Enrollment in this course is limited to jurisdictional emergency management personnel in Northern Virginia. For questions or additional information, please email Elizabeth.Sullivan@vdem.virginia.gov .
Course Prerequisites
- IS-29 Public Information Officer Awareness
Course Overview
This course introduces participants to what the Public Information Officer (PIO) does in emergency management, along with basic information about the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). The PIO topics covered include the role of the PIO; communication tools and resources encompassing social media; effective communication; preparing the community through outreach and other means; and communication in an incident. The IPAWS topics covered include what the system is and does, preparing alert and warning messages, and writing common alerting protocol messages. This is a 3-day classroom course that gives participants time to perform activities and exercises to reinforce the knowledge and build basic skills.