Welcome Public Information Officer Awareness
After this course, you will be able to:
  • Define emergency public information and the importance of being proactive
  • Describe the role and functions of the Public Information Officer (PIO)
  • Describe the types of written products used in public information activities
  • Recall preparation techniques that contribute to a successful media interview
  • Apply public information techniques to a 5% scenario
Lesson 1: Introduction to Public Information
Lesson Objectives

At the end of this Lesson, you will be able to:

  • Define emergency public information
  • State the importance of being proactive
Course Goals

This course will:

  • Introduce participants to the public information function and the role of the Public Information Officer (PIO) in the public safety/emergency management environment
  • Prepare participants to continue developing their public information skills through training

PIOs in public safety and emergency management organizations are responsible for ensuring that the affected public receives accurate and timely information during an emergency. Armed with good information, people can make better decisions that contribute to the overall response goal of saving lives and protecting property.

The goal of this training is to provide participants with the skills and tools that those new to the position of PIO or with limited experience can use to effectively communicate with external and internal audiences on a daily basis, and to prepare participants for further public information training.

Image shows an arrow pointing from the Awareness level of training illustrated in a pyramid to the Mastery level. Within the pyramid, from bottom up, are a listing of courses which take a student from Awareness to Master. They are PIO Awareness (IS-29), Basic PIO (G0290), JIS/JIC Planning for PIOs (G0291), Advanced PIO (E/L 0388), PIO Masters Course (E389/E393/E394).
95/5 Theory
  • 95% of a PIO’s work is conducted in non-emergency times
  • 5% of time and effort is directly related to incident response or recovery
95/5 intro

A theme that begins in this course and is carried throughout the Public Information Training Series is the “95/5” concept that takes its origin from two sources: management consultant D. Edward Deming and Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto.

 

 

95/5 explained
Deming said that 95% of an organization’s performance is attributable to its systems and only 5% is due to the people. Pareto originally proposed the 80/20 formula, which has been applied to many aspects of both business and personal life (e.g., 20% of employees create 80% of an organization’s success; 20% of your interpersonal activities create 80% of your sense of connection with others). Pareto suggested the 80/20 rule in 1906, a time before technology and other cultural changes contributed to speeding up both our work and personal lives. Many management experts today have recalculated Pareto’s rule to 95/5 to reflect these societal changes.
Relating 95/5 to the roles of PIO
This 95/5 theory may be related to public information in many ways, but the greatest significance may be related to non-emergency and emergency situations. Most relevant to this training, 95% of a PIOs’ work is in non-emergency times, with only 5% directly related to incident response or recovery. Another application might be that 95% of your organization’s image may be affected — for good or for bad — by the 5% of time spent responding to an incident. So the activities a PIO chooses in non-emergency times (95%) has a significant impact on how successful he or she will be in the 5% spent in emergency response and recovery. Use the discussion questions below to engage the participants and to emphasize the importance of being proactive at all times in order to be effective during emergency situations (the 5% of the job).
Relating 95/5 to the roles of PIO

The discussion questions on the following slides emphasize the importance of being proactive at all times in order to be effective during emergency situations (the 5% of the job).

Terms Used in This Training
  • Public Information
  • Emergency Public Information
  • External Affairs

For purposes of this training, we will define and make a distinction among the following terms:

Public Information: Information collected, assembled or maintained by an organization in connection with the transaction of official business and available for dissemination to the public.

Emergency Public Information: Information developed and disseminated in anticipation of, during, or after an emergency to provide specific life- and health-saving information.

External Affairs: Coordinates the release of accurate, coordinated, timely and accessible public information to affected audiences, including the government, media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. External Affairs works closely with state and local officials to ensure outreach to the whole community. Functions include, but are not limited to:

  • Public affairs and the Joint Information Center
  • Intergovernmental (local, state, tribal and territorial) affairs
  • Congressional affairs
  • Private sector outreach

 

Public Information Mission During an Incident

The public information mission during an incident is to get accurate, understandable information to the public in a timely manner so people can take action to save lives and minimize damage to property.

NIMS public information procedures and protocols support this mission.

Lesson Summary

You should now be able to:

  • Define emergency public information
  • State the importance of being proactive