NY VOST Response to the Second Avenue Building Collapse, East Village, NYC

New York Virtual Operations Support Team
AFTER ACTION REPORT APRIL 2015
Second Avenue Building Collapse, East Village, NYC
Response/Exercise: March 26, 2015 - March 30,2015

FDNY fire operations continue in the East Village Joe Esposito, Commissioner NYC Emergency Management, March 27, 2015

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FDNY Second Avenue Building Collapse NYVOST AAR v2RR © NYVOST 2015 All rights reserved page 1

Administrative Handling Instructions

1. The title of this document is the New York VOST Response to the Second Avenue
Building Collapse, East Village, NYC, After-Action Report (AAR).
2. The purpose of the AAR is to identify and discuss the major strengths and areas for
improvement to managing social media during the response to the Second Avenue
Building Collapse, in doing so, inform FDNY IMT’s decisionmaking during future
incidents.
3. This AAR was developed in consultation with subject matter experts from NYVOST
contributing to the response and has been reviewed by the FDNY IMT.
4. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
5. Point of Contact: Joanna Lane, NYVOST Team Lead, nyvost@gmail.com


Contents

Executive Summary
Situation Summary
About NYVOST
NYVOST Incident Response March 26 30, 2015
Summary
Situation Reports
Social Media Metrics
Increasing Reach and Exposure
Favorited Tweets
Tweetreach
NYVOST statistics
Social Media Notes
Twitter
Simplified Tweets
Facebook
Timeline of posts by relevant Facebook accounts
Example of FDNY Facebook engagement
NYVOST Facebook updates
VOST Hotwash
Major Strengths
VOST Participants
Coordination and Communication
ICS and Chain of Command
Leveraging International VOST
Sourcing and Curating Images
Key Areas for Improvement
Compliance
Preparation
Rumors and Hoaxes
Increasing Team Size
Conclusion
Useful Acronyms


Executive Summary
Situation Summary
On March 26, 2015 at 1517 hrs, FDNY units were dispatched to 123 2nd Ave between 7th
Street and St. Mark’s Place for a fire and possible explosion. At 1522 hrs a structural fire
and building collapse were reported by arriving units. By 1554 the incident had reached a
7th alarm. Two 5-story buildings were fully involved with fire, as well as 3 floors of a
neighboring 7-story building. Surrounding occupancies were evacuated and a perimeter was
established. Outside operations commenced due to the large volume of fire. All three
buildings eventually collapsed.
Integrating social media into Situational Awareness supports the enhanced quality of
decision making and risk management processes. During the operational period, the NYVOST
employed a range of emerging technologies to support an integrated Situational Awareness
toolset for the FDNY-IMT by:
● Monitoring social media for mission-critical information from the public
● Amplifying public safety messaging from the FDNY and related NYC sources
● Performing quality assurance and reputation management for the activating agency
● Archiving and AAR reporting
Operational personnel can gain much from practicing the actual tasks that would be
executed in the event of a major disaster, such as a Superstorm Sandy. NYVOST members
(VOSTies) gained ninety six (96) hours of activation experience in total over the operational
period. Individual practitioners gained between (4) hours and forty four (44) hours each,
depending on their voluntary availability.
About NYVOST
NYVOST was founded in 2011 with the vision to provide the State of New York and local
communities with a powerful and effective team of trusted agents whose mission is to
support official Emergency Management in all phases of the disaster life cycle. Public
information gathering, verification, evaluation and dissemination efforts are performed
through an innovative, effective and efficient use of social media and other online or
‘virtual’ tools. The NYVOST is a resource that can be activated to supplement or enhance a
community’s existing Social Media for Emergency Response (SMEM) plan. It is not meant to
replace or substitute any social media response or plan.
NYVOST performed a successful proof of concept exercise during Hurricane Irene in 2011,
the first time a Virtual Operations Support Team was used on a large scale disaster. The
team populated maps and curated lists with verified EMA social media accounts located in
the projected path of the hurricane. The VOST monitored the situation, helped amplify
warnings, maintained contact with VOST members in harm’s way and kept them informed
of vital communications.
In 2012, the team was activated by Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services
(FRES) to assist the EOC and County Executive with managing social media in the response
to Superstorm Sandy and subsequent Nor’easter. This comprised a total effort of over 650


hours within a two week period. Since then, the team has activated for many severe storms
in Suffolk County, most recently for the blizzard of January 25, 2015.
NYVOST uses the Incident Command System and Modified ICS Forms to bring participants
into existing CONOPS/business practices and ensure proper chain of command is maintained
for the activating agency. Activations have ranged from two (2) to sixteen (16) people
depending on mission scope and available resources.
NYVOST work by-products are solely populated with unclassified authoritative information
from the public domain and are made available to authorized public safety officials.
Delegated authority to amplify sources is subject to approval by the activating agency and
does not include information that is deemed to be unsuitable for widespread sharing in any
public dissemination.

