The Pandemic & the PIO

Many of us know the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Many of you also feel that since the start of the pandemic a year ago, life has been nothing but lemons. It hasn’t been the best of times. Life certainly changed.

With that came challenges to the public information officer (PIO). These folks have had to deal with circumstances that many probably never considered. People confined to their homes. Businesses and schools closed en masse. The face-to-face contacts that PIOs had at schools, civic groups and fire safety classes and with the media came to an abrupt halt. How were they going to get the message out?

Evolution

At first, it was a slow process, but it ramped up rather quickly.

Because children needed to stay educated, distance learning became the No. 1 priority.

When applicable, businesses that needed to stay open told employees to stay at home and work from there.

The elderly were advised to stay away from everyone so as not to catch the virus. Abruptly, they were isolated from the rest of the world.

The media became restricted. Access to scenes were limited.

Fire stations were put in lockdown so as not to allow visitors or interviews.

Isolation suddenly engulfed all of us in one way or another.

However, within six months, many people adapted. Using the internet and various videoconferencing methods became the thing that everyone was getting into, but that meant there had to be changes in the system, such as upgrades by internet providers to handle the enormous demand of bandwidth. School children and employees needed computers, cameras and microphones to communicate. Even the senior citizen population discovered that they had to get devices and learn how to use them: In 2020, seniors became the fastest-growing group to get acquainted with social media and other platforms to communicate.

By the end of 2020, nearly everyone was on board, communicating using tablets, computers, phones and more. Zoom, Skype, Connect and Webex were added to our daily vocabulary. Civic groups, clubs, businesses, schools, hospitals, the media and more started or expanded use of the information highway to get business done.

At the same time, PIOs discovered that this was the way to stay in the game. All of a sudden, classes on fire safety, tours of fire stations, department town halls and interdepartmental meetings were being done virtually. To get that done, some PIOs acquired new equipment and programs to enhance their outreach. Many started to work from home instead of from the office, but they were accomplishing the same amount of work as they did previously.

The lemonade

PIOs, you must be able to work from anywhere under any circumstance. It doesn’t have to be a pandemic that turns our world upside down. It could be an earthquake, a massive power failure, a hurricane, storms or civil disobedience. What if someone came into your building and released a chemical agent? You would need to pick up, get to another location and do what you are supposed to do: get the right information to the right people at the right time. You would need to be versatile.

The pandemic set us up. Capitalize on it. We are better for it. What didn’t work during the pandemic, fix it now. It only will be a matter of time before something else comes up and you might be doing again what you are doing now.

Take the time to learn new technologies. Keep up with various platforms and various forms of communicating.

Lastly, keep testing your system. Use it daily by getting information out about things that your department is doing or community risk reduction efforts. Practice makes perfect. When the actual event does occur, you must be at your absolute best. The community is depending on you.