Unit VII Project FIR 6301
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Feb 20, 2024
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Unit VII Project: The Future of Community Risk Reduction
Adam Acevedo
Columbia Southern University
FIR 6302-21.01.01-1 B24-S1, The Fire-Executive’s Role in Community Risk Reduction
Professor Donald R. Adams Sr.
8/27/2023
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https://youtu.be/N-nm3y11mAY?si=hkaTsxAbCfw0eVUI
Hello ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of my presentation is to bring the attention to the challenges and opportunities that will be faced by community risk reduction (CRR) in the future.
About me:
Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about myself. I’m 42 years old, married, and have been with my wife for 18 years. I have two kids, a boy and a girl, 11 and 13 years old. I've been with Orange County for 15 years I started off at station 31, which is a semi-busy station. I wanted to become truck qualified so I transferred over to station 30, which is very busy. The station runs between 8,000 to 9,000 calls a year, and this is where I got truck qualified. I spent about a year there, and I was mandatory to Truck 41 for about four years, and I've always had a passion for EMS, so I decided to become a paramedic once I became a medic I was taken off Truck 41 and was on rescue 41 for about a year, and then I wanted to get closer to home, so I went to station 80 and
was on the rescue for about another three years during this time I gained a lot of experience on the EMS side which is what I wanted since the majority of our job is EMS related, I then got promoted to engineer for about a month then I got promoted again and went back to station 30 where I’ve been for the last 5yrs, I have gained a lot of experience in command of scenes, personnel issues and administration, and being a leader I’ve also been a part of the pre incident plan program since 2020 where I have learned about building construction and different tactics and strategies to use throughout the county and I’m also apart of the peer support team which is a program to help firemen with mental health issues.
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The community risk reduction that we are facing currently are the lack smoke detectors in homes. We run on busy house fire calls and most of them are due to no smoke detectors in homes. We need more smoke detectors in homes, which can help reduce those house fire calls. We need to come up with a plan that will help educate the residents to understand the importance of smoke detectors in homes and going around door to door by introducing ourselves to them so they can feel comfortable with us and that way we can help install the smoke detectors in their homes. We have to gain the trust of the people in the community by welcoming them to an open house at the fire station to get to know them and letting them open up to us with any question or concerns. Listening to the residents to know what is needed.
The methods that can be used to spread the word would be networking such as handing out brochures that have important information about smoke detectors and phone numbers to call with any questions or help with install. Having a meeting within the community and inviting residents and letting them talk about any issues or concerns they might be having, so we can know and understand how to implement our community risk reduction plan and so it can be a successful one in the future. Also, social media is a good tool to use that can easily be used and share important news and information on there as well. Fire Service Culture
Fire Service Culture is important part of a community risk reduction plan. According to “Understanding the Fire Service Culture, having an unhealthy culture can result in good people leaving. Having a healthy culture can be a valuable asset that can help with the CRR bureau
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accomplish its mission” (Marinucci, 2015). It is important for the Fire Chief to have the certifications and education when it comes to planning a community risk reduction plan because they would know what to look for and how the CRR plan will work, and with this knowledge and experience, can implement a successful CRR plan. Especially getting the department members, CRR bureau and the community involved would help. The Fire Educator groups would be motivated and prepared for effective and diverse fire safety education programs by influencing others, letting them know the importance of the role and how it will impact the outcome of the CRR plan. Getting others involved by communicating and working together, valuing eachother’s decisions and ideas can help develop others. Diversity is good when it comes to working together, “There is much emphasis on recruiting people from diverse groups. While this is good, many departments have found success by also adding recognizing and developing critical and creative thinkers to it diversity efforts” (Marinucci, 2015). Training Education, and Professional development
Training is essential when it comes to developing a CRR plan. It is important to develop a CRR plan and make sure everyone is trained and on the same page with the skills and experiences to accomplish the organizations CRR plan. (Marinucci, 2015). Having a clear idea of what the organization’s mission is can accomplish the mission’s goals. A training officer who is experienced and has an understanding of the industry standards and risk management, it is important that we recruit the right training officer that not only ensure’s that the training program meets the expectations, but also is highly motivated, educated, and credible internally
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and externally. We need hands on skills and abilities as well as informative material and critical thinking skills to educate in meetings or in colleges. The organization can gain progress, improvement, develop, and promote and can lead to succession planning. “Without a balanced training program, undeveloped skills and/or lack of appropriate knowledge and critical thinking skills will present themselves as organizational inadequacies” (Marinucci, 2015).
Changes in the workforce and in Society
It is important to include other department members to handle some of the CRR functions, for example, engine company members performing fire inspections and teaching fire safety in the community” (Marinucci, 2015). They may provide other supplies or information that can be helpful to implement a successful CRR plan. Interacting with citizens and groups can help enhance the CRR plan by developing relationships with local businesses to influence them in making sure they are in code compliance. Future Challenges
We face challenges with recruiting and retaining firefighters. Some traditional fire activities may not be enough to retain good people. In order to beat these challenges, it is important to have a diverse CRR plan that offers more opportunities for firefighters to learn and gain more skills. More diverse CRR activities should be considered, like, paramedicine, fire inspectors and fire investigation. Hiring retired teachers to teach the fire safety programs can also help with the challenges. CRR Leadership within the fire department, what will be expected of CRR chief
Officers?
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Expectations from a CRR chief officer would include, having the fire department train together on skills and performance to accomplish the mission’s goal of the CRR plan. To have a successful training program that must drive service delivery and performance through policies procedures and risk management. It is important to have a trainer who is motivated and well educated to ensure an effective organization training program.
With more people moving in the community, nearly 40% of homes are without smoke detectors and the number of fire emergency calls have increased over the last year. We need to go door to door and find out which homes need a smoke detector. We have to gain the residents trust so that we can get inside their homes and install smoke detectors. We have to notify residents through brochures or social media of the importance of why they should have a
smoke detector in their homes and the importance of it. (Orange County Fire Rescue, 2023).
Public safety personnel risk reduction
The chief officer’s responsibility should include to making sure everyone is following policy and procedures. It is important everyone must stay safe and understand the procedure when it comes to an emergency. Chief officer must take responsibility for the health and safety of the firefighters and identify any areas to implement safety policies. The fire Chief must set a good example for the fire department and making sure everyone under their understands the organizational emphasis on health and safety. “If the Fire Chief allows unsafe practices to continue on and off the fireground, that simply becomes standard, everyone will continue to operate that way” (Marinucci, 2015). When running the apparatus it is important the everyone
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wears their seatbelt and the Fire Chief has to make sure every firefighter is following safety policy and procedure, this can help prevent injuries to everyone.
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References
Marinucci, R. A. (2015). Fire Chiefs Handbook
(7th ed.). Clarion Events, Inc.. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/E9781593702625
Orange County Fire Rescue. (2023). 2017/2018 Annual Report. Orange County Fire Rescue.
OCFRD FY2017-2018.pdf (ocfl.net)