Fire and Emergency Education Program - Research Proposal Example

Fire and Emergency Education Program: instilling fire and emergency mitigation skills among the members of the FDU community Submitted The FDU Community Grant Selection Committee Date: 17th May 2013 Location: The university Green area (Next to the North parking area) Almughamis Omar – Alsadat Abdulrahman – Alzahrani Mohmmad – Bunjabi Hussain The Fire and Emergency Education Team 1000 River Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Tel: 37-247-4329 FDU Community Grant Selection Committee, 1000 River Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. RE: COURSE ON DEALING WITH FIRE AND EMERGENCIES, INCLUDING USING THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER To the officer in charge, The fire and emergency education team is pleased to offer you this proposal, so that your panel can review it. We foresee partnership with you, towards offering courses on dealing with fire and other emergencies – both at school and in the surrounding community. The FDU community – like any other institution and community of learning – faces the risk of fire and other emergencies, presently and in the future. Therefore, this course will educate the different FDU members, particularly the student population (which is the majority member group) and the workers in the community, so that they can gain the skills they require to deal with fire and other emergencies at the FDU community and elsewhere. Through the course, the different audience of the course will learn fire and emergency resolution skills, which will enable them to help in risk resolution at the FDU community and at their respective communities and places of work. During the last six months, the team has been piloting the programs, among a few members of the FDU community, and we have noted that the limited coverage of the program has changed their skillfulness in dealing with fire and other emergencies. For example, the group taken through the brief course has demonstrated their ability to use fire extinguishers, and safe evacuation skills, including collecting all members of the community affected by the risk, at an open, safe area – and exiting members of the community through safe pathways. Through the pilot stage of the course, the team has seen considerable learning among the group involved, in dealing with fire and other emergencies. One of the students trained on the area demonstrated the skills during an emergency drill, because she was able to evacuate vulnerable people from the house. Our proposal requests for USD 5,000 in funding, which will be used to attract more students to the course, make a donation to the firefighter department, plan the course, and to acquire all the course needs required. The course materials required include fire extinguishers, and fire and emergency mitigation manuals. The team appreciates the FDU Community Grant Selection Committee, for taking interest, towards helping the FDU community acquire skills on fire and emergency skills through the new course. For more information, you can call the team director at 703-555-1212, in the case you have any questions, or you require further information regarding this proposal. With Thanks, Names: The Fire and Emergency Education Team 1000 River Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Fire and Emergency Education Program: instilling fire and emergency resolution skills among the members of the FDU community The project The fire and emergency education team, of the FDU Community is seeking a grant, which will enable us expand the fire and emergency education program, which is currently at the pilot testing stage – among a group of students. The objectives of the program include instilling in all members of the FDU community, particularly the student population with the skills required to deal with fire and other emergency situations, including how to use fire extinguishers to putout fires. The objective of the course is that, by the end of the current academic year, the larger proportion of the FDU community will have acquired the skills required to deal with fire and other emergencies (FDU, 2013a). At the FDU community surroundings, at their homes and at their respective work place – presently and in the future (FDU, 2013). The program is based on the latest fire and emergency mitigation skills, and will be overseen by a professional fire fighter from the New Jersey division in charge of fire safety. Funding of USD 5000 is required for staff training, attracting the participants, securing the participant motivation and attraction items, securing the necessary fire and emergency fighting resources, and lastly, the amount to be donated to the fire fighter – towards keeping the FDU community and the region safer (FDU, 2013a). Statement of the need Careless (2013) notes that getting people to train on fire and emergency resolution is a daunting tasks, due to the many family, career, professional and the academic commitments of many community members. FDU University has more than 12,000 students, and all these students will soon leave the university, and join their respective communities and work places (FDU, 2013). Like the FDU community, these communities and places of work face the risk of fire and other emergencies, therefore the education and training FDU students and staff will reach beyond the FDU community. Failure to administer the training to the students will deny them fire and emergency mitigation skills, which are necessary at the university environment, and skills deficiency will be passed to the neighborhood and their respective communities (FDU, 2013a). The need for the training is exemplified in the great need for the skills required from community during the time of fire or another emergency. Willing (2013) discuses that the most important skills required among fire and emergency mitigation staff include technical skills, physical strength, and an extensive knowledge of fire behavior, knowledge of building constructions and the behaviors of other risks. These different skills are very important, but the program will focus on cultivating the most important outlook during risk and emergency mitigation, which is the capacity to work cooperatively with a team, in a coordinated manner. Therefore, the program will incorporate the values of teamwork and cooperative work in the communication of the skills required from the FDU fire and emergency mitigation team of the future. Program Description The fire and emergency education program will enable the larger population of students at the FDU community as well as other members to acquire fire and emergency skills, through the utilization of the experience of a professional fire fighter (Klaene, 2007). The course will entail fire and emergency mitigation drills, which will enable them to acquire on-task experience in dealing with fire or other emergencies and to give aid to victims of fire and other emergencies (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2004). Students exposed to the innovative program will utilize different fire and emergency mitigation resources, including fire