Recently there was a story about an EMT getting fired for posting a photo on Facebook. While the photo in question was from a crime scene, allowed clear identification of the victim, and probably violated the confidentiality policies of the agency he was employed by, it makes me wonder just how many EMS Agencies have a Social Media Policy for their providers. If I had to guess I would say less than 1% of EMS Agencies have one.

Do not mistake an agency Internet Usage Policy for a Social Media Policy. They are NOT the same thing. While an Internet Usage Policy dictates the policy of internet usage at work, a Social Media Policy dictates the policy of interactions in social media sites both on and off duty when relating to the agency.

There are two reasons for this disparaging estimation. The first is that agencies are primarily concerned with what goes on while their providers are on duty. They do not view off duty activities as representative of their agency, and therefore do not see a need to provide policy or guidelines on those activities. The second reason is that the leadership in these agencies simply do not understand the power of social media. Their exposure to it has been limited to the snippets they may see on television about Twitter but very few have actually experienced it first hand. I would highly recommend this video by Common Craft called Social Media In Plain English for every EMS Leader out there over the age of 30.

Any agency that continues in this day and age to lack a Social Media Policy is doing their providers, their patients, and themselves a great injustice.

Developing A Policy

Developing a Social Media Policy can be incredibly easy or become a very tedious chore depending on the depth of control you want to attempt to exert. The less stifling your policy seems, the more favorable you will be viewed by your providers and the more positive your agency will be seen in social media itself.

A prime example of an unpopular draconian policy, and it’s negative view, is the Wall Street Journal Social Media Policy.

Here are a few resources for policy development:

• HighTechDad has a great guideline to crafting sensible social media policies
• WebInkNow describes the process and flowchart utilized by the United States Air Force Social Media personnel
• Social Media Today offers some important Corporate Social Media Guidelines including where the policy should sit between official agency social media content and responders personal social media content
• See a sample of a Blogging and Social Media Policy that you can use as a basis for your own

Communicating The Policy

One of the challenges any agency has is its ability to clearly communicate policies. Since we are talking specifically about a Social Media Policy, the best way to communicate the policy is through both traditional means (memo, signed acknowledgements of the receipt of the policy, etc.) but also through Social Media itself. Agencies that develop these policies should take the next step and officially establish themselves within the sphere of Social Media with blogs, Twitter accounts, YouTube Channels, and Facebook Pages.

Lead by example.

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