To support this trust, team members are background checked on request by the sponsoring
agency and a thorough review is conducted to ensure each member’s “virtual” reputation
meets appropriate standards. In addition, access to team accounts is limited to Team Leads
and those with more advanced training. The team utilizes a password protected Logistics
Document to which only authorized personnel have access on a need to know basis.

NYVOST members have also collaborated with other Virtual Operations Support Teams
worldwide to facilitate mutual aid surge support through mission-specific tasks. These1
teams currently include:
● USA:
○ COVOST: Formerly Jeffco VOST supporting the Colorado Division of Homeland2
Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM)
○ Eriksen VOST: Supporting a National Incident Management Team that
manages the response to large scale disasters and are interagency.
○ OK VOST: Supporting the City of Altus OEM, Oklahoma and the National
Weather Service (@NWSNorman).
○ Osbourne VOST: Supporting Los Ranchos EM, New Mexico 3
○ PNW IMT2 VOST: Primarily associated with a National Incident Management
Team to help manage the response efforts of large scale natural disasters.
● International:
○ Asia Pacific: VOST Victoria (Australia) and NZ VOST (New Zealand)
○ Europe: VOST Spain (Spanish) and VISOV (French)
○ North America (excluding US): CanVOST, Canada (English/French)4
○ South America: VOST Panama (Spanish)
1
The Virtual Operations Support Group (VOSG) maintains a comprehensive list of verified VOSTs on its website, currently 38
active teams worldwide, listed at http://vosg.us/activevosts/ as well as a resource list of Empirical SMEM and VOST Studies at
http://bit.ly/VOSGempstudies2
2
Mastering Social Media: An Analysis of Jefferson County’s Communications during the 2013 Colorado Floods
https://www.cs.colorado.edu/~palen/palen_papers/StDenisPalenAndersonjeffcoiscram2014.pdf
3
Trial by Fire: The Deployment of Trusted Digital Volunteers in the 2011 Shadow Lake Fire
http://epic.cs.colorado.edu/wpcontent/uploads/TrustedDigitalVolunteersStDenisHughesPalen.pdf
4
CanadaU.S. Enhanced Resiliency Experiment (CAUSEIII / DVROSOE)
http://www.nisconsortium.org/partnerhighlights/7362/


NYVOST Incident Response March 26 -30, 2015
Summary

The New York Virtual Operations Support Team (NYVOST) activated at 21:27 on March 26,
2015 to provide social media emergency management (SMEM) support to the FDNY Type II
All Hazard Incident Management Team at the scene. The FDNY-IMT’s PIO liaised with the
NYVOST’s Team Lead remotely, who coordinated the VOST response to perform the
following missions:
● Monitoring for issues requiring a 911 response, smoke conditions, displaced people,
rumors and hoaxes.
● Amplifying @FDNYtwitter and other official response agencies and verified sources.
● Identifying possible FDNY-IMT response gaps on social media or complaints as
reported by the public.
These primary missions remained throughout the operational period, with a special
instruction added on the second day to source, verify and curate images for FDNY use. The
team’s Pinterest board, entitled #NYC Explosion March 26th 2015, fulfilled this need.
See https://www.pinterest.com/vost1/nyc-explosion-march-26th-2015-eastvillage/
Situation Reports

Monitoring results were first sent in a Situation Report via email to the PIO within thirty
(30) minutes of activation, then periodically as needed. Monitoring activities that resulted
in actionable or reportable items were escalated to the PIO per the VOST Modified ICS-204
Coordination Summary and Communication Protocols.


Example
Original message
From: NYVOST Team Lead
Date:03/26/2015 9:53 PM (GMT05:00)
To: FDNY IMT PIO
Subject: NY VOST Sit Rep 21:53 3/26

Summary Report
The team comprises 3 people, activated 9:27pm. General monitoring has commenced on identifying 911
type issues, smoke issues and displaced persons and generally those asking for help or offering. We
should be able to have one person on amplification of FDNY messaging by 10pm or shortly thereafter.

