Lesson 5: PIO Missions in Super Storm Sandy - Randy Rask

Lesson 5 Reading Summary

Randy Rask

Reference:  JOHNSON, SEAN. Fire Engineering. May2013, Vol. 166 Issue 5, p42-44. 3p.

Theme: This article describes the missions of the public information officer of FDNY during hurricane super storm Sandy.  

Summary:

-October 27, 2012, FDNY command and general staff held a meeting in preparation of the hurricane.  The main goal was to develop a plan to remove fallen trees and debris before the high winds came. 

-October 28, the storm had started to affect the Carolinas and was moving its way up the East Coast towards New York.  The new focus was "Homebound Evacuations".  Four PIO's were deployed to help with the plan of evacuating residents in the flood zones. 

- (October 28- November 2) New mission of PIO was to provide for fire and life safety functions in accordance with the Citywide Incident Command System.  The job was to support five New York boroughs with resources for emergency responder teams if emergency personnel in the area were isolated from the storm. 

-Media attention began to grow when people found out that out-of-state response teams were going to respond.  The PIO teams assisted were helping in the field as well as at the incident command post. PIO's were also being dispatched to different parts of the city where media was showing up to help them with their stories.

-PIO's began to gather information on heroic stories of on and off-duty emergency responders to give to the FDNY Press Office to review and record. 

-PIO's were present for all interviews and were even in some studios to be sure that any story told was accurate.

- (November 1 – December 29)  The second mission had become manageable and now the new mission was to assist in community recovery.  Things such as tree removal as well as dewatering operations were taking place.  The PIO's still continued to work with media and giving them updates. 

Application to lesson topic:

Seeing as how the lesson topic described the role of PIO's, this article perfectly applies.  This article gives a play by play of the PIO's roles in before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy as it hit New York.  This shows how the public information officers helped with the situation and how they dealt with the media. 

Application to Emergency Services:

Public information officers play a very big role in emergency services during disasters.  This article shows how an effective PIO performance will help to benefit emergency service agencies.  If the public is getting accurate information through the media, and the media is given the information through the public information officer, then things will tend to run much more smoothly in most cases. 

4 - Disaster Communication using Social Media - Ashley Burningham

Ashley Burningham

Reference: Preston, J., Stelter, B. (2012, date). In Crisis, Public Officials Embrace Social Media. New York Times.

Theme:

Social media is a powerful and necessary tool in disaster communication.

Summary:
- Hurricane Sandy prompts officials to embrace social media.
-Governor's Twitter feed proves this: 400 messages on Tuesday, 300 on Wednesday, and well over 100 on Thursday.
- Governor responding to messages, he believes social media is highly effective.
- Governor's followers increased from 20,000 to 50,000
- Phone service has been spotty
- People were reliant on texting and social media more than previously.
- Officials embraced social media to spread the word.
- Still participate in press conferences, but simultaneously post to social media.
- Serves as a round the clock press conference.
- Before the storm, they used Pinterest to generate ideas for preparing for disasters.
- "Social media is an integral part of an emergency communication plan."
- Many people don't have access to a television or radio, but most have internet access.
- Power outage prevents use of tv or radio.
- Social media allows information to come straight from the source.

Application to the Lesson:

This weeks lesson was on disaster communication and planning. With this day in age, it has become more apparent that social media is taking over the process of a lot of things. It has become a new tool utilized by officials in getting information out. Because disaster communication involves social media, it is applicable to the lesson this week.

Application to Emergency Services:

In emergency services, the Public Information Officer is in charge of distributing information to the media and public. Because social media is so prevalent today, law enforcement agencies need to take advantage of it.