During an incident, a reporter approaches a member of the airport fire department, who is taking a break from responding, and says that the PIO desk is too busy and they are on deadline. What do you want your employee to do?

• A. direct them to the public information officer
• B. ignore them
• C. provide off-the-record information
• D. wait for the PIO to be available

Answer: (A)

Direct the reporter to the public information officer. The PIO is the authorized spokesperson for incident information, ensuring updates are accurate, consistent, and approved for release. Frontline responders should not share details or speculate, which can lead to misinformation or interfere with operations. If the PIO is momentarily unavailable, you can offer to take contact information and have the PIO follow up, but you should not provide off-the-record information, ignore the reporter, or delay simply waiting for the PIO without a plan to connect them.