FIRE SERVICE RELATED
A DAY IN
THE LIFE OF A
Communications Officer
It has been a little over a year since I joined Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) as
a Communications Officer, having previously worked within communications for a music centre and an
online news website. My main challenge to date has been to familiarise myself with the Fire and Rescue
Service and learn as much as possible about the organisation. This process will of course never end!
I work within the Corporate
Communications and Business
Development Department, or
CCBD for short; a team of around
11 staff members. Working under
the Head of Department and
CCBD Manager, each member
of the department is responsible
for different aspects of corporate
communications and business
development but work closely with
one another on a daily basis.
The role of a Communications
Officer, for instance, will work closely
with the Marketing Officer and
Graphic Designer to deliver multi-
06
platform messages, both internally to
staff and stakeholders and externally
to social media followers and the
media.
First and foremost, my job is to
provide press statements on incidents
that have occurred during the last
few days, hours or that are currently
ongoing. This can be challenging
at times as you will be required to
put on hold your planned workload
for the day to respond to a media
enquiry, or indeed multiple enquiries
at a time. Depending on the severity
of the incident, our responses vary
from a few written paragraphs,
for road traffic collisions or a small
fire at a property, to lengthier
statements that require approval
before release, from the officer in
command or a member of the
Executive Leadership Team for more
severe incidents.
Beyond responding to media
enquiries regarding incidents, I
work with my colleges in CCBD
to promote the wider work of the
Fire and Rescue Service, both to
the public and internally within the
organisation.