Public Information Officer NFPA 1035

Course Description

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Completion Requirements

Participants must provide information for all required fields, including their U.S. citizenship/permanent resident information, in addition to meeting all other attendance and course completion requirements. If this information is not provided, the participant will be considered incomplete and will not receive a certificate of completion.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE Level 0 as described in the TEEX Student Safety Manual.

Attire

• Regular station duty wear for fire field activities
• Office attire for classroom sessions.
• You may not wear to any class or field activity
  • shorts
  • sleeveless shirts
  • open-toed shoes

Participants Must Provide

• a photo identification on the first day of class. See the Participant Handbook for approved forms of identification and additional guidelines.

Attendance Requirements

Class attendance is an essential part of the education process and participants in TEEX courses are expected to attend all class sessions and field exercises. This course requires participants to attend a minimum of 80% of the class hours as a component of successful course completion. During the course, your instructor will review any additional attendance requirements, for example a field exercise that cannot be missed

Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

• Describe the role and responsibilities of a Public Information Officer in emergency and non-emergency situations.
• Explain the importance of ethics, legal considerations, and organizational policies in public information dissemination.
• Identify the functions and expectations of the media in public safety communications.
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with media representatives to enhance information flow and trust.
• Effectively gather accurate and timely information during incidents or events.
• Communicate and distribute information to the media using appropriate channels and formats.
• Manage on-scene media operations to ensure safety, accuracy, and coordination.
• Coordinate multi-agency communications during joint operations or large-scale incidents.
• Plan and conduct news conferences that are clear, informative, and well-organized.
• Implement strategies for reaching the community with relevant and accessible information.
• Demonstrate understanding of course content through a comprehensive review and final exam.

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Suggested Audience

All Emergency response personnel, including fire prevention, suppression, control and safety personnel.

Other Information

Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Friday: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course size limit

30 students

Registration Process

Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service in cooperation with the Texas A&M Forest Service has aligned the payment process for annual schools with all other requests for tuition assistance under the House Bill 2604 program and TIFMAS training grants. Texas A & M Forest Service voucher number or a request ID # is no longer a valid Purchase Order number. It will be denied if used as a form of payment.

The process will follow this pattern: Registration with payment – Apply for tuition assistance & obtain TAMFS approval – Attend training – Complete the reimbursement process.

Registration with payment

Complete online registration on the TEEX website. Secure your seat in the class with payment.

You may use a credit card or organization purchase order (PO). 

If you are using a purchase order, TEEX policy requires the PO to be submitted within 48 hours of registration, or the enrollment may be canceled. You may upload the PO through your student portal or email it as an attachment to [email protected]. 

Ensure your PO includes the following:

• Agency or company name
• Billing address
• Contact name and phone number
• Description of goods and/or services provided (for example the course number and name)
• Amount of charges
• Authorized signature
• Tax Payer ID, EIN, or FEIN. The field should be in the following format: xx-xxxxxxx.

The PO contact email needs to be either yourself or a responsible person within your organization.

If your organization is not an established TEEX customer, or if you are not sure, please include a completed W-9 with the PO.

Apply for tuition assistance & obtain approval

At least one day before the first day of class, submit a request through TAMFS FireConnect.

Helpful videos about the FireConnect process can be found here. 

Attend training

Most courses have online registration notes and/or confirmation emails which will provide more details on when & where to report for class. Please pay special attention to the required PPE levels and prerequisites if applicable. Most TEEX courses require at least 80% attendance and participation, while others, such as ProBoard, require 100% attendance.

No-shows without prior written cancellation by the required date will be invoiced.

Upon successful completion of the class, you will be able to download your certificate from your TEEX Student Portal.

Complete the reimbursement process

Return to the FireConnect page and submit for reimbursement. You will be asked to upload documentation including your certificate of completion. Once all documentation is accounted for, the request(s) will be marked as Approved for Payment and reimbursement will be issued to your department.