Concerns:
● Keep getting ushered further uptown by @NYPDnews telling me I can't go home
#EastVillageExplosion
https://twitter.com/bstebner/status/581267082077143040
● @meetuchilana: The air smells like burnt rubber. Went to PS 63 to drop off donations and they
said to go on redcross.org for info #EastVillage
https://twitter.com/meetuchilana/status/581270198029828096

(This sounds like they were turned away from the shelter and told to go to redcross.org instead)

Offers of help:
● Meals: RT @TheUnknownChef: As a resident/business owner in #EastVillage I would like to
extend to all who lost their home in #EastVillageExplosion a free meal.
https://twitter.com/TheUnknownChef/status/581266594862665728
● Pet housing here if you were affected by the #2ndaveexplosion #2ndAveFire @NYPDPaws
#EastVillage #EastVillageExplosion
https://twitter.com/robinmandel/status/581269263559868417
Amplification by NYVOST simultaneously supported important social media public safety
messaging by NYC Government Agencies and verified sources, including FDNY, NYC OEM and
the Mayor’s Office, in both English and Spanish. The total number of NYVOST posts on
Twitter and Facebook was over 160 items. More than 100 images were verified and made
available to the FDNY-IMT using the Pinterest curation platform.
Summary social media metrics are included in this report for the purpose of analysis.
Measuring how social media messaging has performed in an emergency or crisis situation
helps the agency evaluate how well their critical messages are reaching the population.
Social media is especially relevant to individuals and groups who may not have access to
traditional media, cable television or local resources, such as NY1. The absence of
actionable information for this population, as well as the diaspora, is a gap of vital
importance. The NYVOST response helped bridge this gap.


For this operation, NYVOST comprised three (3) seasoned volunteers rotating shifts with
minimal gaps due to leveraging time zones. Two of the three were located in Suffolk
County, New York and one was located in Australia. Additional monitoring effort was
contributed at initial activation by a professional EM located in Suffolk County. The team
demobilized with the FDNY-IMT at 18:00 on March 30, 2015, at which time the team had
logged a total of 96 FTE hours. The next day, the team followed-up by posting additional
recovery resources for the public benefit. For AAR, a data specialist located in New Jersey
assisted.
Social Media Metrics
Increasing Reach and Exposure

Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr etc.) are online communications
channels whose users (including organizations and the public) share information with each
other. Many organizations use social media to broadcast messages to the public in real
time, with a greater reach and speed than traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers).
Organizations also receive information (breaking news, ongoing events, brand awareness
etc.) from the public and other organizations, either directly or by searching for relevant
messages.
Searching for and triaging relevant information in social media is a skill that takes
manpower that in a major emergency is often not easily available. These skills are available
through organizations like NYVOST.
Social media provides opportunities to strengthen public communications in times of crisis,
by reaching a targeted audience (eg., the general public in a specific geographical area)
quickly to inform, instruct and counter rumours. To do this, an account must be both
trusted and capable of reaching a wide section of its audience through both direct
messaging and rebroadcasting of its messages through “retweets” and other online
recommendations.
A message’s success in reaching an audience is primarily measured in terms of “reach” and
“exposure”:
● Reach is the number of individuals that a message can reach directly. The most
common measures of user reach are:
○ Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest: number of followers of an account or hashtag
○ Facebook: number of “Likes” on the user’s page. Facebook also has its own
reach measure, which is defined as “Page Views” (the number of people who
viewed that page).
● Exposure is the number of “impressions” (copies of a message) that are delivered
directly on social media. Exposure is a larger number than reach because a message
often reaches a user multiple times through different channels.
Both reach and exposure can be increased by retweets: the practice of a user
rebroadcasting a message to their own followers. These “followers of followers” include
friends of friends and others who are not connected to the agency directly, but are exposed
to agency information through a mutual connection. Organizations often benefit from being


followed by users with large social media reach (e.g. local news organizations), or by
sending out messages that include those users’ names or hashtags watched by those users.5
@FDNY’s reach on Twitter is currently about 329,000 accounts with an exposure of 650,000.
For comparison:
● @BostonPolice has a reach of 274,000 accounts and exposure of 310,000 accounts,
primarily due to being followed by @fox25news
Working with NYVOST increased FDNY’s reach and exposure, as well as that of other NYC
Government agencies, in both English and Spanish. It also allowed those departments and
agencies to keep their essential messages “current”. The amplification of messages by
quoting and retweeting to appropriate hashtags (or keywords) assists in keeping select
essential information prominent in the timeline of a “trending” hashtag such as
#EastVillage. Views of messages through a hashtag’s timeline is something that,
unfortunately, is not measurable, but is definitely marked with any trending topic being
followed by numerous, incalculable readers.
Example

