Public Information Officer (PIO)
The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Public Information Officer (PIO) training program is designed to provide PIOs with the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to support proper decision-making by delivering the right message, to the right people, at the right time.
Public information is a vital function in disaster operations that contributes greatly to saving lives and protecting property. Public information entails the processes and systems that enable effective communications with various target audiences. The EMI training program provides PIOs with the opportunity to learn and practice the tasks of gathering, verifying, coordinating, and disseminating public information at all levels of government.”
Themes weaved throughout the series include the 95/5 concept and an emphasis on whole community strategic communication planning.
The 95/5 concept relates to non-emergency and emergency PIO activities -- 95% of most PIOs’ work is in non-emergency times, with only 5% directly related to incident response or recovery. The activities a PIO chooses in non-emergency times (95%) has a significant impact on how successful he or she will be in the 5% spent in emergency response and recovery. This training focuses on both parts of the equation.
The training courses listed below include those delivered at the state, local, tribal, and territorial level as well as higher-level training managed by EMI’s subject matter expert training teams. Click on a program for additional information.
EMI managed courses:
For more information on the Public Information Officer training program, contact Philip.Politano@fema.dhs.gov
