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Social Media and the Fire Service

Thomas Ratchford

University of Florida

FES3533: Community Risk Reduction

Lecturer Adam A. Smith

June 24, 2021

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Abstract

Social media is changing the way people connect, communicate, and engage in society. The

instant access to information has positive and negative effects on its users. In 2019, there 3.725

billion active social media users worldwide (Smith, 2019). On average, people have 7.6 social

media accounts, and spend over 140 minutes a day using social media (Smith, 2019). The reach

of social media, its users, and content is far and wide. For the fire service, social media can be an

important tool in reaching these social media communities, connecting, and engaging with

society in a way that increases their overall capacity to serve.

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Introduction

Social media has changed the way that humans connect to the world. It has allowed

people to instantly access social communities or groups, businesses, news, and information.

Understanding and utilizing the benefits of social media is essential to the fire service today.

Overall, social media should be viewed as an opportunity for fire departments, but it’s something

that needs to be entered into strategically, with forethought and policies to back it up

(Kranick,2012). Blake (2013) argues “Social media has changed the world, and now the fire

service must make a choice: adapt to the new environment or face some unpleasant

consequences in the years to come” (par 2). Using tools like social media to benefit the fire

service should be a priority for all departments. If the fire service is to remain relevant,

competitive, and a political winner in today’s world of shrinking budgets and austerity programs,

we must embrace social media and use it to strengthen our relationship with the public (Blake,

2013). Using social media to connect with the public has its pros and cons. Benefits of using

social media include increased visibility, transparency with the public, public interaction and

feedback, and the ability to disseminate information instantly. Downfalls of social media use in

the fire service include costs of using/managing social media, potential leaks of information, and

misuse by fire department personnel.

Access and connection to the public

An important benefit of social media use is increased access and connection to the public. With

social media sites gaining an average of 10 new users per second, it’s safe to say that most

people have access to some form of social media (Smith, 2019). This means the fire service

using social media strategically can reach most of the community they serve in some type of
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way. The idea is that platforms like Facebook and Twitter can bring the public together around

the fire service’s work and public outreach efforts; this, in turn, greatly expands access to and

interaction with the local community (Smith, 2019). The fire service can stimulate participation

from the community by encouraging private responses and volunteer efforts and by supporting

public review and engagement in coordinating public and private efforts to prevent, prepare,

mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters (FEMA, 2021). This is consistent with the

“Whole Community” approach as it engages the public as part of the team and looks at social

media as another means for connecting with the public and focusing on meeting those needs in a

mutual way (FEMA 2021). Social media creates an open forum where members of the public can

converse about issues relevant to the community with members of the department and other

individuals from around the community (Smith, 2019). Fire service leaders using social media as

a tool can build a positive relationship with the community through social media engagement and

increase the mutual trust between the fire service and society.

Fostering Transparency and Accountability

Social media allows fire service users to interact with the public and foster transparency

and accountability. Social media platforms are used to shine a spotlight on preparedness and

response efforts, helping to foster greater transparency of the work done by emergency

management agencies with the public (FEMA, 2021). Letting the public see their tax dollars in

action, is an excellent way to build trust and ensure the community that their money is not being

wasted. This can take the form of videos or photos of firefighters on the job or simply posting

information about training sessions and professional development activities (Smith, 2019).

Informing the public of what the fire service does to protect them builds reputation equity and
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goodwill in the community (Kranick, 2012). On engaging the community and building

community trust, FEMA (2021) adds “Participating in the process of government provides other

benefits. If citizens feel empowered, communities get benefits in both directions. Those who

believe they can impact their community are more likely to be engaged in civic activities and are

more likely to be satisfied with their cities and towns” (Lesson 3).

Dissemination of information

A key benefit of fire service social media use is the ability to disseminate information

with the public. This is especially important during a large emergency operation or disaster. Fire

service leaders can use social media to provide updates about an incident, weather patterns,

traffic patterns and/or closures, and family reconciliation during a mass casualty incident. Smith

(2019) argues “Today, there is no quicker way to get important information to the public than

through social media platforms” (par 5). No longer do fire departments have to rely on traditional

news media to communicate with the people they serve – they can do it straight through social

media and are able to better control the message (Kranick, 2012). Fire departments are also able

to correct misinformation and dispel rumors regarding incidents are information pertaining to fire

department operations. Fire service leaders must use “social listening” to better understand what

the online public is saying. This in turn allows them to identify rumors, misinformation, or

emerging hot topics quickly, and get immediate feedback on what disaster survivors are thinking,

feeling, and doing which can help with operational decisions and communication efforts (FEMA,

