Getting the Word Out By Matt Kapko FireRescue1 News Editor October 25, 2006 In an era of increasingly tight budgets and tough competition for funding, there has never been a greater need for solid public outreach programs. Many departments have media/community relations programs in place, but there are a few that have found new, innovative ways to increase visibility and communicate important information to the public. The tactics fire departments use to disseminate their messages are as diverse as the men and women wearing the uniform. Smaller departments typically rely on each of their members to represent the department when speaking with anyone in a public arena. On the other hand, some larger departments struggle to find the resources and funding to reach out to the millions of people they serve. Departments, large and small, have created countless programs to disseminate their messages, with varying degrees of success. FireRescue1 contacted public information officers from fire departments in Los Angeles, Spokane, Wash., and Dallas to better understand how they interact with the people they serve. Each department approaches public outreach with similar goals: Inform and educate the public, raise awareness, garner support for the department and promote fire safety. Yet the methods utilized to achieve the goals are quite unique. The Los Angeles Fire Department has a public and media relations staff; however, they are not dedicated exclusively to that role. No budget dollars are assigned to the department’s public outreach efforts in technology. Three firefighters, a captain, battalion chief — all of whom perform double-duty as information officers — and three civilian staff provide news and incident coverage to the public every minute of every day. Due to budget cuts in Spokane, the executive officers have taken on lion's share of public-outreach duties, though each of its 300 members are still involved. The department also makes do with limited funds; the public relations office is funded through the general fund, but much of the materials and capital are provided through grants or donations. Dallas, on the other hand, heavily involves each of its members in public outreach. “The chief wants every person to be part of public outreach,” Dallas Lt. Joel Lavender said. “If customer service is everyone’s job, then customer education is everyone’s job.” ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES Though serving within what is arguably the nation’s most paramilitary fire department — the LAFD Public and Media Relations staff is given tremendous leeway in seeking new and innovative ways to communicate with those who have an interest in the LAFD and its endeavors, according to Brian Humphrey, a public information officer and firefighter/paramedic with the LAFD. One of the greatest areas of emphasis for the LAFD Public and Media Relations staff has been its online presence and use of a blog to provide updates on department happenings, from incidents to fundraisers. “The LAFD was the first metropolitan fire department in the United States to host its own Web page, in what remains a largely volunteer and non-budgeted effort by off-duty members,” Humphrey wrote in an e-mail to FireRescue1. Further, the LAFD has embarked on a multitude of projects known informally as Web 2.0. “In order to interact, you must first listen and always participate,” Humphrey noted. “All too often, it’s that side of the equation, the listening or feedback loop that is missing at all levels of tech investment, implementation and maintenance.” The department has had great success with RSS (Real Simple Syndication), which allows the department to transmit news feeds through a series of networks and partners. And most recently, the department launched LAFD TalkRadio — an instantaneous two-way communication program. Humphrey added that the department also continues to heavily invest its time in blogs, Wikis and Podcasts — all at little or no direct monetary cost to the agency. Humphrey said he is “dismayed to see so many agencies using the Internet and associated technologies to speak wider and louder, while all but ignoring the ability to hear more clearly from a diverse, and in many ways, distant audience.” In Spokane, Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer is preparing to launch a new, interactive Web site this month. The site will feature information on the department’s services, a computer-aided dispatch interface and up-to-the minute media releases. The format will allow incident commanders and staff to send information to the Web site from anywhere. The platform, Schaeffer said, presents the opportunity to reach the “devices of our elected leaders and media outlets anywhere in the world — including the scene.” The Spokane Fire Department hopes the Web site will succeed where other similar attempts have failed, he said. Media alerts via voicemail, e-mail, paging and blogs have all been met with little success. HANDLING MEDIA INQUIRIES Responding to inquiries from the media is a challenge for any agency, though some departments put a higher priority on the task than others. “(Media relations) is a grueling task that includes live media interviews, working with elected officials, academia, the entertainment industry, business and community leaders — and sometimes helping a lost traveler or even a child with their homework,” Humphrey said. “A busy day will bring more than 300 phone calls. Picture the most hectic moment on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and you’ve got a snapshot of the Public Service Officers’ Office.” Schaeffer makes himself or another executive chief officer available 24/7 for media inquiries. “I have given the media my home number and all of the contact information to put them in touch with a human, and someone who can make comments and speak to policy issues,” he said. Spokane previously hadn’t enjoyed the luxury of public information officers due to budget cuts, so the executive staff has assumed much of that role. Before this streamlined process was ironed out, the battalion chiefs had to field an onslaught of calls and impromptu visits from the media — a source of frustration for both parties. “The media would often pass up stories and/or change the message that we would have rather been sending,” he said. “Now the battalion chiefs issue electronic media releases and utilize staff for media interviews.” In Dallas, the fire department typically relies on phone, fax and e-mail. “Sometimes it’s no more than an inquiry that can be answered verbally,” Lavender said. ADVOCATING FIRE SAFETY Amid all the sending and receiving of information, it’s important that departments don’t lose their focus on advocating fire safety. “We are constantly in front of folks trying to emphasize fire safety, injury prevention and CPR,” Schaeffer wrote in an e-mail. “Those are our big three, and I firmly believe that repetition is important, especially when you're trying to change the way people think. If you’re in the fire service as a chief officer or aspiring to be a chief, you really need to understand that marketing is occasionally just as important as putting the fires out. “Sometimes people don’t really like to hear that, but it is a reality. If we as a fire service intend on being built to last, we have to be built for change. As the chief architect of the organization, we have to build our ‘brand’ around social relevance in media every day.” The Spokane Fire Department is proof that it doesn’t take big dollars or millions of residents to successfully reach out to a diverse range of customers. By constantly evolving with the times and using the new technologies that become available, departments will expand their reach into the communities they serve and realize benefits every step of the way. “At the end of the day it is gratifying for anyone to know how deeply people connect to our service,” Schaeffer wrote. “The organizations I have been involved with have identities and strong relationships with the community… and that’s how we will continue to be an ‘American Tradition.’” Home