-Preparedness Efforts," which describes ways in which social media can be and already is helpful in the event of a disaster.

Here at OLOL there is a handy emergency text messaging system already in place that will provide information and safety directions should something terrible happen on campus.  To get these alerts you'll need to sign up for LYNX Emergency Messaging Service through Web Services.  You'll find directions for doing this on the college web page here.

Here in Louisiana you really have to be aware of hurricane season.  The state government has a useful website, Emergency.LA.gov, that has useful information on both preparing before a disaster, warnings for when one is anticipated, and relief information after it has passed.  The web site currently has information about the flood, and previously had information about the oil spill.

The CDC produced this little frequently updated web image to help spread information about disaster preparedness and response.