and emergency mitigation text books, charts, and fire extinguishers among other resources used during the time of emergency (Hall, 1998). The program will increase their fire and emergency mitigation skills, which will be demonstrated through the fire and emergency mitigation drill. Included in the fire and emergency education program will entail the training of FDU fire and emergency mitigation officials, on the use of effective risk mitigation skills, so that they can continue the training of students year after year (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2004). The project will be implemented during June 17th of May 2013, at the university Green area. Throughout the day, the students and staff of FDU will be taken through training on fire and emergency mitigation. Preparations for the project will be held during the 14th-16th May 2013. The Goals and the Objectives of the Programs The goal of the fire and emergency education program is to enable the students and other members of the FDU community to acquire fire and emergency mitigation skills, to the point that they will be able to offer solutions in the event of fire or emergency situations at The FDU, at their workplaces, and at their respective communities. The skills acquired through the programs will enable them and prepare them for further emergency mitigation courses, whether those offered at work or within community. Different studies like Klaene (2007) have shown that many community members are not knowledgeable in fire and emergency mitigation, therefore are likely to suffer during a risk event, because they do not know how to act and how to help others (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2004). The main objectives of the program: these were informed by the information given by the fire and emergency mitigation of FDU interviewed during the study 1. Provide a measurable acquisition of fire and emergency mitigation skills. The hope is that the students will acquire basic skills by the end of the programs. The skills to be checked include knowledge of the responsibilities of an emergency mitigation expert; understand safety regulations like NFPA, and knowing the channels to use for communication, during a fire or other emergency (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2004). 2. Enabling slower learners to grasp the skills of fire and emergency mitigation through the risk mitigation drills, and exposure to practical mitigation tactics – which will be administered in group settings (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2004). 3. Communicating the skills on fire and emergency mitigation through different media, including charts, textbooks, and practical lessons – towards ensuring that the course bears the most impact in exposing the audience to required skills. The skills required include knowledge of the phases involved in initiating and processing response during an emergency (Klaene, 2007). Time Table Activity Date Submit Grant proposal April 30, 2013 Reception of grant Notification May 2, 2013 Outsourcing of hardware and the materials required for the course May 5, 2013 Training session for emergency mitigation staffs May 10, 2013 Student Orientation May 16, 2013 Evaluate initial skills levels May 16, 2013 Start the 1 day training May 17, 2013 Test skills levels after course May 17, 2013 Prepare results report May 18-20, 2013 Budget The budget includes the funds required for the purchase of staff training manuals, securing the participant motivation and attraction items – including free pizzas to be offered to attendees, fire fighting text books and securing the necessary fire and emergency fighting resources. The last budget item is the amount to be donated to the fire fighter. Item Price Quantity Total Staff Training manuals USD 0.5 1000 Copies 500 Pizzas USD 2 1000 pieces 2,000 Firefighting textbooks USD 3 100 Copies 300 Fire and emergency fighting (5 Fire extinguishers) USD 50 5 Pieces 250 Amount to be donated to the professional fire fighter and their organization - - 1,000 Costs of event organizing USD 950 950 Total USD 5,000 Evaluation The evaluation of the outcome of the program will be conducted twice, because there is need to evaluate the fire and the emergency mitigation skills held by the audience, prior to the program and after the training. Following the two evaluations of the skills held among the audience of the program, the difference between the skill levels depicted after the first evaluation and those from the second study will give the indicators on the outcomes of the program. A follow-up study will be administered at the end of the year, so as to evaluate the improvement in the skills held among the students and the other members of the FDU community. The year-end evaluation will entail a study of the skills acquired by the students, using a test-question draft, which will guide the students in giving their answers. The review of the skills held by students before and after the study will be reviewed on the basis of the answers given by the interview administered on the FDU official in charge of fire and emergency mitigation (Berke & Smith, 2010). References Berke, P.R., & Smith, G. (2010). Hazard Mitigation, Planning, and Disaster Resiliency: Challenges and Strategic Choices for the 21st Century, in Sustainable Development and Disaster Resiliency, Ed. U. Fra. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: IOS Press. Careless, J. (2013). Specialized skills. Fire Fighting in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.firefightingincanada.com/content/view/3403/213/ FDU. (2013) Fairleigh Dickison University. FDU. Retrieved from http://www.fdu.edu/ FDU. (2013a). Fire Safety. FDU http://www.fdu.edu/ Klaene, B. (2007). Structural Firefighting: Strategies and Tactics. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Thomson Delmar Learning. (2004). The Firefighters Handbook: Essentials of Fire Fighting and Emergency Response, Second Ed. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Publishers. Willing, L. (2013). The most important skill in fire fighting. Firerescue1Retrieved from http://www.firerescue1.com/cod-company-officer-development/articles/888439-The- most-important-skill-in-firefighting/ Appendix 1 Interview Outline administered to the Fire and emergency officer at FDU 1. What work do you do as a fire and emergency mitigation officer? 2. What skills would you say are the most important for your work? 3. Are fire and emergency drills effective in training risk mitigation staff? 4. What tools do you use during your work? Hardware and software – where applicable. 5. What considerations can influence program deployment the most, when taken into account before the time of study? 6. Give me an example of a case, when you developed new relationships at work? 7. Have you encountered issues in your team settings? 8. What skills are required, towards completing tasks to a high standard? 9. Discuss one case when you learnt a new skill or experience? 10. What challenges have you experienced when working with people of a different background, whether religion, gender, age or disability? Read More