By Antoine Tribble
该国一些最有才华和知识渊博的人是消防员。每年出现新的危害或灾难时，消防员准备缓解这些情况。无论是国土安全问题还是每个消防部门面临的日常紧急情况，公众都没有意识到许多危险。消防部门通常是大多数社区中的初始主要机构，这些社区减轻或承担犯罪以外的其他紧急情况，因此必须进行公共信息。
But do fire departments feel the need to give stories to the media or press that notes their responsibilities, value, worth, or just what they did? Is public information concerning an incident that was primarily mitigated by the fire department left for other agencies to report? Do we leave it to the news media and others to tell a fire, rescue, medical, or haz-mat story the way they want to, in “their” professional opinion? Every time the fire department successfully mitigates a big disaster, the public seems to be so grateful. But often when it is over, the focus appears to move away from the fire department.
消防服务是否意识到教育公众，改变人们的看法以及这对我们所有人的影响如何？公众是否知道他们所居住的城市的保险服务办公室（ISO）评级，甚至意味着什么？人们是否了解响应时间如何影响ISO评级，黄金时光的重要性，房间和群体大火和全部损失之间的差异，或者在响应所有类型的911呼叫方面做了什么准备工作？人们是否知道911呼叫的消防员对他们每天执行的响应，调查，检查等响应，调查，检查等等？是否认为公众和政府领导人会自动了解并了解消防专业？
Firefighters can’t control the number of daily emergency calls. Most city councils, government committees, and even citizens have underlying issues with firefighter downtime; let them also know of all the duties and work your department performs and why it’s important. The public drives by a neighborhood fire station in the morning and sees an idle apparatus, then returns in the evening and see the same apparatus, apparently unused. Unaware of the many fire and other calls to which the fire company may have responded, it may imagine you did nothing. Public information–or the lack thereof–has a payoff.
令人惊讶的是，由于每年发生的所有事件，公民和许多政府中的许多事件仍然认为消防部门是一维的。百事可乐是一家大型公司，是一家家喻户晓的名字，通常与软饮料有关。但是，它还宣传和销售除了软饮料之外，它提供的许多其他产品。我们为什么不这样做？人们可以命名百事可乐的所有其他产品，但我敢打赌，除了打火，洗车或烹饪之外，普通人还没有命名许多职责消防部门。在大型计划中，公众对消防部门伤害我们，帮助我们或根本重要的事实是什么？
教导年轻人说，消防员扑灭了大火，人们永远不会失去那种有限的观点。最近，一名18年的当地警察老兵告诉我，他认为消防部门只不过是喷水，直到他看到一项电视节目进行了消防。188金博网网址多少消防部门中的许多人似乎都可以接受，幼稚或对公众及其过时的心态几乎没有考虑，更不用说其影响了。但是，当酋长或管理人员要求设备，薪水增加，维护和增加人员或试图提高城市的ISO班级评级时，很难证明这些要求或克服没有一致的教育和可见性的先入为主的思维方式合理。吱吱作响的车轮获得油脂的古老格言在许多方面都成立。如果您从来没有新闻或可见，那么您一定不能做任何事情。
No matter what size, every department should have a public information officer (PIO) or designated spokesperson to represent the department and build a relationship with the media. Seek the most well-spoken, articulate, well-groomed, and experienced person to give statements about an incident and the department’s various activities. Fire prevention programs inform children and adults about all the duties and responsibilities of your department and firefighters.
大多数人从电视和报纸上获取信息。许多消防部门宁愿避免焦点，但会为这种思维支付政治和预算价格。当消防部门试图满足部门增长需求或提出其愿望清单时，过时或没有受过教育的心态使得将其计划出售给公民和政府领导人 - 统计范围还不够。
A good PIO is an excellent and needed tool to support and promote the fire service’s growth, image, and professionalism. In this age of information, public image carries a lot of weight–negatively and positively. So rofessionalism, public knowledge, and visibility does as matters.
安托万（Antoine Tribble）在肯塔基州的职业部门工作了19年，并在消防部门工作了23年。
