Guest blog by LT Sue Kerver, USCG
JIC Manager Coast Guard Public Affairs
Haitian Relief Operations
I reported to D7 in Miami on January 14th to manage the District Seven Joint Information Center (JIC) two days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged the island of Haiti. With a robust, round-the-clock public affairs operation, the cameras and media have focused on the amazing work our shipmates and other agencies have been doing downrange (including over 1,100 medevacs and placement of nearly 700 search and rescue personnel hailing from around the globe).
With such unique orchestration from logistics to response and recovery, it came as little surprise that local Auxiliary members from Divisions 3 and 6, based in South Florida, jumped into action as soon as the request was made. Using their ICS experience and Public Relations backgrounds, the local Flotillas were able to adeptly assist with the public affairs, logistics, foreign language translation, social media and administration functions in the D7 JIC.
Auxiliary members of all ages and backgrounds arrived expeditiously and quickly integrated as part of the staff. Public information and press releases were translated to Spanish and Creole using members from the Auxiliary Interpreter Corps, and the Auxiliary's Social Media branch (part of the Auxiliary's National Public Affairs Staff) assumed responsibility for the entire social media component, including improving linkages and corroboration between D7, the Haiti JIC and DoD.
Additionally, the Social Media branch coordinated directly with DoD's Southern Command to collect, vet and pass information gathered from texts, Twitter, Facebook posts and Internet pings. This info often contained vital rescue information such as latitude / longitude coordinates, addresses of injured, extent of injuries and criminal activities that had the potential to hinder rescue operations.
During the course of this response, in doing what we do best, the Coast Guard has made a definable impact on thousands of lives; and, volunteer forces from local and national Auxiliary divisions assisted tremendously in this effort. From creating an SOP for incoming D7 JIC AUX volunteers to working directly with civilian contractors to establish a more permanent way of using social media / intel collection for response situations, our all-volunteer force has had a tremendous impact on the success of Operation Unified Response Haiti.
