Chris,
Let me first start by offering congratulations on your new position as Fire Marshal. I wish you great success in this new journey in your life. As we learned in our study of groups and teams, the addition of any new member to a group will change the working dynamics. You reference the amount of change that has already occurred prior to your arrival with a likelihood of additional change as you transition into your new role. Kinicki and Fugate (2016) note a challenge of any new group member is understanding often unwritten and seldom discussed norms that will have tremendous influence on the group and organizational behavior. This is a challenge it appears you are up to however with your noted confidence in your leadership abilities
I would disagree with the statement that "A prudent fire chief steers clear of politics.” All fire departments run on some kind of funding. Without the proper funding then the department either cannot adequately staff apparatus or are forced to cut back in response abilities or additional programs and personnel. Money for funding often comes from the political area and government programs. This is just one of the crucial reasons that "A prudent fire chief" would actually in fact be well involved in politics, creating relationships with individuals that could grow to be influential in decision making. In addition, to overseeing all operational aspects of the department, a chief is a representative of the department
Fire district 13 is located in the forested valleys and steep foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range at the base of Mount St. Helens. Access to our district, primarily reached by one main county road, is limited. With automatic mutual aid to neighboring districts with, major rail, and freeway- interoperability is key. Located above the Cascadia Subduction zone, Clark County is due for a catastrophic earthquake. The area that includes fire district 13 is a transitional zone between unoccupied forest land and human development. Being a part of the wildland urban interface zone puts us at a higher risk for wildfires.
department on February 5 of 1850 with the formation of Mutual Hook and Ladder station #1.
Some occupations are meant for those who have the stomach to face challenges. If you are the one who hates routine 9 to 5 job or just warm the chair sitting in an air-conditioned office, then you must take up a wildland firefighting job. The interesting thing about becoming and pursuing a firefighting career is that you will not get bored from the job and will get used to facing challenges. Moreover, the job will will also provide you a hefty paycheck and immense satisfaction for saving environment and lives of people and livestock.
The LA County Fire Department needs to implement an anti-nepotism program. The OCI reported that 27 sworn personnel had access to oral interviews test questions and answer, and use the material to distribute to some of their relatives (Naimo, 2015). According to the OCI, these 27 sworn personnel were two Battalion Chiefs, 17 Fire Captains, one Fire Fighter Specialist, and seven Firefighters (Naimo, 2015). These 27 sworn personnel had no authority to distribute the examination material so it’s important to implement an anti-nepotism program for the whole department. Having an anti-nepotism program can help, especially Fire Captains to understand and follow the department’s series of guidelines, laws and regulations. Furthermore, they can formulate a great judgment, and their leading principle must be accountable to and within the rule of law. Accountability is an element of bureaucratic responsibility that involves public officials to obey the law (Hill & Lynn Jr., 2016).This accomplishes as Mark Bovens argues, increase performance in the workplace, reinforcing integrity, encourage democratic domination, preserving lawfulness and contributing purification after a misfortune (Hill & Lynn Jr., 2016). Discussing the rules and procedures can help employees at the department to perform their task
The Probationary firefighter, also known as Rookie firefighter, candidate firefighter or “probie.” It is any firefighter in the first to two years of service with their particular department. Usually they are the lowest rank in the fire department’s rank structure. And are often given the most menial jobs that few want to do.
Did you know that the earliest form of firefighting took place in Rome in 24 B.C? After almost being destroyed by unruly conflagrations, Rome created a fire department consisting of about 7,000 paid firefighters. Their fire crews responded to and fought fires, and also patrolled the streets with the authority to fine anyone who disobeyed the fire prevention codes (Hashgan). The major piece of firefighting equipment the Roman's used was the bucket, which was passed from hand to hand to deliver water to the fire. Additionally, they used an ax, which was utilized to remove the fuel and prevent the spread of fire, as well as to make openings that would allow heat and smoke to escape a burning building.
One could say the Fire Service possess one unique quality about how it operates daily and that is the culture and the community that lies within every department. Culture is defined as defined by Miriam-Webster “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations (Definition of Culture, 2017, para. 5).” The many diverse aspects of each department in still’s a variety of cultural differences separating one department from the next. At the heart of all departments, fire service culture is the men and women who work and train hard to serve their communities as prescribed by the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief, however,
This is an occupational research paper about firefighting the here are some things to consider when taking apart of this career. First off when you're choosing this career they're has to be some reasons for choosing this career such as this career is very interesting to some people and for people who like a lot of physical work, outdoor work and improving your mental health and physical health.