In this example, NYVOST more than doubled the exposure of a tweet in English by Chief
Harry J. Wedin, NYPD Chief of Special Operations Division, by reaching the Spanish speaking
community, largely due to translation support by the Emergency Information Service in
Spain, @InfoEmerg,which has 38,000 followers:
1. Original NYPD Tweet: 5:08 PM - 29 Mar 2015 @NYPDSpecialOps: #Breaking:
Confirmed 2nd body recovered from the tragic#EastVillageExplosion@NYPD9Pct6
2. NYVOST RT(shared with followers) - seen by @infoEmerg in English
3. Info Emerg RT (shared with followers) Spanish translation of @NYVOST tweet:
6:02 PM - 29 Mar 2015: @InfoEmerg: CONFIRMADA localización de 2 cuerpos sin
vida en los escombros del edifico en#EastVillage,#NYC@NYPD9Pct@NYVOST7
4. NYVOST RT (shared with followers) Spanish version, as did 10 others
■ Reach:
Estimated Reach (English): 35,512 Exposure 38,864
Estimated Reach (Spanish):48,796 Exposure: 54,4358
Total Reach: 84,308 Exposure: 93,299
Favorited Tweets
Favorited tweets are also a measure of success, described as indicators that a tweet is
well-liked or popular among online users. A tweet can be identified as a “Favorite” by the
small star icon seen beside the post. Twitter users can mark a tweet as a Favorite to let the
5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag
6
https://twitter.com/NYPDSpecialops/status/582288304340619265
7
https://twitter.com/InfoEmerg/status/582301880501555201
8
http://bit.ly/1GfYV9f


author know that someone likes it. Some of @NYVOST tweets were favorited. Notably,
@nycgob, the Official Twitter account for New York City in Spanish, favorited three
@NYVOST tweets.

Examples

● 10:57 PM - 26 Mar 2015: @NYVOST: RT @nycgob Las personas en la vecindad
inmediata del incendio #EastVillage deben proteger su salud dando estos pasos
http://on.nyc.gov/1E6vsTi9
○ Favorited by 5 users, including @nycgob
○ Roughly translated as: @nycgob persons in the immediate vicinity of the
#EastVillage fire should protect their health by taking these steps:
● 11:51 PM - 26 Mar 2015: @NYVOST: RT Si en el proximidades #EastVillageExplosion
asegúrese de que tiene una máscara para protegerse de la exposición residual /
curso de fumar 10
○ Favorited by @nycgob
○ Roughly translated as: @nycgob If in the vicinity #EastVillageExplosion
make sure that you have a mask to protect yourselves from the residual
exposure / course of smoke
● 3:51 PM - 30 Mar 2015: @NYVOST: RT @nycgob Para información oficial
actualizada sobre la explosión y el colapso de edificios en el #EastVillage, visite:
http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/east-village-building-collapse-spanish.page
…
○ Favorited by @nycgob
○ Roughly translated as (@nycgob For official information about the explosion
and the collapse of buildings in the #EastVillage, please visit...)

Tweetreach
One useful tool for measuring reach is Tweetreach . This itemizes reach, impressions, most11
retweeted tweets and top retweeters of a social media account (such as @FDNY) over time.
You can use this tool to improve your reach by:
● Noting the difference between top-retweeted messages and less-retweeted
messages from your agency. You might note, for instance, that messages with photos
and videos attached to it are more widely retweeted and shared.
● Flagging top retweeters directly in social media messages (e.g. include
“@theirname” in tweets)
9
https://twitter.com/NYVOST/status/581288944186195968
10
11
https://tweetreach.com/


NYVOST statistics

● Mar 29, 2015 8:06PM: Twitter Reach Report Results for @NYVOST Estimated Reach:
54,145. Exposure: 91,883
● March 31, 9:09PM: Twitter Reach Report Results for @NYVOST Estimated Reach:
55,811 Exposure: 79,169
http://www.nyvost.org/files/2015/04/331-Twitter-Reach-Report-Results-for-@NYVOST-_-Twee
tReach.pdf


Social Media Notes
Twitter
Simplified Tweets

One tool that was enlisted by the VOST team was the process of breaking down material
directly into simplified content. This involves taking a document and molding its significant
content sentences into 140 character posts for twitter that include the hashtag(s) being
used. Where indicated, a link to the content is posted to reference the source, as well as a
hashtag or user “handle” for the organization. This is done in a separate document where it
can be easily formatted, then copied and pasted to a Twitterfeed.
In this event, NYVOST broke down approved content received from the Mayor’s Office via
the PIO and posted it as updates from @NYVOST. In addition to the OEM resource, the team
itemized the list of agencies and services available at the East Village Collapse Service
Center, posting this information as simple, important, public notifications.
For health information, resources provided by the DOH were used. Links to American Red
Cross PDFs were posted for managing the emotional effect of such an event on themselves
and their children. These are also maintained as “pre-fab” tweets, available for
customizing to a specific hashtag/event at any time.
Examples
● March 26th, 10:33 PM - If in the#EastVillageExplosion#eastvillagevicinity, make
sure you have a mask to protect yourself from residual/ongoing exposure to smoke
(https://twitter.com/NYVOST/status/581297891429351426)
● March 29th, 4:12 PM - #EastVillagePrior to removal, debris is searched and
inspected by FDNY, NYPD & OCME lines, as well NYPD Canine Search & Rescue v
@FDNY3/29 (https://twitter.com/NYVOST/status/582289265402339328)
● March 30th, 1:52PM - Helping Children Cope following the#EastVillageExplosion
http://rdcrss.org/106KbLw #EastVillagevia#RedCross
(https://twitter.com/NYVOST/status/582616297206255616- also posted in
Spanish)


