STAFF VIDEO NEWSLETTER
When I became chief of the City of North York (Ontario) Fire Department on February 1, 1992, I identified a need for an effective mechanism for communicating with and keeping up to date all staff members. With 18 fire stations, six divisions, and almost 700 full-time personnel, my annual personal visits to all locations on each platoon (72 station visits plus support divisions) in themselves were not sufficient to maintain a well-informed organization. 1 felt notices, memorandums, and other written communications were not personal enough. The department consequently introduced a video newsletter.
Equipment. The department had much of the basic equipment needed for the video newsletter, except that needed to reproduce the videotapes, in place. All the fire stations have a television and videocassette player, courtesy of the firefighters association; the department owns a couple of camcorders; and some basic editing equipment is in house. We found that it is more costand time-effective to have a commercial operation produce the 25 videotapes we need from the master tape.
Personnel. A couple of staff members previously had attended instructional seminars covering some of the basic concepts involved in creating an instructional videotape. With some minor adjustments, a few new ideas, and lots of enthusiasm, they went to work on developing a video newsletter. Members of the Fire Safety Education Section of the Fire Prevention Division have been assigned to gather the information to be included on the videotape. These staff members also are on call as department photographers, to capture emergency incidents on tape.
Contents. The videotape is from 20 to 30 minutes. The opening segment incorporates the department’s logo and scenes of emergency vehicles responding to a fire scene. Appropriate music provides the background.
In addition to emergencies, the videotape newsletter presents activities within the department, such as the presentation of medals and the awarding of certificates to personnel; the acceptance of new vehicles for placement into service; items of interest about staff members, committee members, and activities within the department; an introduction of officers (putting a face to the name); and an update of past events and a report on future ones.
Content and orientation vary with each edition. Shortly after the introduction of our first video newsletter in April 1992, for example, the department experienced a personal tragic loss when a 25-year veteran firefighter. Captain A. Deslauriers, lost his life in a fire incident. Footage of the fire scene and the department funeral service, including the visible support of the thousands of firefighters who attended, were included and the video newsletter was dedicated to the fallen fellow firefighter’s memory. An end-of-the-year “newsletter” featured a compilation of department highlights for that year and concluded with a brief message from the fire chief; seasonal music provided the background.
While our video newsletter may not be the most professional production, we have gotten off to a good start and become more proficient with each production. Most importantly, communication within our organization has improved, and the feedback is quite positive. Recently, a firefighter with advanced skills and experience in video production volunteered to assist with future newsletters. We are enjoying the challenge and opportunity to be creative and believe the department has much to gain from this project. We also would be most grateful for any ideas you would like to share with us. ■
