It is a veritable virtual network that has been taking shape for over two years now. As such, the key players in the Gard department have been running a behind-the-scenes group chat on a messaging app. Firefighters (SDIS 30), law enforcement, the prefecture, the public prosecutor’s office, the departmental authorities, local councillors, road authorities… Everyone is working together to improve communication in the event of a major incident.
In the Gard, there are numerous natural hazards, including heatwaves, forest fires, extreme cold, flooding, storms, droughts and landslides… In 2016, during a spell of heavy rain and thunderstorms, the SDIS 30 fire brigade was contacted via Twitter by the administrator of the southern zone of the Waze app, to "cross out" virtually monitor the roads and encourage its users to take a safer, congestion-free route. At the same time, the head of the Gard department’s roads department contacted SDIS 30 via Twitter. This led to a group conversation being set up between them.
Coming together to make a difference
Two years later, this virtual room is home not only to the roads department, the Waze app and the Gard fire service, but also to officials from the Gard Prefecture, the Public Prosecutor of Nîmes, the Departmental Council, the Predict services, the French Red Cross, Enedis, the National Police, Vinci Autoroutes, SEVESO sites, the Army, the SNCF and numerous local authorities.
Christophe (Waze), Pierre (Departmental Council) and Cynthia (SDIS 30) are in regular contact with official bodies, enabling the regular addition of ‘decision-makers’ or those with access to social media, so that they can provide information, filter it and verify it. Increasingly, members of this virtual group are, in turn, proposing the addition of their counterparts through co-optation, meaning that everyone contributes to the group’s growth.
Waze was alerted 4 minutes before the emergency services arrived
"Our community comprises more than 9 million Wazers in France. This figure is highly representative of real-time traffic on the country’s road network. According to a 2017 study, when a road accident occurs, it is reported on Waze on average four minutes before a call is made to 112. Four precious minutes that can make all the difference. It is in this spirit, and with everyone’s participation, that we work in the interests of the public. Social media, community apps and Big Data are incredibly effective tools – not just for the future, but right now. Everyone has a part to play!" says Christophe Lautier of the Waze app.
For Cynthia Tarantino, who manages the Gard fire service’s social media presence, "It is important to provide guidance to help the public become familiar with the risks, with the use of these new communication platforms and with understanding their communication codes, but also – and above all – to be able to gather information".
"We regularly encourage the public to notify us via their social media posts or to use hashtags such as #AlerteMeteoGard, which enables the various organisations involved to quickly pick up on this ‘information’ coming from the general public, which is then turned into intelligence so that we can, where necessary, adapt our operational response." she adds.