Facebook
The FDNY Facebook page currently has 302,369 “likes” from users. Those people have
requested FDNY updates in their personal timeline and are likely to amplify important FDNY
messages to their "Friends". FDNY posts are also "liked" individually and receive additional
amplification through comments by readers and by readers "sharing" specific messages with
their friends as a post.
Timeline of posts by relevant Facebook accounts:
● Incident occurs on March 26th at 15:17.
● Thursday, March 26th at 22:34 - NYVOST posts first of five (5) updates to their
Facebook page at between Thursday, March 26th and Tuesday, March 31st:
https://www.facebook.com/NYVOST. The initial post is a notification of the event,12
health hazards and contains links to health information and to NYC.gov page. It
occurs approximately one (1) hour post-activation and seven (7) hours post-incident
(details follow).
● Friday, March 27 at 00:11 - International notification by the Hungarian National
Association of Radio Distress-Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE) operates
Emergency and Disaster Information Service (EDIS) posts their RSOE EDIS Event
Report approximately eight (8) hours post-incident . This organization acts as one of13
the foremost global notification systems.
● Friday, March 27th at 09:15 hours - The FDNY posts an initial statement with a link
to the NYC.gov website approximately thirty-six (36) hours post-incident.14
● Monday, March 30th - FDNY posts their second statement regarding the incident on
Facebook. 15
● Tuesday, March 31st - NYVOST posts their final statement providing a link to
available services notice.16
It is important to note this timeline because of the:
● Amount that Facebook is accessed by affected individuals looking for updates..
● Urgency of public event notification.
● Health and safety factors resulting from the event.
● Speed of FDNY response to the site and the subsequent response.
It is very common for users to "check" Facebook before their day, frequently during their
day and into the evening like 2nd nature. As it unfolded, likely that local building residents
were already well into their day and area activities underway, (at work or in classes at NYU
very fortunately), by the time the first FDNY post appeared on Facebook.
12
https://www.facebook.com/NYVOST/posts/914857711892086
13
https://www.facebook.com/RsoeEdis/posts/1082411935107375
14
https://www.facebook.com/FDNYhome/photos/a.316291185728.191758.304603755728/10153149368335729/?type=1
15
https://www.facebook.com/FDNYhome/posts/10153156601365729
16
http://www.nyvost.org/resourcesavailableforsecondavenuebuildingcollapseeastvillagenyc/


Example of FDNY Facebook engagement:

FDNY’s initial post to Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/FDNYhome/photos/a.316291185728.191758.304603755728/10153149368335729/?type=1
"On the afternoon of Thursday, March 26th, an explosion occurred in the East Village that
affected four buildings along 2nd Avenue. While the investigation into what caused the
incident is ongoing, FDNY units remain operating on-scene. FDNY will continue to work
with many New York City departments to protect life and property of all those affected.
To ensure that all New Yorkers are receiving the best information, the Office of the
Mayor created a webpage for this incident: on.nyc.gov/1CSq8S7"
Public response: 1,265 people like the post. 156 people shared the post on their own
timelines for their friends. Numerous positive comments were made.
Examples
● "Our fireman are the best in the world. They set the bar."
● "Just wanted to tip the hat to the FDNY IMT. They are awesome."
● "Thank you for saving so many other buildings that would have burned too--we
can't thank you enough."
● "Sad that happened, but you fellows were there."
No engagement by the FDNY with the fans of the Department was observed, nor any
response to any of the comments.
The difference in NYVOST Facebook strategy is notable.


