AWR-209 Training
Dealing with the Media: A Short Course for Rural Responders is designed to provide rural first responders with the skills and knowledge to quickly adopt the role of public information officer (PIO) if/when needed and to communicate with the public through the media. Many rural first responder organizations do not have a full or part-time PIO on staff. Therefore, in the event that a first responder is thrust into the role of PIO, whether it be roadside at the scene of an emergency or detailing directions to the public in a crisis situation, it is important to understand how the media works and how best to work with the available media outlets. First responder organizations often appoint one or more of their colleagues to assume the role of talking with the media, or arranging and assisting with such contact, in both emergency and non-emergency situations. Many who assume this role, however, struggle with what to say or how to say it, and few have training in written or visual forms of media interviewing. They also often lack awareness of the importance of good media relations, forgetting the extent to which negative coverage can influence public opinion and affect the first responder organization’s budget. This course provides training in these areas, giving rural first responders more confidence in their ability to communicate with the media, and ultimately, with the public.
This awareness-level course, whose development relied heavily on a modified version of the two-day course, “Basic Public Information Officer Course” (IG-290) of the Emergency Management Institute of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is divided into five modules with an estimated instruction time of six hours. The method of instruction is lecture and discussion.
Although the course is designed for first responders in rural areas, the media with which they work may be in urban as well as rural areas; that is, the coverage area of the urban media may extend well into surrounding rural areas. Therefore, many rural first responders may need to work with urban newspapers, radio and TV stations and not just those in their local areas.
Dates that training is available are listed to the right.
If you have any questions please contact:
Kelli Bloomquist
Coordinator, Homeland Security Training Center
Iowa Central Community College
515-574-1264 - office
515-570-3779 - cell
bloomquist_k@iowacentral.edu
AWR-209 Dates
Below is listed the current schedule for AWR-209 training.
Date/Time: 9/8/2010/830 am-230 pm
Site/City: Waverly Health Center/Waverly, IA
Date/Time: 9/7/2010/830 am-230 pm
Site/City: Iowa Lakes Community Collegee/Estherville, IA
