Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer — Lesson 15 Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 4 th Edition Chapter 15 — Community Relations and Public Fire and Life-Safety Education

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–1 Learning Objectives 1.Recall information about community demographics and the diversity of a community. 2.Respond to scenarios about community needs. 3.Select facts about dealing with customer concerns, complaints, and inquiries. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–2 Learning Objectives 4.Respond to scenarios about concerns of citizens. 5.Select facts about the public information officer (PIO) and media relations.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–3 Community Diversity Demographics — The results of a statistically- based study of a population Communities are best served when public fire and life-safety education programs are modified to meet the needs of each population group.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–4 Population Categories Age Sex Marital status Family size Education Geographic location Occupation

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–5 Cultural Classifications Age Gender Sexual orientation Ethnicity Race Religion Politics Socioeconomic level Education

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–6 Community Awareness Company officers must be aware of: –Various groups that comprise the community –Who the area of responsibility includes –Cultural classifications –Languages – How to contact translators –Cultural customs –Cultural values

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–7 Customer Concerns, Complaints, and Inquiries Citizen concerns often translate to citizen complaints Issues may –Involve something under the control of the fire and emergency services organization –Involve something over which the fire and emergency services organization has no jurisdiction (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–8 Customer Concerns, Complaints, and Inquiries Company officers must be prepared to deal with concerns in a friendly, courteous, and professional manner. One of the first skills required of company officers when dealing with irate citizens is effective listening. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–9 Customer Concerns, Complaints, and Inquiries Once an issue has been identified, the company officer can either resolve it or refer the citizen to the appropriate person or office. The proper resolution of concerns is a duty of all members of the organization.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–10 Public Information Officer (PIO) May be a full-time public relations specialist or fulfilled by the chief or senior staff member Provides the public, via the media, with information about the organization and its operations (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–11 Public Information Officer (PIO) Must know –Organization’s mission statement –Terminology –Names of media contacts –Deadlines –Contact person for ethnic communities –Marketing theory –Community calendar of events (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–12 Public Information Officer (PIO) Must have good communication skills Must be certain that the last thing the public hears is positive Must ensure that all statements made to the public are factual and truthful

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–13 News Media Relations Open and trusting relations between fire and emergency services and news media are vital. The news media represents the public and has a right to access incidents. The news media and fire and emergency services personnel need to establish a task group to establish protocols at incidents. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–14 News Media Relations Members of both professions are guided by strict ethical standards. Members of an organization should never attempt to censor or influence the news media. Members of an organization should never provide classified information without permission of the head of the organization.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–15 Summary Company officers are usually the first line of contact with citizens in their community or response area. Knowledge of cultural backgrounds of the people living in the unit’s response area will assist in providing public fire and life-safety programs, providing public relations information and events, and focusing on the customer service process. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer 15–16 Summary The company officer will have to be responsive to citizen concerns, complaints, and inquiries. The company officer will have to use interpersonal skills, tact, and ethics in order to balance the interests of the customer and organization.