Both FDNY posts redirected readers to another website created by NYC offices to ensure
that all New Yorkers are receiving the best information (see
nyc.gov/1CSq8S7on.nyc.gov/1CSq8S7 and
http://www1.nyc.gov/nycresources/eastvillagebuildingcollapse.page) where page content
comprised InterAgency Updates.
Comparatively, NYVOST encourages EMAs to post critical and actionable public safety
information directly onto social media sites that the public accesses and shares regularly,
thereby receiving the information in a timely fashion, as it is needed. In an emergency
involving unstable connections, low bandwidth, or limited battery life, the time saved may
be life saving.
NYVOST Facebook updates
● March 26 at 10:34pm · "Exposure to smoke can cause eye, nose & throat irritation.
Protect yourself with these steps http://t.co/ASvJwgsZLC#EastVillage"
(https://www.facebook.com/NYVOST/posts/914857711892086)
● March 26 at 10:36pm · "#RedCrossrelief center is at PS 63, 121 E. 3rd #EastVillage
#NYCvia @redcrossny #EastVillage #EastVillageExplosion#LES#2ndAveFire"
● Shared NYC Emergency Management's post. March 26 at 11:12pm · NYC Emergency
Management - "The NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene has developed
health Q&A for residents and businesses in the East Village area. Learn more:
http://www.nyc.gov/…/e…/east-village-building-collapse.shtml#EastVillage"
● March 27 at 5:57pm · "FDNY Overview of Major building collapse 2nd Ave & 7th
Street NYC [VIDEO] #EastVillage#NYC#FDNY"
● March 31 at 7:41pm · "Resources available for Second Avenue Building Collapse
#EastVillage #NYC"
(http://www.nyvost.org/resources-available-for-second-avenue-building-collapse-ea
stvillage-nyc/)
Most popular NYVOST Facebook post:
March 26th 10:34PM: "Exposure to smoke can cause eye, nose & throat irritation. Protect
yourself with these steps http://t.co/ASvJwgsZLC#EastVillage 17

17
https://www.facebook.com/NYVOST/posts/914857711892086


VOST Hotwash

A VOST hotwash conference call took place at 18:30 on March 30th via Skype. All five
members attended. The purpose of the hotwash was to survey participants and analyze
VOST operations and response, identify strengths to be maintained and built upon, identify
challenges and to report to the Department on potential areas for further improvement,
priorities and recommendations.
Major Strengths
VOST Participant
Although small in number, the team included experienced VOST and SMEM practitioners and
qualified Emergency Management professionals with a high level of tech savviness across a
broad spectrum of social media tools. Access to pre-existing SMEM resources from prior
deployments allowed the team to fill gaps quickly and speed up the workflow.
● VOSTie A: Independent Consultant, VOST Training and SMEM Contract Support, with
4 years experience on VOST concept development and implemention for all hazards.
Practitioner experience as Team Lead, Associate Team Lead, Mentor, or VOSTie
includes more than 20 VOST and SMEM activations for hurricane, fire, flood, tornado,
terrorist, tsunami, blizzard and severe weather. Credentialed by NY Suffolk County
CERT and State of Colorado for COVOST. NIMS and ICS trained. Founder of the Virtual
Operations Support Group (VOSG) at www.vosg.us, the website hub for VOST
worldwide. Contract support for Western Region Homeland Security Advisory
Council’s (WRHSAC) SMEM Training Workshop, Assoc. Team Lead Canada VOST for
the CAUSE III / DVRSOE Cross Border US/ Canada experiment.
● VOSTie B: Social Media Communications & Documentation Specialist with 6 years
experience in the SMEM field. Participated in 20+ SMEM deployments. Manages seven
SMEM twitter user id's and four EM websites/blogs. Developed 14 incident-specific
blogs for use by multiple teams of international SMEM. In NYC: 7 years experience
providing Infection Control training for major NYC hospital and 2+ years as
caseworker for City of NY ACS SVU, DOH TB Unit and HRA EAU.
● VOSTie C: Technology and emergency management consultant & entrepreneur,
currently running the digital & social media division for a major US corporation. With
an MPA in Emergency & Disaster Management, he has been immersed in the
emergency response and emergency management field since 2008. Has participated
as a leader, advisor, EMT and VOST practitioner in several major events ranging from
Hurricane Sandy to the MLB All Star Weekend.
● VOSTie D: Fire industry professional, with 10+ years in the industry. Roles within
Country Fire Authority (Victoria, Australia) include: volunteer firefighter specialising
in hazmat incidents, Warnings & Advice Officer and Social Media Officer as part of
the Intelligence Unit in the State Control Centre (Victorian name for EOC). 5 years in
the SMEM field, including being Team Lead 2 of VOST Victoria.
● VOSTie E: Development data scientist with 2 years practitioner experience over 5
deployments as a VOST volunteer and 30+ crisis deployments over 5 years as an
organization, deployment and team lead across multiple international groups.


