Boy, did I underestimate Twitter’s value in a disaster!

You may remember that I blogged about the possibility that Twitter might play a substantive role in emergency response because of its ability to share location-based, real-time information among social networks.

Enough of that condescending tone, Stephenson: let’s change that to Twitter is playing a substantive role in emergency response.

Exhibit A: Howard Rheingold blogs that the LA Fire Dept. is using Twitter to give instant notifications of fires it’s responding to (oh, did I mention that’s in addition to its blog, LAFD_ALERT service, Flickr Photo Gallery and YouTube Channel Perhaps the appropriate question is what Web 2.0 service aren’t they using??? And, in a little twist to show they really get it, when Computerworld’s Heather Haverstein interviewed them, the firemen used their web-based LAFD TalkRadio to conduct the interview, so that the public could listen in!

And that’s not all, boys and girls: the interview was “archived as a podcast and the show notes are hosted by our friends at BlogTalkRadio.com.”

As staffers Brian Humphrey and Ron Myers told Haverstein:

“The LAFD uses four attributes to characterize the success of Web 2.0 tools: desirable, beneficial, justifiable and sustainable.

“‘We can no longer afford to work at the speed of government,’ he said. ‘We have responsibilities to the public to move the information as quickly as possible … so that they can make key decisions.’

“Interest in the LAFD’s effort has grown; its blog just logged its 1 millionth visitor this year, and photos on its Flickr account have been viewed 500,000 times in the past year, Humphrey said. The department has made widgets available with content it produces and uses RSS to allow more users to subscribe to updates.

“But the most popular effort has been the Twitter account, which now has about 190 followers who can receive Twitter updates from a mobile device. For example, a Twitter will report that a structural fire is being battled by 30 firefighters, or that a car accident has occurred. It reads like a dispatch log of sorts from the calls the department receives and answers.

“‘The idea for us is that not everyone who is in need of information in times of distress will be sitting in front of a computer,’ Humphrey said.”

Where have you guys been all my life??? You really get it!

Exhibit B, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, comes to us from Birmingham, AL, where Red Cross Regional Director of Communications and Government Relations Ike Piggott is also using Twitter (and, like the LA boys, doing a lot of other cool Web 2.0 stuff that I’ll cover in future posts).

After Katrina, because the area wasn’t hit as hard as Louisiana, Piggott was largely left on his own, but was still inundated by media calls, so he started nosing around at Web 2.0 apps such as a blog and RSS feeds that would help him deal with the huge amount of incoming contacts without being able to respond. He contacted me the other day to say that:

“We’ve registered a couple of Twitter channels: redcross and safe and well.

“The redcross channel is going to be a test for us in pushing information during aWe’ve registered a couple of Twitter channels – redcross and safeandwell.

“The redcross channel is going to be a test for us in pushing information during a mass evacuation. Since cellphone customers can sign up for Twitter ‘on the fly,’ we’re going to encourage evacuees to text ‘FOLLOW REDCROSS’ to 40404, and sign up to get our updates. The messages will include information about where the shelters are, distribution sites, and other contact info.

“The safeandwell channel will be more for inbound communication. Thanks to the Twitter guys, those who text ‘FOLLOW SAFEANDWELL’ to 40404 will automatically be followed back. That means they can send their private information as a Direct Message to the American Red Cross. (’D SAFEANDWELL Larry Melman, 205-xxx-xxxx, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Bay Minette, is safe in a shelter.’) That maintains the privacy of the individual, and also serves to funnel the information to a centralized database.”

Remember Stephenson’s Law #2:

the creators of a truly innovative technology can’t imagine in advance all the ways users will find to apply it to meet their own particular needs, so stand aside and let things evolve.

These guys are proving that with Twitter, and saving lives in the process. Bravo!!