The (Re)Frame: Do PIOs Lead During an Incident?

Imagine: an incident breaks out during a crowded event. Questions flood in from frantic residents, reporters demand immediate statements, social media erupts with speculation and misinformation, and elected officials start making calls that require answers nobody has yet coordinated. Meanwhile, the incident commander and operations staff find themselves fielding media inquiries between tactical briefings, crafting improvised messages without strategic oversight, and watching the information environment spiral beyond their control. Critical public safety information gets delayed or delivered inconsistently. Contradictory statements emerge from different personnel. The vacuum of coordinated communication fills rapidly with rumor, panic, and narratives that undermine the response before it begins.

This communications spiral is the second crisis forming in real time. It determines whether the community trusts the response enough to follow life-saving directives when seconds matter most. Failure may cause more long-term damage than the original incident. What could have been done differently? A qualified Public Information Officer (PIO) could have predicted misinformation, prepared for challenges, and led the communications strategy to protect people and property.

Incident Commanders (IC) and other Emergency Management professionals often tell me that they think PIOs are important, but not a “real” part of their leadership team. They don’t consider their PIOs pivotal. Instead, they view them as a privilege at best and an extra head to lead at worst. After discussing this topic with a colleague recently, I decided to do what PIOs do and write about it.

Let me be blunt: a qualified PIO absolutely deserves executive-level positioning. The position doesn’t replicate or wait for direction from other command positions. Instead, they earn their position by serving as the external mirror of the IC's internal leadership.

The PIO functions as the IC's strategic twin. While the incident commander leads internally by coordinating resources, making tactical decisions, and managing operations, the PIO manages the external narrative and leads the incident’s impact on the public’s trust. This isn't merely "communications work." It's strategic leadership that requires intimate knowledge of incident strategy, situational awareness, and decision-making rationale.

A great PIO once told me, “When PIOs fail, people get hurt.” That isn’t an exaggeration. In my view, every crisis is made up of two incidents: the crisis everyone is preparing for or responding to, and the crisis of public influence. While the two can happen in tandem, they are distinct challenges that require leadership and strategy to overcome.

A competent PIO doesn't just relay information. They translate complex incident strategy into actionable guidance for stakeholders. When the IC decides on a containment strategy, the PIO must immediately understand the implications for public safety messaging. Should communities evacuate? Shelter in place? Secure loose debris? The PIO owns the strategy to motivate these life-saving actions. Without a competent PIO executing this communications strategy effectively, people and property are in danger. The difference between a community that evacuates before a wildfire reaches their neighborhood and one that shelters in place can hinge entirely on how quickly and clearly the PIO communicates that directive.

The hard truth is that, during a high-stakes, complex incident, the command staff gets consumed by their operational responsibilities. The IC, Operations Section Chief, and Planning Section Chief manage resource requests, tactical objectives, and operational periods. Communication with stakeholders, though critical, often gets delayed or forgotten amid competing priorities. This is precisely why PIOs need a seat at the leadership table. With direct access to command discussions, a qualified PIO can suggest communication strategies proactively and have the authority to act immediately on confirmed information. This isn't overstepping. It's fulfilling a unique life safety mission that command staff simply cannot prioritize in real time.

Additionally, the PIO brings specialized strategic value that other command positions cannot provide. A competent PIO continuously monitors the information environment, tracking media coverage, social media chatter, and community concerns that leadership may not see while focused on tactical operations. They identify emerging narratives, correct misinformation before it spreads, and anticipate questions that will dominate the next news cycle. When the Operations section is focused on containment lines and resource allocation, the PIO is already preparing messaging about road closures, air quality concerns, and reentry timelines. When Planning is developing the next operational period, the PIO is crafting communication strategies that align with those objectives before they're implemented.

This strategic foresight prevents communication failures that damage public trust and jeopardize safety. A PIO at the leadership table can warn command staff about potential pitfalls other positions might miss. Will this tactical decision create a perception of favoritism between communities? Does this resource allocation communicate the wrong priority to concerned residents? Will this timeline create confusion about when people can return home?

A qualified PIO also prepares command leadership for media interactions and serves as primary spokesperson when appropriate. Media interviews during incidents are high-stakes communications that require preparation, message discipline, and an understanding of how statements will be interpreted by diverse audiences. The PIO coaches the IC and other command staff on key messages, likely counseling on questions and potential traps in media interviews. They prepare talking points that balance transparency with operational security. They conduct pre-interview briefings and post-interview debriefs to improve performance throughout the incident.

Equally important, the PIO serves as spokesperson when other leadership is unavailable or when their presence is required elsewhere. During a major incident, the IC cannot spend three hours conducting media interviews while simultaneously managing tactical operations. The PIO steps into this role, representing the unified command with authority and accuracy. This spokesperson function requires more than basic communication skills. It demands a deep understanding of incident strategy, the confidence to speak on behalf of leadership, and the judgment to know when a question requires IC input rather than an immediate response. An unqualified PIO lacks this judgment and can create serious problems by providing inaccurate information or making commitments beyond their authority.

You may have noticed I used the terms competent and qualified throughout this post. It is my opinion that the concerns around PIO leadership positioning stem from a misapplication of the title. Over the past decade or so, government agencies have begun to recognize and accept their need for a PIO. However, these roles are often created without a full understanding of what the role encompasses. We are so much more than social media posts, emails, and press release promotion. Compounding the issue, agencies sometimes attempt to fill these complex positions at the lowest cost. These two factors can lead to entry-level individuals stepping into a title that implies the ability to lead and strategize at an executive level. To be clear - that knowledge gap isn’t the newly minted PIOs' fault…but it is their problem to tackle all the same.

In my opinion, the solution isn’t to reframe the role into a non-leadership capacity. Instead, I think we should treat it like other public safety leadership titles (such as Fire Chief or Emergency Manager). That is to say that our industry should offer clear, accessible pathways for the title that encompass training, credentialing, and experience. Individuals who want to deploy as a PIO to other agencies should be held to the same high credentialing standards as other IMT positions and be provided a roadmap for how to reach those benchmarks. The creation of a mentoring system for new professionals (like how new emergency managers are often assigned mentors by their state) would further shield inexperienced individuals from failure when words matter most.

A qualified PIO will fearlessly comment on strategy, influence decision-making, and identify issues other leadership positions don't recognize. They communicate immediately and effectively to save lives and property. They deserve a seat at the table and the trust to lead.