There are 8 guidelines for management/ leadership which are participation, communication, competence, satisfaction, reviews, coordination, norms, and goals. There are a variety of different ways by using these guidelines that can improve this fire department. Such as, participation- which can greatly impact the outcome and service that this department provides. Also, participation can encourage the crews to work together as a team to fulfill the mission statement that the department has created. In fact, using participation to benefit the employees is a tremendous way to show the community that your department is taking part of everything they can possibly handle, from community events to a higher level of training to provide extra
The decision to become a deputy sheriff is not one I take lightly, I know this career path is challenging, stressful and dangerous and I have prepared physically and mentally to overcome all obstacles that are thrown my way. The Virginia Beach Sheriff's Department professionalism and commitment to excellence make it an easy choice to begin a law enforcement career. The position as a Virginia Beach Deputy Sheriff falls in line with my college degree in criminal justice and provides me an opportunity to protect and serve the community at the crossroads of where criminal and victim collide. As a deputy sheriff, I have an opportunity every day to dawn the uniform like some of my family members have done in the past and experience the same sense
There are many areas in the fire service where potential lawsuits and liability can arise; some of these areas include, but are most definitely not limited to negligence, hazing, and not following the fire department’s SOPs/SOGs. As our society has changed, so has its expectations of those in emergency services—while many in the community may think of firefighters as the pinnacle of what an upstanding citizen must look like, there are countless moral and ethical pitfalls that firefighters can fall prey to and diminish the reputation of the fire service.
I generally had a very active lifestyle. I did essentially everything a young child could dream of from baseball, football, riding dirt bikes, and building tree houses. I would get into anything and everything as a young boy, even into my early 20’s. Around the age of 16, I began to develop unexplainable back pain that would. I never considered anything of it since I worked at Turtles Moving Company in my extra time and was into a great deal of sports. When I was 17 I decided I wanted to become a firefighter. During my junior and senior years I went to Scarlet Oaks which is a vocational school. I attended classes and training for firefighting and ems. I landed a position directly after graduation. I have always had a physical was of life so having a physical demanding occupation would fit perfect into my life. After working with the fire department for some time I began to have more pain in my lower back and hips. After talking with multiple doctors, who all considered something different, my family doctor saw something in my x-rays. He then sent me to get more x-rays and tests. After a considerable measure of tests and hospital expenses, my doctor found out why I was having so much unexplainable torment. I had Ankylosing Spondylitis otherwise called A.S. for short. At this point when my doctor explained to me what A.S. was, I was lost. I did not realize what to do or where to seek help.
I truly enjoyed reading the material for this week 's discussion. I found it fascinating to read how these people of passion were so revered as leaders. Something I found difficult while reading the stories of these various leaders was the details of what they did within their respective industries that made them successful. Although I recognize the importance of the details, I found myself continually fanaticizing about how the many different approaches would directly translate to the fire service. Because of the uniqueness of the fire service as an industry, I found it easier to relate to themes and concepts rather than the details. 'Strengths Based Leadership ' by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie For example Simon Cooper stated: "people create memories, not things. If we ask guests what color the carpet was in their guest room, they probably won 't know. The real value comes from the ladies and gentlemen (employees) who bring that hotel to life. Ten percent is the platform, but the rest is people. (Rath & Conchie, 2008, p. 43) As I read this I couldn 't help but think of the fact that our customers in the emergency response world (fire service) likely remember more about how we treat them than what uniform we wear or what kind of apparatus we arrive in, so long as we bring true caring and compassion to their bedside. In addition Cooper 's people over platform approach was obvious in this Rath & Conchie description: "then when he talked of the night-and-day difference that a
The greatest threat facing the Modern Fire Service is the rate at which firefighters are dying in the line of duty. Excluding the terrible event of 9/11 that occurred in 2001 that forever changed the dynamics of the emergency response services1, firefighter deaths have averaged around 100 fatalities each year for the since 1990. This unacceptable rate of firefighter deaths has found its way to be a benchmark in the industry. The problem is that the benchmark should be zero firefighter deaths while on duty and every year that there is a fatality is a year that the fire service has failed its members. The number one cause of firefighter related deaths yearly is proven to be medical, stress, or overexertion related fatalities2. All of these causes of firefighter deaths can be avoided with implementation of training and awareness.