Globalization and Ethics on Search and Rescue Team - Assignment Example

Briefing paper on law, globalization and ethics on search and rescue team Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Introduction This paper will be assessing the law in England and Wales, and how the law operates internationally as it applies to the fire service sector. It will also analyze the role of globalization in affect ting the legislative and substantive work of those in the fire and rescue service. The paper will further identify how ethical considerations are dealt with in the fire and rescue services. The role of the practitioner in the changing world environment will also be discussed in summary. Fire brigade is either a public or a private organization that provides fire protection for a certain region. It consists of one or more fire stations and is usually staffed by career firefighters, volunteers or a combination of both (BSI British Standards, 2008). The organizations supports international rescue team through provision of protection, safety and education to the public concerning fire safety. It is also involved in creation of skilled people with the knowledge of performing their duties (Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate, 2006). The firms perform tasks aimed at successfully saving the public from harm, which is inline with supporting the functions of international rescue team. Since these firms are set in regional areas, they are the first team to arrive at scenes of emergency to provide rescue services to people affected by the disaster. The firms are also involved in research to provide new technologies for helping in rescue missions. The main objective of fire brigades is fighting fires. The UK search and rescue (SAR) teams were involved in life saving work after the earthquake struck Haiti. The first of these teams arrived in Haiti after 48 hours of occurrence of the quake. The UK search and rescue team was involved searching for survivors of the quake in Port-au-Prince’s collapsed streets (BSI British Standards, 2008). The UK search and rescue team was able to rescue four survivors from rubble in ten days with the aid of two specially trained dogs.UK firms such as Merlin, Handcap international, action against hunger and Oxfam were involved in Haiti provision of various services. UKaid support was involved in distribution of food, improvement of water and sanitation and provision of transitional shelter to survivors of earthquakes. UK teams were involved in reinforcing humanitarian support to Haiti during the Haiti earthquake. The UK sent an assessment mission to Haiti to support and monitor the cholera outbreak after which resulted from destruction of health facilities by the earthquake. Assessment of law in England and Wales and how the law operates internationally in relation to fire service The fire and rescue act 2004 marked a significant change of the 1947 fire and rescue act. Under the new act, fire authorities have a wide range of statutory duties. The act spells that the authorities should be involved in promoting fire safety and preparing for fighting fires and in the protection of people and property from fire outbreaks (BSI British Standards, 2008). They are also expected to be involved in rescuing people from road traffic accidents. The act also requires the fire authorities to be involved in other specific emergencies such as terrorist attack or flooding which are set out in the statutory order and could be amended according to future changes in the role of the service. The act also empowers the authorities to participate in activities, which can aid them meet statutory duties. It also gives the authorities powers for preparing properly for other risks to life and the environment (National Audit Office, 2008). The act also allows the authorities to use their staff and equipments for any other duties they believe to be appropriate. Thus, this new act places prevention and intervention on equal footing and gives the authorities the power to consult with their communities how and where to deploy their resources. The health and safety act was enacted in 1974 (Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate, 2006). It spells out regulations governing health and safety issues at work place. It also acts as a basis for provision of health and safety advice. The enforcement of the act is divided between the health and safety executive and local authorities dependent on the business sector (BSI British Standards, 2008). The health and safety executives is also involved in conducting research on the effectiveness of regulations and other health and safety issues, consults with employees and employers representatives and gives advice to the government and legislators on health and safety. The act requires safe operation and maintenance of the working environment, plant and systems (National Audit Office, 2008). It also requires maintenance of safe access to the workplace; safe use, handling and storage of dangerous substance; adequate training of staff to ensure health and safety and requires provision of adequate welfare for staff at work. The UK human right act came into force in 2000. The act’s main aim was to enhance the rights entrenched in the European convention on human rights (BSI British Standards, 2008). The act abolished death penalty in UK law (Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate, 2006). The act discourages public authorities from engaging in activities, which contravene European convention on human rights. The act also provides defence for public authorities that contravene the convention in pursuance of mandatory obligations subjected upon them by Westminster primary legislation. The European convention on human rights outlines several human rights such as right to life, discourages torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and discourages slavery or forced labour. The convention states that everyone is entitled to the right to liberty and security (BSI British Standards, 2008). The convention also entitles all individuals to fair and public hearing. It also gives individuals the right to respect their private and family life in addition to their homes and their correspondence (Communities and Local Government, 2007). All individuals are also entitled to the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The convention also gives individuals the right of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the right to marry (Books, LLC. 2010). The act also discourages discrimination of whatever sought in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set out in it. The UN human rights act recognizes the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. It promotes a number of human, civil, social and economic rights and asserts such rights to be part of the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world (BSI British Standards, 2008). the UN has an international duty of achieving international cooperation in provision of solutions to problems of social, cultural, economic or humanitarian character in addition to promotion of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without any discrimination (Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate, 2006). The role of globalization on legislative and substantive work of fire and rescue service Globalization is the process through which various regional economies, cultures and societies have been integrated via a global network of trade, communication and trade. Globalization is driven by a combination of factors such as biological, technological, economic, political and socio-cultural. Globalization has made it easy for consumers and companies to access foreign products. In addition, borrowers are able to access worldwide financial markets and external marketing (BSI British Standards, 2008). The cost of production of goods has also dropped drastically implying that one can get cheap but quality products. Globalization has also resulted in commoditization of health, which has seen an increase in privatization of the health sector. The global trade and economy has influenced healthy