It’s been a busy day so far. I am attempting to rectify a crisis communications issue on the regular job, track the large number of alarms the department is receiving for rain and flood related conditions on this part of Long Island, as well as prepare for a business trip to Texas that starts tomorrow. The Texas trip is the one that gives me the most trepidation.
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When most of us write incident report press releases for consumption by the public they are fact based with very little latitude for creative license. One way I “spice” up a release for the media is by offering quotes. I do this in a number of ways – by adding quotes into the body of the release, offering a number of quotes separate from the release at the bottom of the page or prepare a separate page to go along with the release that just contains lead-ins with the relevant quotes.
I always thought OnStar walked a fine line in their radio commercials when it comes to their first responder interaction.
On one hand their service provides motorists the opportunity of having an intermediary act on their behalf in an emergency.
An OnStar advisor, in an MVA for example, is automatically alerted as soon as air bags are deployed. Using GPS, the advisor is able to pinpoint the exact location of the accident and relay the information to a 911 dispatcher. This can save precious minutes in response time, especially when those involved in an accident do not know their exact location, or their injuries are so severe they cannot respond, do not have a cell phone or cannot call on a phone.
On the other hand, and this is where I object, their commercials make their advisors look like EMT’s, police experts and firefighters all rolled into one.
A fire incident in my own town, created serious circumstances that could have easily become deadly serious. While we strive to be as transparent as we can with the public, it is also the responsibility of citizens to be transparent with us, especially when potentially deadly conditions exist on the fireground.
As a volunteer fire department PIO, and not in house based, I have to be prepared to respond from wherever I am in the community when an alarm is toned out. Since my main PIO “toolbox” is located at the main house, I need a fully redundant system that can duplicate some of the items I keep in the firehouse.
At the firehouse I have a large camera bag that holds the following items –
I want to thank Doug Walton for passing along this piece which originally came from the definitive social media website Mashable. Many of the tips in the piece can be directly correlated to the types of social media we use as fire department PIO’s.
From felons on Facebook to tips through Twitter, social media is being used more and more by law enforcement agencies, and not just to fight Internet-related crimes. We’re talking about solving crimes that are happening on the street and in your community.
When I teach Probies in my departments internal fire school, I always tell them that they already know more than many veteran members. Because of the most up to date tactics that they are learning, they already have one up on the older guys who become complacent and are hesitant to constantly upgrade their skills to be on the cusp of today’s standards.
The same is true for PIO’s. If we do not constantly stay up to day on the latest trends and tools we are always taking a step backward.
I’ve posted before about the fine line of balancing responsibilities as a PIO and firefighter. A recent automatic alarm call was a case in point.
My Department received an automatic alarm call for a duct detector activation at a popular Italian restaurant in town. Just a few weeks back we were at the same establishment for a similar call. The alarm toned out at just around 23:30 after the restaurant closed. There were no customers on the premises, but the wait and counter staff as well as kitchen personnel were all still working on straightening things out for closing.
One of the areas on my Department website that I am not satisfied with is the Media Pressroom tab. I had information in the Pressroom, but was never really satisfied with the way it was presented. So, on this Monday, I present you with some of the items I will place on my retooled media area and look in return for your suggestions on administering a Pressroom on your website.
The FDNY is currently trying to unravel the details concerning an allegedly drunk individual in uniform, sleeping at the entrance to an apartment building following St. Patrick’s Day festivities in New York.
A few years back my department was confronted with a similar situation. The proper crisis management of inebriated firefighters in uniform can be a difficult one to call for a PIO and department leadership.
I encourage you to take the time this weekend to participate in a social media survey. If you are a Fire Department Public Information Officer this survey conducted by California State University, San Bernardino, is gathering data to see if, when, for how long and how effective social media is for your department.
The 35 question survey only took me 10 -15 minutes to complete. In addition to providing data, some of the questions were compelling enough to make me think about my own use of social media in my department.
A difficult situation unfolding for the Jacksonville Beach Police as the department PIO and detectives released a photo to the media of a suspect in a crime that they were looking to bring in for questioning. The problem? The suspect being sought was innocent and misidentified.
The Department, from a crisis standpoint, admitted to their mistake promptly, but damage has still been done.
I wrote a post a few weeks’ backs about whether we, as PIO’s, are carrying the heavy load for the media in regard to supplying them with information from incident scenes. Is the Media taking a Free Ride?
