Continuing Fire Engineering‘s look back at FDIC International 2019, this week we revisit the afternoon workshop sessions of Tuesday, April 9, as South Metro (CO) Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Eric Hurst instructed students on getting their departments’ message out to the community through the increasingly relevant avenue of social media, with an emphasis on visuals through photography.
“I first became interested in fire service social media when I was appointed as the public information officer in my fire district. I was thirsty for knowledge and disappointed when I found very little information available about social media and even less about fire photography,” Hurst said. “I decided to tap into my knowledge and experience of both, research best practices in other industries, and do my best.
“Through trial and error, I created a successful social media program, aspects of which have been featured in local, national, and international news and gained the attention of other fire departments. Invitations to teach came to me and I feel inspired to share what I’ve learned.”
Here, Hurst talks about using social media for what he coins “passive recruitment” as well as “vlogging” to promote your department’s culture through videos and photos:
Hurst continued, “Statistics show an overwhelming majority of our community members are on social media and growing numbers of them rely on social media for some or all of their news and entertainment.
“A proactive fire department social media program is a necessity for recruitment, public information, and education. Social media is free and by far the most effective way to connect with our communities—when it’s done right!”
Here, Hurst talks about responding to and addressing viewer comments and feedback on YouTube videos and which types of cameras departments can use to get the best results:
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“Using social media before, during, and after incidents occur in an honest and timely manner is vital to strengthen our mutual reliance with the communities we serve.”
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Here, Hurst stresses the importance of good audio in your social media and some best practices fire departments should follow to best regulate and maximize your content on multiple platforms:
Hurst continued, “The traditional public information officer role, which is still being taught by FEMA and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, died on the steps of social media 10 years ago. There is a staggering difference in the skill set being taught in classrooms and the real-world demand for advanced social media, photography, and videography skills needed to get the right message to the right people at the right time. Realizing this discrepancy is the first and most important aspect to jump-start improvement.”
Hurst concluded, “My experience teaching around the country is consistent across the board. My first question to the class is how many social media accounts they have personally, followed by how many official social media accounts their agency has.
“The number of official accounts is almost always lower than the number of accounts that individuals have personally, and that exposes our first dilemma. If we seek information on a half dozen social media platforms, why do our fire departments choose to be unavailable on most of them?”
