Operation MOM
Holyoke Community College, November 7, 2012
John J. Burke of Boston University’s Healthcare Emergency Management program led a hybrid emergency exercise today at Holyoke Community College; a college Mr. Burke’s grandfather was the first president and founder of. In a collaborative effort joined by Mayor Alex Morse and the Local Emergency Planning Committee, Holyoke Medical Hospital representatives, a team of Holyoke emergency responders, and BU HEM program graduate students, the exercise focused on “Managing Our Message” (M.O.M) during an emergency crisis by utilizing social media tools through Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail.
In the exercise, BU HEM students mobilized and managed a Joint Information Center (J.I.C) where they disseminated pertinent information from Mayor Morse, local emergency responders, and Holyoke Medical Hospital representatives about the crisis to concerned citizens. The J.I.C. also received tweets, FB messages, and emails from the public, and responded with the appropriate information as it was released to them. As close to real world simulation as possible- provided with limited information, mock press releases held by Mayor Morse, Holyoke Medical Hospital officials, and local emergency responders, and updates from local citizens on the ground using social media to report the incident, the JIC worked on managing the most effective message possible during the emergency crisis.
Catch coverage of the exercise on Channel 3 News, Springfield
