SWOT

Strengths - The SFD has a multitude of strengths that very few departments in the state can match. The first strength in the SFD lies in its people. The SFD has the most applicants apply to its hiring process than any other department in the state.

Also the training academy of the SFD is considered to be one of, if not the most strenuous in the state to complete. Once completion of the academy, which consists of 10-14 hour days for 15 weeks. After completion of the Academy, Firefighters enter a probationary phase were they must complete all necessary check-offs in a time period of a year. If the probationary firefighter cannot complete all required learning objectives, or does not get the approval of his crew/captain he will be released.

Being that SFD is so large, they can offer many types of training and on the job experience that many other cities simply cannot.

SFD can boast that it serves the City of Seattle which has the highest survival rate in the nation for cardiac arrest victims.

Great relationship with the publics of Seattle.

Rich history and knowledge base that passes down to younger firefighters.

Weaknesses- The SFD has a record of severe firefighter on the job injuries/ deaths.

Faulty equipment was blamed in the deaths of a family a few years ago.

In 2000 there was a scandal where Seattle fire officials were not properly investigating a firefighters injuries.

Opportunities- Since Seattle is a very economical city that is vital to many areas of the nation’s economy the SFD will enjoy a strong tax base for time to come.

Seattle also is one of the least dangerous cities in the nation making it a safe place to work for employees.

With social media the SFD can take advantage of showing the public exactly what they do, thus increasing their public image.

Seattle’s population is becoming ever diverse; therefor the SFD needs to reflect these changes.

Threats- Due to the current economic crisis, the SFD is facing massive budget shortfalls. These shortfalls have currently not resulted in the relieving of firefighters but may do so in the future.

With the budget problems, comes the reduction of service being able to be provided by the SFD. If the public does not receive adequate service, then public image will decrease.

The job of the firefighter is becoming more and more complex with the abilities they must possess, if training is not sufficient then the ability to protect the citizens will decrease.

Mission Statement

The mission of the SFD is as follows: Our mission is to prevent the loss of life and property resulting from fires, medical emergencies and other disasters. We accomplish our mission through highly trained firefighters, a focus on fire prevention and education and nationally recognized emergency medical skills.

Annual Reports can be found through the SFD website or the City of Seattle archives.

Problem or Opportunity

Problem- A ongoing problem that faces the SFD is the need to constantly keep the public informed on what they do. If the public sees them as a service that is not needed, the organization will weaken.

Opportunity- With this problem of consistently updating the public comes great opportunity. The SFD can lead the nation in social media and public outreach for fire departments, especially being that Seattle is a very tech savvy city.

Key Publics

Internal: Employees, Fire Commissioners, Mayor of Seattle, Government officials, Firefighters Union.

External: Tax Payers, People visiting Washington State, military officials, local businesses, fire service community, media.

Human Factors

Seniority is very important to this organization.

Organizational command and structure is essential to success.

Social and physical harm can come from employees.

Practitioner Factors

The experience necessary to reach this public ranges from beginner to expert skill. The public ranges so widely that a multitude of PR practitioner’s skillset’s is needed.

The experience necessary to reach this public - ranges from beginner to expert skill. The public ranges so widely that a multitude of PR practitioner’s skillset’s is needed.

Media relations are huge for the SFD. Maintaining great relations with the media is essential.

Crisis communication is imperative in the success and trust bestowed by the public. The SFD should be as open and forthright in all instances, especially a crisis. PR practitioners must be trained in crisis communication, especially since the primary focus of the SFD is to handle crises.

Public relations professional should advise all SFD officials on media relations and tactics, in order to represent the organization well.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

Working for the SFD all employees need to understand that they serve the public and extreme ethical consideration must be taken

All employees must have mental and physical screenings to ensure their safety.

All comments to the public must be done in the most ethical and caring ways.

Examination of current PR Practices

Currently I would give the Seattle fire department an A- grade on the practices and mediums it

uses to reach the public.

SFD has a Facebook and twitter that are updated daily. The quality of these posts and tweets

are high. Also the organization works heavily with other entities such as the firefighter’s union

to relay the same message.

A problem I see in the PR practices of the department is that when such incidents such as the

June 12 fatal fire happened. When incidents of this magnitude happen it is important for PR

professionals to handle the situation.