Coordination and Communication

Communication was excellent between the PIO for FDNY-IMT and the VOST Team Leader
and in turn, the Team Leader and the VOST Members. The fact that there were no power or
internet outages to disrupt communications contributed to the efficiency of information
exchange between the Department and the VOST.
Information sharing was managed efficiently in exchanges offline, with the VOST submitting
regular Sit Reps by email for situational awareness and to notify the FDNY-IMT of any
concerns, actionable or reportable items. VOST received updates from the FDNY-IMT once
or twice daily, including very helpful information from NYC OEM and The Mayor’s Office.
The team was able to break down some of the updates into a series of simplified tweets
that were shared publicly as “information aid”.
Example

@NYVOST#EastVillageVacate orders remain for following buildings: 125 2nd Ave, 41 East
7th St, 46 East 7th St, 117 2nd Ave#HPD#DOBv@FDNY3/2918
ICS and Chain of Command

VOST preparedness and training conducted over the years were substantially implemented
during this response. This resulted in a team that was already familiar with the use of a
Modified ICS-204 form for communication and coordination instructions, thereby promoting
proper incident command system decision-making and reinforcing chains of command.
Leveraging International VOST

The concept of leveraging time zones for mutual aid/surge support has been one of the
cornerstones of building NYVOST from its inception. The notion that a remote VOST outside
the area of operation is not only desirable, but necessary in a fast-paced dynamic incident
has been proven repeatedly in the field. The availability of an experienced member of
Australia’s VOST Victoria to join the team and monitor during the overnight period19
allowed respite for local members and promoted continuity of the VOST operation between
shifts. This opportunity has strengthened collaboration between NYVOST and VOST Victoria,
bringing both teams closer to meeting the objective of formalizing mutual aid VOST support
across international borders.
Sourcing and Curating Images

Pinterest is a free, third party social media curation site, where boards may be created ad
hoc for a collection of images, (photos and videos), sourced from almost anywhere on the
internet or uploaded from any device, which are then pinned by one or more people, with a
link back to the original source, then shared publicly. Board:
https://www.pinterest.com/vost1/nyc-explosion-march-26th-2015-eastvillage/
18
19
http://vostvic.net.au/


As with most prior VOST use cases, including National Weather Service requests for photos
of weather and structural damage to property, the intent for the referenced Pinterest
Board was not to expand public reach for the selected images, rather to curate a
non-exhaustive collection of verified material from multiple media sources for the
FDNY-IMT to review, all in one place. Some 100 photos were curated.
As a public board that comprised only material already in the public domain and deemed
suitable for the general public, this offered the department the benefit of sharing with
other departments and agencies without the need for each to sign up for an account. A
private Pinterest board can be utilized for sensitive material, but was not needed on this
deployment.
Key Areas for Improvement

Integrating social media into Situational Awareness supports the enhanced quality of
decision making and risk management processes. Several opportunities were identified for
improvement related to the NYVOST’s ability to respond to an emergency in NYC with no
advance warning. The primary areas for improvement are as follows:
Compliance

A thorough review of FDNY Social Media Policy is needed to ensure NYVOST maintains
appropriate Social Media Strategy, Policies and Protocols to support future FDNY IMT
operations. A thorough review of current NYVOST forms and documentation is needed.
Preparation

The NYVOST workbook template, social media lists and tools are pre-populated with key20
websites, resources and agency accounts, made ready to deploy within ten (10) minutes of
activation for all hazards. Resources used for this operation were set up originally for the
NY Suffolk County AO, not NYC. While regional resources overlap, NYVOST needs to prepare
a more comprehensive dataset of resources for NYC, including a range of geocode searches
centered on Manhattan and regularly updated lists on Twitter and Facebook for NYC
government social media accounts, severe weather, mainstream media, for example: 41 of
NYC's official social media channels: http://www1.nyc.gov/connect/social-media.page
Rumors and Hoaxes

One of the functions of VOST is to assist with dispelling rumors and hoaxes, pointing the
public and key influencers to accurate, official sources of information. In the following
example, the public response to donation requests for the Mayor’s Fund included many
negative comments. One particular donor concerned by rumors of a scam asked for
additional information before donating, but did not receive a response.
20
https://twitter.com/NYVOST/lists


