Nearly 40 years ago, I was asked by my fire chief whether I would consider handling media requests for information about fires, emergencies and fire safety. He informed me of a new term that was being used by public safety agencies: public information officer, or PIO.
I contacted several departments to see whether there was any training for PIOs, but it appeared there was none.
Fortunately, as the years passed, PIO courses became available. Many were conducted by people who served as a PIO for years and who felt that they had something to offer to those who wanted to learn.
Today, many PIO courses are taught by veteran/active PIOs (including myself). However, none is better than the Public Information Officer’s Training program that’s offered by FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute’s (EMI) PIO Programs.
EMI programs
The EMI PIO training curriculum includes courses that are delivered at the awareness, basic, advanced and master levels.
The awareness and basic level courses were developed by EMI and are self-study (online) or taught by state emergency-management trainers who instruct on: basic skills and techniques for use during small, localized, single-agency responses; preparedness programs; and escalating localized responses. The advanced level course teaches additional skills for use during escalating incidents, including strategic communications and incident action planning as it relates to Joint Information Center operations. The course is taught by EMI instructors either at the local level or at the EMI campus in Emmitsburg, MD.
The Awareness level course is completed online and mainly consists of an overview of public information and social media. It’s the foundation for the other PIO courses.
Basic PIO courses are conducted at the local level. Contact your state emergency-management training coordinator about courses in your area. You must complete all of the Awareness PIO courses to progress to Basic PIO. Basic is in the classroom and is more hands on than Awareness is, working in groups on media releases, public awareness programs and practicing interviews, including on-camera work.
Advanced PIO (APIO) courses also are conducted locally (set up and taught by EMI) or at the EMI campus. You’ll need to contact EMI to see when and where courses are available. APIO courses are more complex. They consist of incident tabletop exercises, working with other PIOs, social media and on-camera interviews.
My recommendation for the APIO program: Take the course at the Emmitsburg campus. During the weeklong course, you meet PIOs from across the country. The training is provided by senior PIOs who have been on the job for a number of years as well as EMI instructors who have PIO experience. The best part: The training is paid by FEMA, including transportation and lodging on campus.
The Master Public Information Officer Program (MPIOP) keys on an expanded role in delivering public information and warning, using a whole-community approach. It reinforces the qualities that are needed to lead whole-community public information/external affairs programs, provides relevant management theories and concepts, and uses case studies. MPIOP participants work within a collaborative environment on projects and establish a network of peers.
MPIOP participants each will contribute to the body of knowledge for emergency-management-related public information by preparing a written project. The class also monitors student activity during advanced public information officer courses that are conducted at the same time for evaluation of leadership, group dynamics and functional best practices of joint information centers.
For more information about PIO classes, qualifications, and the EMI campus, go to training.fema.gov/programs/pio/.
Another source of training is local community colleges. Journalism courses in speech and interview techniques are worthwhile and offer practice in front of an audience (classmates). These courses usually are taught by members of the local media, which is an added advantage.
