Term Paper on "Fire Department Manages Emergencies Like 911"

Term Paper 13 pages (4808 words) Sources: 13 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Fire Department Manages Emergencies Like 911 and Katrina

The abstract provides a general overview of what the paper will be discussing.

The section will introduce the topic of the paper and dealing initially with the history of fire and the fire service.

The Evolution of the Fire Service

The section will provide more details on the history of the fir e service particularly in the United States. The challenges faced by the modern fire service will also be introduced and how these challenges are managed.

Extraordinary Challenges of the Modern Fire Service

The general challenges of the fire service have been discussed in the previous section but in this section, extraordinary challenges are the main focus particularly of the magnitude of the 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina events.

E. Findings of the House and the Senate on the 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina

In this section, the findings of the House and the Senate regarding the two events will be discussed and how these can help the fire service improve their management and response capabilities.

F. Lessons Learned and Implementation of the Plan Thereafter

The lessons learnt during the two events are discussed and how they can be used to develop better management of disasters by the fire service. Of particular importance is having augmentation personnel to the fire service whenever disasters strike.

G. Management of the Firefighters

This section provides how to support firefighters before, during and after incidents. PTSD will be discussed in detail because this particular ailment can take a major toll in the performance of firefighter duties.

H. Leadership in the Fire Service

Without proper leadership, the fire service can never fully be successful in managing and disasters. In this section, the importance of leadership in the fire service will be emphasized.

I. Conclusion

The section will provide closing remarks on the importance of how the lessons learnt during disasters can be utilized to improve the management of the fire service. Reiteration will be done as to the importance of society's support to enable the fire service to fulfill their mandate.

Table of Contents

Abstract

2A.

Introduction

2B.

The Evolution of the Fire Service

4C.

Extraordinary Challenges of the Modern Fire Service

7D.

Findings of the House and the Senate on the 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina

9E.

Lessons Learned and Implementation of the Plan Thereafter

11F.

Management of the Firefighters

13G.

Leadership in the Fire Service

14H.

Conclusion

Abstract

The paper deals with how the fire department can manage disasters such as the 9-11 and Katrina events with regards to reengineering how things are done thereby being able to better manage extraordinary situations. The history of fire and the fire service is presented primarily then dealt directly with the lessons learned during the two disasters -- 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina. From there, the lessons are taken and evaluated as to how they can help retool and redevelop the fire service to meet with the changing challenges of time. Aside from these, there is also an emphasis on the conditions of firefighters and the kind of support they require following tumultuous events. The paper concludes with the importance of leadership in the fire service to realize the implementation of the plans developed to face contemporary challenges including the better management when faced with disasters in the magnitude of the 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina events.

How the Fire Department Manages Emergencies Like 9-11 and Katrina

A. Introduction

Fire was discovered by early humankind and with the discovery came the various positive uses thereof from cooking food, providing heat, and as a source of illumination. From the beneficial uses of fire, fire has also become a destructive force especially when people get hurt or die, properties burn, and other disasters that occur due to its devastating effects. As a weapon of warfare, fire caused the subjugation of others and mass destruction of societies and even nations. Thus, "since prehistoric times, controlled fire has been a source of comfort and warmth, but uncontrolled fire has brought death and destruction (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA], 2004, p. 3)." The very first recorded and organized fire service in the United States were in Boston and Philadelphia, established in 1679 and 1735, respectively. Chicago followed suit as a result two major fires that occurred in the city in the late 1800s. The fires significantly affected the development of both fire service and fire codes (NFPA, 2004, p.3) that improved the way fires are handled and managed across the United States. But despite all the improvements, there are events that prove overwhelming and inundated the capabilities of the fire service. Of particular, the 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina events tested the abilities of the fire service and despite all efforts, the results were grim and there is a requirement to reengineer the systems and processes in order to manage similar disasters the that nature.

B. The Evolution of the Fire Service

The United States indeed has a colorful history of its fire service albeit the lessons learned were from bitter experiences thereto. But all these served to continually improve the capabilities of the fire service. In today's fire service, most fire departments have expanded their role to reflect a so-called, 'full-service fire department,' which includes all of those new services from Emergency Medical Service to Customer and Community Service (McGrail, 2007, p. 6). Hence, the functions and duties of the fire service changed to keep up not only with the demands of times but with the realities in the fire scenes firefighters actually faced such as the need to provide first aid to victims or even contain hazardous materials during fires. The contemporary challenges are numerous and these include: building construction/fire behavior changes; tactics and training on new construction; communications; staffing; personal protective equipment (PPE); and the effects of the economy (Kirby & Lakamp, 2010). Despite the contemporary challenges though, the fire service was vastly different several decades back especially in the overall management of the functions thereof. Unlike at present wherein fire services across the United States can boast of having an integrated system that when a fire or other related incidents occur, fire departments along with police and other emergency services can coordinate with each other and provide assistance where needed. Prior to the 1970s, each individual fire department had its own method for commanding and managing incidents. Often, the organization established to direct operations at the scene depended on the style of the chief on duty. (NFPA, 2004, p. 103)

Major changes have changes since the 1960s and the 1970s in hoe the fire service is managed by fire departments across the United States. Several standards have been developed and fire codes implemented. These standards and regulations are strictly adhered to by the fire departments and have been fully incorporated in the management and operational functions of the fire service. Further, the roles and functions of the fire service in the United States have expanded that firefighting is not anymore the only concern but other incidents as well. The fire service then took on not only the general roles of firefighting and emergency medical services it has historically been doing but specialized ones also. The specialized roles and functions may involve managing incidents at airports (i.e. fire, explosion, spillage), containment of hazardous materials and ensuring further damage will be abated, and even doing underwater operations such as salvaging and rescue at waterways. No doubt the fire service has become a multi-faceted and highly capable organization trained to meet the whatever incidents that occur. Unfortunately, all the training and experience in the world proved futile when faced with tumultuous events. This became evident during the terrorist attacks in September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The situations were so overwhelming that the fire services that managed these events became so inundated and bitter lessons were learned especially the ones that pointed out to the lack of preparedness and major breakdown of communications.

C. Extraordinary Challenges of the Modern Fire Service

The modern fire service now deals with modern menaces such as weapons of mass destruction, chemical fires, fires in high-rise buildings and other incidents that warrant specialized skills and training. In Rick Lasky's Pride and Ownership: A Firefighter's Love of the Job, he writes about one incident he experienced (2006, p. 4), "Next, we entered the specialized rescue fields, confined-space rescue (we were already one up on this one because of our background in hazardous materials and trench rescue." More particularly rapid intervention has been an important capability learnt by the modern fire service. More particularly, the establishment of Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) Operations and rapid intervention standard operating procedures made it possible for the modern fire service to handle different situations in any incident. For instance, a fire department may be called upon to handle a fire in a high-rise building. Upon arriving on site, the fire may not be the only challenge for the fire fighters. The firefighters may have to perform search and rescue, containment of hazardous materials, provision… READ MORE

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