Example

Original tweet

Selected Replies:
● 6:49 PM 28 Mar 2015: freedom@pequaRealEstate: @BilldeBlasio
@NYCMayorsFund u should direct them to a more creditable charity org
● Warren Wilhelm Jr.@mrwarrenwlhelm: @BilldeBlasio It's a SCAM! 90 cents
of every dollar donated to @NYCMayorsFund goes to pay "salaries" (political
playoffs) @ImpeachDeBlasio
● Gabriel L@lazgabe: .@BilldeBlasio @NYCMayorsFund what does $ go to?
Biz's, residents? Both? Based on need? Want to donate but want to be sure $
goes to needy https://twitter.com/lazgabe/status/582217152712822784
The VOST is also a force multiplier that can be used to increase public outreach efforts on
social media. Whilst the VOST was able to confirm via FDNY that DOHMH staff were
providing information door to door about mental health needs after tragedy, the
information itself was not available online and therefore not actionable by those reached
only on social media. An electronic copy in PDF of the handout would have resolved this
issue: https://twitter.com/NYVOST/status/582290444350054400


Increasing Team size
The optimal spectrum of response was limited by team size.An additional Associate or
Shadow VOST Team Lead and two (2) additional team members would have mitigated the
following challenges.
● Limitations on scaling
JITT to integrate members into the team mid-operation takes the Team Lead out of the
monitoring field, as does reporting. This resulted in some gaps in continuity of monitoring.
● Limitations on sourcing
Resources met the scope of the mission, but the VOST could have better served the
Department by expanding the mission to include monitoring of additional social media
platforms. All key social media sites need to be constantly under review during an incident
and the VOST is generally sufficiently flexible to address emerging trends, new apps and
tools that vary from incident to incident according to what the public is using at the time.
Team size limited platform monitoring in this incident to two key platforms -- Twitter for
messaging and Instagram for image search -- resulting in only limited situational awareness
of activity on other social media, such as Facebook, YouTube and new Mobile Apps, Yik Yak
and live streaming Periscope and Meerkat21 22 23
A recent study found that social media lets authorities instantly reach a large percentage of
students, who are more likely to comply with emergency notifications received in that
manner. NYVOST noticed concerns expressed on social media about the lack of24
information, but did not have sufficient resources available to further investigate.
Example
ttps://twitter.com/Haannnahrose/status/581194804605898752
Also, of the many spontaneous donation pages that appeared on the www.gofundme.com
site, some raised concerns, but limited team resources precluded further investigation and
verification by the VOST.
21
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yik_Yak
22
https://www.periscopeapp.co/
23
http://meerkatapp.co/
24
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/SocialMediaCommunicationCampusEmergencies.html


Conclusion

The Second Avenue Building Collapse afforded NYVOST the opportunity to test our support
of the FDNY’s response via social media — from providing additional situational awareness
to raising public awareness of health and safety concerns and helping residents of the
Lower East side find food, shelter and other resources.
The incident was unique in being the first NYC emergency response that involved a VOST in
providing SMEM support remotely.
Specific recommendations to prepare for the next incident are not included in this review
because some improvements may not be available to the FDNY without partnering with
NYC, state and/or federal governments. Key areas of improvement, however, are identified
in this report and can be used to determine priority SMEM steps to prepare for the next
large scale emergency or disaster.
VOST SOG Policy and Procedures, in compliance with FDNY Social Media Policy, will need to
address emerging trends in order to stay current.
General recommendations include the preparation of online toolkits and implementation of
technical and tactical training as needed to help FDNY-IMT personnel navigate the social
media landscape.
NYVOST looks forward to discussing the role of Social Media in the FDNY IMT. Ensuring that
New York City is prepared on all fronts of disaster response is vital to future emergency
management communications.
We welcome your feedback.
VOST Values
Accessibility Accountability Best Practices Dedication Flexibility
Honesty Innovation Integrity Interoperability Partnerships Preparedness
Resourceful Respectful Service Support Trust Truth


Useful Acronyms

AAR
AO
CONOPS
DOHMH
EM
EMA
EOC
IAP
FDNY
FDNY-IMT
HOTWASH
ICS
JITT
NIMS
NYVOST
PIO
PDF
SMEM
SOG
VOSG
VOST
VOSTie
After Action Report
Area of Operation
Concept of Operations
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (New York City)
Emergency Management
Emergency Management Agency
Emergency Operations Center
Incident Action Plan
Fire Department of New York
Fire Department of New York Type II All Hazard Incident Management Team
Discussions and evaluations of team performance “after the action”
U.S. Incident Command System
Just In Time Training
National Incident Management System (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
New York Virtual Operations Support Team
Public Information Officer
Portable Document Format
Social Media Emergency Management
Standard Operating Guide
Virtual Operations Support Group (team of teams)
Virtual Operations Support Team
An individual member of a Virtual Operations Support Team
March 27 9:58AM: #FDNY#EastVillageIncident Management Team discussed operations with@nycoem
@NYCHousing& others https://twitter.com/FDNY/status/581455357656076290


NY VOST Response to the Second Avenue Building Collapse, East Village, NYC

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