2021). Social media also allows the community to provide information to the fire service. For

example, a fire department posts information on social media regarding a missing person, the

community can respond to the post with helpful information regarding the situation. This ability
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of the community to contribute to fire service efforts is invaluable. Dissemination of information

isn’t always for emergency incidents and/or disasters. Fire service leaders can use social media

to disseminate information regarding public safety, fire prevention, and education as well. Fire

departments can use social media to educate the public about fire safety, and provide statistical

analysis and data related to the training topics. Some other information fire departments can post

to the public about are public burning, burn bans, and smoke/odor problems.

Social Media Costs.

Social media is free to its users, however, the time and energy put into creating and

maintaining social media accounts can have significant costs for business and organizations. Fire

service personnel’s time and energy is valuable and should be directed towards emergency

response, training, and public service. Administrative personnel could be tasked with managing a

social media account, but then there could be a disconnect with the operational personnel. The

average social media manager salary in the United States is $52,041 (Payscale, 2021). Fire

service leaders that want to effectively connect with the community through social media are

going to spend money paying an employee to manage the accounts or pay the opportunity cost,

the time that is necessarily taken away from doing other tasks and instead spent posting, reading,

responding, and generally tending to the constant flow of information moving back and forth on

social media accounts (Scott, 2013).

Social media and information leaks

For all the potential benefits social media offers the fire service, it also carries some very real

dangers (Scott, 2013). While dissemination of information to the public can be a benefit to the
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fire service, some information that gets out unintentionally can harm the department and its

personnel. In 2021, cyber-security is very important to secure the information of employees and

patients. Social media is another platform cyber-criminals can use to gain access to an

organization’s sensitive information. Spam and phishing attacks are prevalent in social media

and associated messaging. Fire service leaders must understand the cyber threats posed by social

media use and prevent an attack through training and education. Other potentially harmful

information leaks are those related to patient care. Since most fire departments now are heavily

involved in emergency medical response, they have access to sensitive patient information. This

information can be leaked through improper handling, data leaks, or accidently. Many times, this

information is leaked accidently through pictures of emergency scenes that include the faces of

victims.

Social Media misuse by Department Personnel

In various scandals around the country, firefighters have aired dirty laundry about the

department’s inner workings, engaged in inappropriate dialogue with members of the public, and

engaged in inappropriate dialogue with members of their own department (Scott, 2013). This

misuse of social media can be costly for department or individual personnel. Scott (2013) writes,

“Frequently, younger firefighters who are very familiar with the use of social media in their

personal lives are too cavalier or casual in their interactions with the public; this has led to

embarrassing and sometimes even costly outcomes if a victim’s privacy is violated” (par 8).

Conclusion
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A social media offensive allows your department to connect, engage, and establish a

trusting relationship with the local community (Scott, 2013). It is important also to understand

the dangers associated with social media use. Fire service leaders who prioritize community

connection can use social media to appropriately achieve the fire service mission. Kelly (2020)

argues “With everything else on our plates, we need to find time to stay connected to our

community in a way that they use daily, for if we do not, they will get their information from

other sources” (par 2). Knowing these pros and cons of social media allows the fire service to

serve the needs of the community more effectively and help to ensure that when voters confront

levy lids at the polls and politicians sit down with their red pens, your budget is safer than it

otherwise would be (Scott, 2013).

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References

FEMA. (2021). IS-0042: Social Media in Emergency Management.

https://emilms.fema.gov/is_0042/curriculum/1.html

Kelly, Patrick. (2020). Social Media and the Fire Department. IAFC.

https://www.iafc.org/iCHIEFS/iCHIEFS-article/social-media-and-the-fire-department

Kranick, Lisa. (2012). The benefits (and dangers) of using social media in the fire service. AMU.

https://amuedge.com/the-benefits-and-dangers-of-using-social-media-in-the-fire-services/

Payscale. (2021). Average Social Media Manager Salary.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Social_Media_Manager/Salary

Scott, Blake. (2013). The Fire Service and Social Media: Time to Get Engaged. Fire

Engineering. https://www.fireengineering.com/fire-prevention-protection/the-fire-

service-and-social-media-time-to-get-engaged/#gref

Smith, Kit. (2019). 126 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts. Brandwatch.

https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/