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Public Information Officer Rank
What rank does your department Public Information Officer hold? What rank do you think they should be?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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On our dept the Public Education person holds the rank of Lt. He will also serve as the PIO for larger incidents. For standard talking with the media on incidents, that job would go to the Battalion Chief if the PIO is not there.
I know of depts that have entirely civilian personnel in the jobs of PIO, so I really don't see where any rank is really necessary.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Chambers on
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I often times work as the PIO for my department. I am just a Firefighter. I don't think any certain rank is necessary just as long as the person acting as PIO follows SOG's and is good with the public/media.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Our PIO is a Lieutenant.
I agree with Josh. Rank is good, but not necessary. Two qualifications come to mind: Experienced enough to understand what's happening on the incident and well-spoken enough to put answers into intelligent words without releasing any incorrect or speculative information. Media training helps a lot.
Josh, you're not JUST a firefighter. You're an important person, too.
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Josh, you're not JUST a firefighter. You're an important person, too.
Thanks for that Norm! I should have worded it a little better. As far as rank I'm just a Firefighter and I'm perfectly happy with that. I work hard and I'm proud of the fact our Officers ask me to handle things if they are unavailable, that is one of the main reasons I don't think a certain rank is needed to do certain tasks.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy John Dodson on
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In our department, the Chief is the PIO. And we are more than happy that he is!
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Our chief doesn't care for the media, so it's best to have someone who can connect with them and "keep them on our side," so to speak. As you know, if you ever make them mad they will never forget. That's not to say we give them what they want...
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Permalink Reply by Tony Coliano jr on
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I think A captain is the appropriate rank . This person should have training and expierence with dealing with the press
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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Our PIO is just that, the PIO. He does not hold any rank, nor is he even a firefighter. This is because he's supposed to concentrate 100% on being the PIO. Of course being a larger city, we have the funding for this. We've had some great ones in the past with a ton of knowledge.
Now, we have a man who knows nothing about the fire service and has yet to do one positive thing for the DCFD. He's actually made us look terrible at times while posting on Facebook since he thinks all those against our chief, are racists. I know I'm off topic, but ours really is terrible.
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