When I started as a public information officer (PIO), there were only a few avenues to disseminate information: a handful of TV stations, radio stations and print media. Traffic was a one-lane road and went one direction. There weren’t many options or distractions.
Today, that one-lane road is a multilane highway, and it goes in both directions. We now have social media, the internet and e-mail, among others, and as fast as you send information out, it comes right back at you with questions, comments, photos and video. If there is an extraordinary event, such as a large fire or a major disaster, the highway can get clogged. People can get lost in the confusion.
As a fire PIO, you must know where you are and where you’re going. What lane should you use? The one that you were assigned: information that’s related to fire. You’re the expert in that area. No one knows it better than you. When you start on your “trip,” stay in your lane. Just as we don’t want another communications person in a different department to “cut us off” and talk about fire, make sure that you don’t drift into other lanes yourself.
Best intentions?
The risk of drifting never has been greater than it has amid the pandemic. It has seemed as if everybody has advice on how to prevent getting the virus. Everyone, no matter their core competency, was all over the road offering information: wash your hands, cover your face, social distance, don’t gather with people, get tested, etc. Unfortunately, when I checked several social media platforms and media stories, the fire service contributed to the traffic mess: Departments from all over the country generated photographs of firefighters who stood six feet apart in front of their fire station and of firefighters who were dressed in PPE, accompanied by all kinds of COVID-19 information and advice.
Out of what lane did all of the pandemic information originate? The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). All of the agencies that are related to medical, health, everything COVID-19, travel in that lane, and that’s where pandemic information needs to stay.
Why not help those agencies get the word out? Because things change on what to do, sometimes overnight. At times, it has appeared that there was uncertainty. When that happens, people become concerned and confused, and if you hadn’t received the very latest information, you might have disseminated something that was outdated. A few times, there were contradictions.
All COVID-19 information should travel to the public via one lane: the HHS lane.
On point and adaptable
Where does that leave the fire PIO? Because of the pandemic, we saw changes, too. Because everyone was confined to home, people cooked and washed clothes every day, so there were dramatic increases in the number of cooking-related fires and clothes-dryer fires. Information needed to be shared. Kids didn’t go to school—the place where they have a fire drill every month—so the first weeks of the pandemic were a good time to promote monthly fire drills and other fire safety at home.
Furthermore, there were new ways to deliver fire PIO information: Skype and Zoom, for example. Yes, we had to stay in our lane, but we had to change the vehicle that we were using. A challenge? Sure, but necessary, and we all learned something in the process. PIOs taught fire safety classes and gave virtual tours of fire stations for school classes using Zoom. Indirectly, we were involved with the pandemic—we were on the same highway—but we stayed in our lane by speaking about what we know.
And what about the other side of the highway, including the questions that are coming back at you? (Who do I call to find out where to get COVID-19 testing? People in the dog park don’t wear masks: Is that against the law?) Make sure that you stick to your lane and advise them who to contact for those non-fire-oriented questions.
Lastly, there is the matter of information overload. When that happens, people get discouraged, become unsettled and lose confidence in the system. Don’t contribute to the traffic jam by repeating what has been reported via another lane. Stay in your lane and get your information out, so you can get to your destination.
