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Practical PIO

John Collins

Are you a firefighter, medic, police officer, or emergency manager who got “voluntold” into the PIO role? Get weekly breakdowns of real emergency services social media posts: what’s working, what could be better, and practical tips you can use immediately. Written by a fellow first responder.

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Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of the incident scene. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.
Featured Post

15 volunteers rescued a horse. What about the injured person?

Issue 16 15 volunteers rescued a horse. What about the injured person? Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. A vehicle hit a horse and carriage, sending both into a creek bed. Fifteen volunteers responded, freed the horse from its harness, and removed the carriage from the water while EMS cared for the injured person. The volunteer effort is impressive...

6 days ago • 4 min read
Image of social media post showing flooded waterway with inflatable boat, hoses, and smoking, burned-out house Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Tool update The Practical PIO beta remains open for testing. If you signed up for beta access but haven’t tried it yet, I’d love your feedback—even if it’s just plugging in a past incident to see how it works. Just go tobeta.practicalpio.com. Not on the waitlist yet? There's still room. Issue 15 Floodwaters blocked access to the fire. Firefighters brought a boat. Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or...

13 days ago • 4 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of the incident scene. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 14 “The guy’s lucky”—great quote but a weird choice for an official release. Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. Steel beams weighing 42,000 pounds shifted forward in a crash and pierced the truck cab. The driver crawled out a window unharmed. That’s an incredible story—but the release gets sidetracked by what seems to be an emergency management...

20 days ago • 5 min read
Screenshot of the text of a social media post that contains a screenshot of a news release. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 13 Deputies find and rescue driver from freezing river—but the release reads like a report Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. Deputies can’t account for a missing driver after a snowy nighttime wreck, but find him and rappel down a steep embankment to rescue the half-submerged driver in an icy river. The driver survived because of the...

27 days ago • 5 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of the smoky incident scene with firefighters on ladders under a blue sky. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 12 “Following the smoke” sounds good. But what happened next? 📬 Newsletter hitting your inbox okay? If you missed recent issues, catch up at newsletter.practicalpio.com. To make sure future emails don't vanish: mark this as "not spam" and add John@PracticalPIO.com to your contacts. Beta testing the tool? I'd love 15 minutes of your time to hear what's working (and what's not). Book a quick research chat here. Your input directly shapes what gets built next. Not in the beta yet? No...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photo of the incident scene with a dark column of smoke towering over a brick house with a ladder truck in the foreground. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 11 “Heavy fire” and “defensive attack”—what does that mean to your neighbors? 📬 Getting these emails? I recently fixed some technical email issues, so if you missed the last couple newsletters, you can catch up at newsletter.practicalpio.com. And if you're in the beta group—check your inbox for a fresh invite to the tool. (Not in the beta? No worries! Newsletter tips work just fine on their own.) Pro tip: Mark this as “not spam” and add John@PracticalPIO.com to your contacts. Practical...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and the department patch. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 10 A fire alarm at 3:55 a.m.—and there was actually a fire Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. You responded to a fire alarm at 4 a.m. and found an actual fire. The sprinkler system worked exactly as designed. Everyone stayed safe, and the damage was minimal. That’s a great story—but it’s buried under layers of technical detail that will lose most...

about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of the incident scene. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 9 Great safety stats. But what should your neighbors DO about it? Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. You’ve got a preventable fire, a clear cause, and powerful safety statistics. You’ve done exactly what good PIOs do—use an incident to educate your community. This post was this close to nailing it. It just needed to take one more step: telling...

about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of the incident scene. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 8 Big fire. No injuries reported. So why is it in paragraph 4? Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. You’re writing about a challenging fire response, and you want your community to understand what your crews faced. This release does a solid job explaining the operational challenges—but there’s an opportunity to make it even stronger by focusing on...

2 months ago • 3 min read
Screenshot of a social media post with text and photos of a meeting with the senator. Full text of the social media post follows in the newsletter.

Issue 7 When recognition tells a story — and leaves one untold Practical PIO analyzes real social media posts to help you improve your communications. All identifying details are blurred or removed because our goal is growth, not criticism. Public recognition posts aren’t incident updates. They’re reputation builders. They show the community who the department values, what kinds of actions it celebrates and how teamwork looks under pressure. This post recognizes a firefighter for public...

2 months ago • 3 min read