One of the best ways a fire department can promote fire prevention and safety is by building a wonderful relationship with its community.
Many fire departments do a great job of community outreach and education, and the result is a special partnership with the schools, the businesses and the neighborhoods they serve every day. And that goes a long way toward increased fire safety and emergency preparedness.
If you don’t already have a community education/outreach plan in place, October’s Fire Safety Month is the perfect time to get the ball rolling. In fact, you may want to mark your calendars for National Fire Prevention Week (FPW) if you haven’t already!
Whether you’re considering developing a fire department community outreach plan, or simply looking for ways to improve the one you have, take a look at some of our tips on how to promote fire safety education and solidify strong working relationships with your neighborhoods.
USFA 5-Step Process
The United States Fire Association (USFA) offers a detailed PDF that provides tips on how to get started and maintain a public fire education plan. This plan helps you identify and execute all aspects of a solid fire department community outreach/educational program.
While we strongly encourage you to check out the detailed plan, here’s an overview:
- Community Analysis: In this planning phase, take a detailed look at your community and analyze data. By developing a community profile, you will prioritize issues and be able to target “areas and populations.”
- Develop Partnerships: Find community partners and form a planning team.
- Strategize: Use your data and partners to begin pinpointing where you can intervene and how you will be able to evaluate your strategy.
- Implement the Plan: You’ve done your strategizing and planning, now get going. Come up with responsibilities, timetables and activities and monitor your progress.
- Evaluate: How are you doing? Collect and compare data and decide if things are working, need tweaked, or if you need to go back to the drawing board.
Fire Department Social Media Ideas
What is your online presence like — nonexistent or strong? The truth is many fire departments enhance their community profiles with fantastic websites and social media platforms.
A strong website is a great way to maintain transparency and educate your community. Whether it’s through blogging, e-books, a calendar of fire prevention activities and events, pictures, videos and podcasts etc., you’ll be able to effectively show off who you are while providing sharp, educational information.
Social media platforms are effective tools for fire departments when used properly. By consistently updating your community with news, photos, educational materials and what’s happening on a regular basis, you build and solidify relationships within your community.
Having a strong presence in your community not only humanizes your fire department, but it also goes a long way in promoting fire prevention and awareness. For some great examples of how other fire departments are doing this, simply log on to Twitter and Facebook and search for other local fire departments. See what their followers respond to and adopt some of their successful methods now. Find out what works and what doesn’t and improve your efforts as you go.
The key is simply to get a plan in place and get started today.
More Than Just a Fire Hose Distributer
Still not set on your current fire department community outreach ideas? Rawhide Fire Hose is committed to community education and awareness. Learn more or contact us with any questions today.