It appears with newsroom financial resources dwindling the media is relying on us more and more to provide more in depth stories, site photo’s and video.
Now, via Ragan Communications, comes a new statistic that reports according to an Australian study, 55 percent of news stories are driven by public relations.
The Firegeezer reported yesterday on a sad case involving two members of the Western New York State Cattaraugus Fire Department. They have been charged with the embezzlement of between $30,000 and $80,000 of Department funds raised.
It appears the powers that be in the Department did not do the proper “size-up.” I think in many instances, you can cut a crisis off before it happens by doing your due diligence.
I have nothing against the late actor Cory Haim. I guess he was a soul tormented by substance abuses that lead to his premature death last week at age 38. Haim was Canadian, from Toronto, and his remains were brought back to the city of his birth for burial.
News circulated over the last few days that Haim’s funeral would be paid for by the City of Toronto. His mother Judy made this statement. Hundreds of outlets, mostly of the Hollywood gossip variety, reported on the story without much additional detail.
I just got off a conference call with a few of my fellow PIO’s who represent a number of volunteer fire departments. We were discussing SOP’s when PIO’s from different departments are working the same scene via mutual aid needs.
The discussion diverted to the responsibilities that PIO’s have in their own departments. The responsibilities that we had in common were –
There’s a baseball expression about a swift trip to the major leagues before heading back to the minors being called “a quick cup of coffee.” If you like your coffee instant and on the run, head for a PIO job in the New Mexico Lieutenant Governors office.
This is a quote from today’s edition of the Sierra Star, a California newspaper serving Madera County -
Valley Crime Stoppers has appointed Madera County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Erica Stuart as a new board member.
“We believe the move to appoint a Madera County Sheriff’s representative to our board will give Crime Stoppers greater awareness in Madera County,” said Crime Stoppers board president Dale Mendoza.
Sheriff John Anderson added that the move serves to “further strengthen our relationship with citizens and the business community throughout Madera County.”
How many of us serve on boards or are members of local organizations to further integrate our departments into the community?
I often write in my posts about using photo captions or cutline’s to briefly explain a bigger story whether it is for your website or materials you are sending to the media. Often I prefer to send the media a captioned photo over a full release. Obviously for a significant incident a full release is warranted, but for many other activities such as Fire Prevention Day, citations, school visits etc., a captioned photo is effective and more likely to receive placement.
During my quick trip to Las Vegas, I’m glad someone was on fire watch at The Fire PIO desk. I want to thank Bill Carey at Fire EMS Blogs who does such fantastic work managing these blogs as well as well as websites for FirefighterNation.com/ Fire Rescue Magazine /JEMS.connect/JEMS.com LawOfficerConnect/LawOfficer.com.
The first piece Bill brought to my attention was written by Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post. It is about stressed newroom budgets and how reporters must multi task to get a story out.
So many of us benefit from the use of Motorola radios and equipment. There flawless performance is something we many times take for granted. I just want you to know how Motorola gives back. I just accepted a check on behalf of America’s VetDogs for $30,000 at a Motorola corporate and authorized dealer event at the new Aria hotel in Las Vegas.
There are many cycles when I am constantly sending releases and news to the media. If my department has a particularly busy run schedule, newsworthy assessment of the incidents quickly follow. There are other cycles though when alarms settle down and the flow of information to the media takes a brief hiatus. To avoid being out of sight, out of mind, I make sure that my department, especially in the local community newspapers, has placement at least twice a month. One way I do this is with news “fillers.”
At a recent fire exhibition on Long Island a fellow PIO asked if I had a couple of minutes to talk to him about a problem he was having. A number of people in his community were complaining to members of his volunteer department about what they thought was the excessive costs involved in running and maintaining a motorized drill team to compete. So upset was the Chief of Department that he asked the PIO to send a release to the local papers extolling the virtues of motorized racing. The only problem is the PIO agrees with the community complaints.
A few months ago a fire took place in Smithtown, NY where I serve as the fire departments PIO. It was as routine as a small working fire could be. A heavy rainstorm caused a neon sign in the window of a nail salon to catch fire after water leaked through the plate glass seal. The fire was quickly knocked down and we headed for home.
I’m neither a stock investor nor regular viewer to CNBC but by chance I was speed clicking through the channels a couple of mornings ago and stopped momentarily to hear Warren Buffet talk about Toyota and crisis communications.
In about five seconds Buffet gave one of the greatest overviews of tackling a PR nightmare that I ever heard:
