The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) announces the release of the second of three new courses for Public Information Officers.

These courses were developed in partnership with the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and the National Information Officer Association (NIOA)

Rationale:
Emergency PIOs are responsible for ensuring that the affected public receives accurate and timely information during an emergency. Armed with good information, people are better able to make good decisions and, by doing so, contribute to the overall response goal of saving lives and protecting property.

Some PIOs tasked with planning for, developing, and disseminating emergency public information at the State, tribal, and local levels bear this considerable responsibility concurrently with other job assignments. Others may have had limited prior experience or training in public information techniques. These PIOs, especially, must be provided with the opportunity to learn and practice the skills they will use on the job.

The PIO Awareness Course (G289) is designed to acquaint participants with the concepts underlying the PIO role. Taken alone, this course can provide a basic understanding of the PIO function for those new to the position. Additionally, this training is a prerequisite and foundation for more advanced training that takes participants from the awareness level to the mastery level in their public information careers.

Course Goal:
This course will orient the participants to the public information function and the role of the PIO in the public safety/emergency management environment. Additionally, this training will prepare participants for subsequent training to further develop their PIO skills.

Target Audience:
The primary audience for this training is individuals who have public information responsibilities as their main job or as an auxiliary function at the state, tribal, or local level of government.

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 with responsibilities that would necessitate their working with PIOs or the news media during an emergency incident.

Course Strategy:
The 1-day Public Information Officer Awareness Course will use interactive presentation to convey information and engage the participants in learning.

This course will be delivered at the State level by State and local instructors.

Course Objectives:
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define emergency public information and the PIO function.
• Describe how written products are used to support public information activities.
• Describe how the PIO can work effectively with the news media to communicate emergency public information.
• Apply basic PIO skills to public awareness campaigns.

Objectives

• Define emergency public information and the importance of being proactive.
• Describe the role and function of the PIO.
• List the skills needed to be an effective PIO and explain their relevance to the role.

Objectives

• Describe the types of written products used in public information activities.
• Describe the characteristics of an effective news release.

Objectives

• Identify the different types of news media and their needs.
• Describe the role of the news media in public safety and emergency management.
• Describe how to establish and maintain positive relationships with the news media.
• Describe on-scene needs of the PIO and the news media, and how to manage those needs.
• Identify preparation techniques that contribute to a successful media interview

Objectives

• Explain how to work with the news media to “sell” a story.
• Define a public awareness campaign.
• Describe the purpose of public awareness campaigns as they relate to emergency management.
• Describe the process used to develop and execute a public awareness campaign.

Objectives

• State key lessons learned.
• Complete a knowledge assessment.
• Complete a level-one evaluation of the training.

EMI Point of Contact:
For more information on this course, contact your FEMA Regional Training Officer or the EMI Course Manager, Phil Politano: (301)447-1343 philip.politano@dhs.gov