Got to know it to teach it

I co-instructed the G-289 "PIO Awareness" class for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency at the Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. A one-day course, it introduces the participants to the public information function and the role of the PIO in the public safety/emergency management environment.

At the end of this course, participants are able to:

• Define emergency public information and the importance of being proactive.
• Describe the role and functions of the PIO.
• Describe the types of written products used in public information activities.
• Recall preparation techniques that contribute to a successful media interview.
• List the steps of the 8-Step Model for Strategic Communications.
• Given a scenario, apply the 8-Step Model to a public awareness campaign.
• Apply public information techniques to a 5% scenario.

The primary audience for this training is individuals who have public information responsibilities as their main job or as an auxiliary function at the federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial level of government, and in the private and nongovernmental sectors.

A secondary audience for this training includes individuals who would benefit from a general understanding of the emergency public information function. This audience would include elected and other officials (e.g., dispatchers, receptionists) who may work with PIOs or with the news media during an incident or have initial media contact outside an incident through the course of their job.