Trust, Verify, Respond: The Role of Social Media and Digital Technology in Disaster Response 2026 MRC Summit

Emily Smith, State Specialist in Disaster Health and Wellness

April 22, 2026

Kentucky is uniquely vulnerable to disasters which damage infrastructure, cause loss of life, and greatly impact community development and resilience. To ensure Kentuckians have access to care and resources needed to make a recovery after disaster strikes, the Kentucky Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response Branch has adopted a national model of response by credentialling volunteers through the Medical Reserve Corps. Training of MRC volunteers is ongoing, with regional units and state agencies offering free training year round. But the largest opportunity to train first responders is during the annual MRC Summit, funded through partnerships with national and local agencies like FEMA, the CDC, and KYDPH. MRC volunteers may be the first to encounter survivors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and are responsible for linking survivors to resources, offering safe shelter, food, and water and social support to enable recovery. Over 175 MRC volunteers and partners attended the MRC Summit. 

Disaster responders have been called to share preparedness, response, and recovery communications to ensure community resilience, but few volunteer responders have formal training in this role even if they are employed in occupational communications work. This presentation to first responders, Emergency Managers, staff of the KY Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch, local and county health department staff, and health care workers who volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps offered insights into current technology available to use in communications work to build community capacity, ensure recovery, and ensure communities across Kentucky have access to cutting edge tools to assist in mitigating disaster.

Trust, Verify, Respond: The Role of Social Media and Digital Technology in Disaster Response offered current research into the role social media can have in building lasting community resilience through free social media, social monitoring tools, AI and digital tools publicly available to predict outcomes, plan recovery strategies, and monitor response and recovery efforts to ensure limited resources are used where they are most effective. Participants described themselves as having moderate to advanced digital literacy, all use AI chatbots at least one a week, and participate in communications work for emergency response or in their occupational work. All 15 participants reported increased confidence and skills in using new digital tools and intended to implement at least one new strategy to increase digital inclusion by using these tools in their communities.