VOST teams significant in the ‘rebirth of 911’ as incidents are shared more often on social media

VOST teams are made up of about 3 to 5 people that can be working on site or virtually, depending on the magnitude of the incident. VOST teams receive basic missions from emergency managers or public-information officers to look for certain types of information online, Bledsoe said. They work in a distributed format, share and compare data on spreadsheets, compile the data and relay it to public safety, typically on a 3- to 4-hour basis.

The major challenge for these groups is determining how to filter all the data shared online and apply it for analytical purposes, which will continue to be an issue for PSAPs looking to form VOST teams, Bledsoe said.

“The truth is, if we sit a dispatcher in front of the Internet, and say ‘Go watch the Internet,’ what happens? They’re going to do nothing. It’s paralysis – too much information, too much stuff that’s available.”

In preparation for the growing need for PSAPs to monitor social media, Spross said 911 managers should look for dispatchers that are adaptable and ready to be trained to take in the influx of social-media data. PSAPs combining forces to form VOST teams also could be helpful.

“I wish I had the answers,” Spross said. “I don’t, but this is a good time to think about what are the implications. Are we going to be teaching dispatch? How do we train them to look for the right things? It’s not the time to say, “I’ve got text-to-911 at my center, so I’m done.’ This is the time to [reconsider] what are we looking for in the staff that we’re hiring.”