One problem I noticed was that on new sites such as king5 or komo4 was that Seattle

firefighters were posting and answering questions / complaints representing the SFD. A few

people need to be in control of the message that is relayed to the public, not any who pleases.

In order to fix this problem I would highly suggest that all employees are informed of a zero

tolerance rule for representing the Seattle fire department on any social networking sites or

news outlets.

A PR professional needs to help them understand that by not having one uniform message

creates confusion and distrust.

One unique thing about the SFD is that it has, Fire Line, which is a program that shows all the

calls Seattle Fire runs. You can listen in to dispatch, and see how many runs each station has

done in a day.

This is a great addition to giving the public insight on what this organization does and needs to

continue.

Another suggestion that I would make is a complete renovation of the department’s website. I

understand that as a government agency you must limit costs, but the website of the SFD is

outdated, hard to find data, and uninviting.

I would recommend having a more inviting website where people can get to know some of the

biographies of firefighters working for the SFD. This will help connect with the community and

other publics.

Chief Dean also needs to have a biography that is more in depth on the SFD website. He

represents the organization and the public has a right to know who he is. Also by showing the

leadership of the organization, trust will be gained.

Another suggestion for the website is that it should be continually updated with a new focus.

Ideas that I have could be smoke detector checks, or CPR training.

An importance on training the public will be beneficial. If the public can get to know the

firefighters, approval will raise drastically.

As I look for past community outreach programs I can find none that were presented to the

public by the SFD. All of the outreach programs such as MDA Fill the Boot were presented by

local media and the firefighters union.

I would like to see this change and have the SFD create their own outreach program for the

event.

Some ideas for outreach programs could be as follows, checking smoke detectors, fire

prevention with children, learn CPR programs, even just a meet and greet would be beneficial.

One marketing strategy that I see very useful is creating an ad that emphasizes certain strong

points in the SFD. For example the Los Angeles Fire Department created an ad called the, LAFD

30 spot, which shows firefighters performing tasks such as ventilation, search, CPR in 30

seconds to the public.

I would urge the SFD to showcase such strengths as response time, cardiac arrest rating, as well

as fire prevention.

I believe the key to a fire departments success is maintaining a connection to the individual. The

individual taxpayer must know who the fire department is. If they knew the firefighters down

the street by name, their approval for them will go up drastically.

Examination of June 12th Incident

I chose the June 12th incident because it happened recently and was a very tragic and possibly

damaging event to the SFD.The details of the event are as follows: A fire broke out in an

apartment building in which the smoke detectors failed to work. The nearest engine that was

assigned to this location was out on a non-emergency call, picking up an elderly person from a

retirement facility. The other engine that was nearest was called out; it just happens that this

engine was a reserve engine, while the main engine was being serviced.

As firefighters arrived flames and thick smoke poured out of the building in which 3 children

were trapped. When the reserve engine arrived first on scene, the pump was engaged in which

it failed. The pump failed as we later learned of an electrical failure and there was no way for

the pump to engage, which means no water was put on the fire.

The next engine arrived a few minutes later and put water on the fire but by then it was too

late. Fire investigators believe that the fire was already in deadly mode when the fire engine

arrived and that their response would have done nothing to save the children.

That is the background of the event. This caused a huge ordeal for the department as some

individuals blamed the SFD for not protecting the family.

As the events unfolded news coverage was primarily focused on this event. In review the SFD

did in my opinion a respectable and good job on relaying

Information the public and media. Chief Gregory Dean immediately gave a short press meeting

after the event unfolded in which he confirmed only a few details and said details would only

be released only after confirmed. I thought this was an excellent action made by the Chief.

After the event the Chief gave a press conference that was approximately 10-12 minute long.In

the Conference he answered all the questions openly and truthfully and I could tell he has had

public Speaking education. He seemed very well spoken, as the first comment he made was

sincere Condolences for the families of the victims. He did although seem noticeably nervous.

Some improvements that I notice were the posting by firefighters that were giving all sort of

Personal opinions and feedback which I thought needed to be stopped. As I discussed in the

Previous pages, the SFD needs to have only a few voices that are on the same page.

Another improvement that I thought the department could make was that they should have

held a one year memorial to honor the victims and family members. It would show that the

Department truly cared about the victims and would be great for gaining approval from the

public.