Thread by @JimWhittington

OK, with #EMGTwitter chatting about PIOs and @SamLMontano discussing the communications issues with the East Palestine response, here's a long thread on the topic.

There has always been much confusion over what a Public Information Officer is. 1/

Yes, it is a position within ICS that is part of the Command Staff and has standards and experience requirements--but often people don't think of PIO work as being the equivalent of Safety or other General Staff positions like Operations, Plans, or Logistics. 2/

Part of that is because PIOs use the same tools as Public Affairs folks and are often the same people. Public Affairs has, arguably, a negative connotation for many, including as management lackeys and spin meisters. 3/

Add to that the dearth of training for PIOs and any PIO who wants to improve their craft is inevitably pushed to Public Affairs training because after the basic FEMA/NWCG classes, that's all there is. And if you do PIO work for even a bit, it becomes clear you need more. 4/

College Communications departments are highly skewed toward the corporate/Public Affairs side of things so even if you take a 400 level class at your local university, your experiences and needs will be substantially different than what is taught. 5/

On top of that, most media trainings out there (including FEMA and NWCG) still carry assumptions from the last century that came out of politics and advertising. It's a 2 hour or more Ted Talk, but crisis comms are different. 6/

2 quick examples:

"Don't respond to hypotheticals."
But how can you be a PIO and not talk about risk, which is hypothetical?

"Speak in soundbites."
As a PIO, you're in a complex, dynamic incident and people know it. Don't simplify complexities. It will burn you every time. 7/

I should note that this training deficit also applies to PAOs in government service. If you want to advance in that field the only options you have are to go the corporate comms route, which does not exactly align with government service. 8/

(For perspective, during my fed career my regular job was as an agency PAO and my incident job was PIO and Liaison Officer.)

About 12 years before I retired, I stumbled upon this website by Peter Sandman and his partner @EIDGeek. 9/
psandman.com

They had engaged in thinking through risk communications issues and reading their stuff gave me the vocabulary and concepts to better define and express my thoughts on PAO and PIO work. 10/

They are not the same. At all. In essence, a PAO is concerned about the long-term image of the organization while a PIO is concerned about the people and communities affected by an incident. 11/

When incidents happen, there is always a constant tension between those two. The tensions come to the surface when there is a high profile incident, serious accident, fatality, or lawyers get involved. Here's a bad PPoint mod I did to one of Sandman's Risk graphics. 12/

I use that graphic in training courses to explain the differences between PIOs and PAOs to both groups and managers as well (Another Ted Talk). A PIO needs to think differently than a PAO and if people know you as a PAO first, you must be clear that a break has taken place. 13/

PIOs are not PAOs in Nomex (or vests).

If you are both PAO and PIO, making that break is tough to do personally and more difficult for the organization to accept. During high tempo, stressful incidents, we also have a habit of reverting to the familiar. 14/

That makes it easy for a PIO to slip back into a PAO mindset and into the relationships and responsibilities of the PAO job. If you do that though, the PIO work and the response suffers. 15/

I always hated it when my IMT caught an incident on my home unit. It forced me to say no to regular supervisors and colleagues because I was no longer a an agency employee--I had an IMT job. 16/

Looking at the history of PIOs, there are also vestigial barriers still in place. When I started in the last century, a PIO was often considered the gatekeeper. Your job was to keep the public and media away from the people doing the real work. 17/

In my early sim classes, the PIO's desk would inevitably be placed as a barrier at the door of the classroom, separate and apart from the rest of the team. You were a greeter and facilitator, not a real team member and certainly not a decision-maker. 18/

Most of our training cadre back then had been trained in 1950s/1960s/early 1970s. They were bringing those ideas forward. "This is how we do it and this is how you will do it." There was a low-key contempt for PIOs. 19/

That began to change (another Ted Talk) and we've made great progress, but as late as 2005, I went up to an IC on a different IMT and asked a question. He answered: "You're the PIO, you should know." He then walked off. 20/

I suspect (know) that there are many local and state agencies where those attitudes about PIOs are still prevalent. It's a symptom of first and second generation use of ICS as well as not being exposed to a major incident. 21/

It takes time for orgs to come to grips with the idea that a long-term complex response means different processes than regular work. This is especially tough in Fire and Police Depts where they deal with all the daily stuff that happens in society. 22/

So, it's no surprise that the East Palestine communications have been confusing and incomplete. You have local folks who may have some quals and training, but probably little experience on a highly visible Hazmat incident. 23/

I would be surprised if they have a local PIO who has the quals, the appropriate mindset, experience, and standing to work a complex incident of national interest. On top of that, you have the massive uncertainty of chemical exposures. 24/

There aren't many PIOs at the state or federal level who have the educational background to understand and explain the chemical issues, much less question the folks providing that info and working through any contradictions. 25/

Then you have the railroad, who probably has a bevy of image management folks but likely very few if any PIOs with both training and mindset who are allowed to stand outside the corporate boundaries. 26/

If you don't have a strong PIO, the burden of comms falls on others who do not have the training or understand the job. PIO work is not rocket science--it's much tougher. You have to communicate to people under stress using English, which has words and phrases... 27/

...with numerous meanings, connotations, and emotional weights. You must think through how words will be received and anticipate rumors. You must talk about risk in a realistic but calm way. You can't over-assure. And so on. 28/

If the PIO's job is left to others, it becomes a mere factual recitation and if the facts are in dispute between responders or not accepted as fact by the public, you have the kind of confusion we've seen in Ohio. 29/

If the complexity is not fully communicated, people will use their own education and experience to fill in the gaps. This often means that the reality of the incident drifts further away and rumors become accepted as fact. 30/

Once this happens, the amount of energy and time it takes to bring folks back to the reality is tremendous. As hard as it is, it takes less time and energy to get it right the first time. 31/

Getting it right the first time may mean that you have to talk about the uncertainties in a way that is uncomfortable to the agency and this case, the railroad. You must let people know what you don't know, what it takes to know, and what you will do when you know. 32/

I suspect the notoriety, complexity, and politics of this response have turtled the communication efforts, but the longer it goes without clarity, the more difficult the task. 33/

I'm sympathetic in part. It's near impossible to prepare for the unexpected, the massively complex, or something beyond your experience. We need better training for PIOs and PIOs need a deeper understanding... 34/

...of the systems and hazards they might encounter. PIOs need to force the issue when they run up against cultural barriers that prevent them from acting or place them outside the team. 35/

Others on the IMT and in the EOC need better training and understanding of the PIO role and the differences between a PIO and a PAO. They also need to understand how to involve a PIO in building a common operating picture and decision-making. 36/36