policy, which is directed by advances in technology and innovations in medical trade (Communities and Local Government, 2007). There is also creation of world government, which regulates relationships among states and ensures the rights arising from economic and social globalization. Globalization has also increased information flow between remote locations (Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate, 2006). With globalization there is increased competition and improved production processes. The internet has broken down cultural boundaries and has enabled near instantaneous communication between people (Davies, 2007). The internet allows interaction and communication amongst people with varied lifestyles and cultures. The medium overcomes even language barriers through exchange of photos. Increased developments in technology have resulted in miniaturization and transformation of products, which weigh less and are smaller. This has drastically reduced transportation costs, which have enabled global sourcing. The improved speed of information flow and transport networks implies that in case of emergence, rescue teams can respond first enough to save many lives (BSI British Standards, 2008). In addition, improvement in technology shows that new and better equipments for fire fighting and rescue services are in place that can help in rescue services. Furthermore, different fire rescue services can corporate in such cases (Communities and Local Government, 2007). Training services can also take place online to sensitize people on how to respond to disasters such as fire outbreaks (Books, LLC. 2010). Many products and services to be utilized in fire and rescue service can be outsourced cheaply from varied locations and be delivered on time (Grimwood, 2008). It is now possible to order equipments to be shipped to place where there are needed on time with improved transportation networks in the global world. The legislation outlined above is essential in promoting the right to life. They form the basis of reacting to emergencies that could violate the right life. They also provide a foundation of enhancing safety in cases of calamities such as fire, flooding, earthquakes and even war that may compromise human life. The legislations are essential in preventing some emergencies such as fire outbreaks through training of the public to engage in safe activities. They also ensure that people work in safe environments, which do not endanger human life. The legislations also empower rescue organization to corporate at international levels in case of emergencies. The role of practitioner in a changing world environment There exists an international association of fire chiefs (IAFC) which produces premier conferences and exhibitions for broader fire and emergency service. During the conference, prominent fire and emergency service leaders from all over the world converge to learn, network and collaborate at fire rescue international FRI (BSI British Standards, 2008). All areas of emergency are covered in the FRI education (Books, LLC. 2010). The areas covered include navigation of the political environment, management of change, ethical leadership, career development, EMS issues and other areas that are of importance to emergence issues. Various fire service innovations in technology, apparatus, gear and equipment are show cased at the conference (Communities and Local Government, 2007). There is also an international humanitarian and disaster response technologies, which is an event that brings together international civil and military humanitarian and disaster response organizations for corporation in order to understand and to highlight the latest technologies in the market for conduct disaster operations in Africa (BSI British Standards, 2008). The INSARAG is a body, which operates under the umbrella of UN, has a mission of developing effective international relationships to save lives and render humanitarian services in case of natural or man made disasters (Books, LLC. 2010). Moreover, the body ensures improvement of emergency preparedness, cooperation and exchange of information between SAR teams and development of a common understanding of the functions and operations of SAR teams (Grimwood, 2008). This has resulted in the development of the international SAR response system. The UN disaster assessment and coordination (UNDAC) team is a standby disaster response mechanism that sends crisis management experts to disaster zones. It responds to disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other disasters. The UNDAC system is managed by field coordination support section, which also serves as the secretariat of the international search and rescue advisory group. UNIDAC also facilitates the use of personnel and assets from many countries to assist a disaster affected country within 24 hours of disaster striking. UNDAC also offers disaster response preparedness missions (Communities and Local Government, 2007). This involves analysis of national disaster preparedness systems and procedures at no cost. UNDAC provides an international capacity for supporting cross sectoral emergency assessment, relief coordination and information management. UNDAC coordinate international relief at disaster by strengthening the coordination centre of the government for international coordination (Books, LLC. 2010). It also coordinates centre of the authorities in charge at the site of the disaster. It also coordinates the process of evaluating immediate humanitarian needs and manages and disseminates information towards the international/donor community (Communities and Local Government, 2007). UNDAC is also responsible for mobilization of international resources and reception and orientation of the international USAR teams. Under request, UNDAC may provide support to the logistics operation through the establishment of a relevant coordination platform. Ethical consideration in the fire and rescue services Emergency workers are expected to weigh the possibility of harming themselves before going a head to safe other peoples lives (Grimwood, 2008). If the probability of harming their own life is high and could even result in death, the fire fighters have the option of not being involved in the rescuing such a person since the death of the rescuer implies two lives lost. Firefighters cannot also forcefully remove someone against their will to evacuate from their property if such persons have pecuniary interest (BSI British Standards, 2008). In case of someone who has attempted to commit suicide, the rescuer is compelled to safe the life of such person since it is the mandate of the rescuer to safe life. It becomes a tricky ethical issue when one is trying to save the life of loved ones in burning property (National Audit Office, 2008). Questions arise as to whether the rescuer has to prevent such persons from rescuing their loved ones and the rescuer to take the responsibility of rescuing the trapped person (Communities and Local Government, 2007). In such case if the situation is risky what does the rescuer supposed to do? Fire service personnel ought to undergo thorough training to ensure that in the event of making drastic decisions, they ought to make risk assessment so that they are not putting people at risk unnecessarily or too much so that they have no chance of being rescued (BSI British Standards, 2008). Firefighters are also faced with ethical issues when making decisions such as who is likely to survive than someone else. In most cases, rescuers find themselves rescuing children first in such circumstances even though they do not have time to think over during such cases (National Audit Office, 2008). The public always expects that the firefighters will always make good decisions at all times (BSI British Standards, 2008). Thus, the firefighters have to know how to deal with the public in times when the public is in low ebb (Communities and Local Government, 2007). The firefighters are also expected to use the public funds for doing the right things to run the fire service so that they are not wasteful and they ought to give it the best possible value. Conclusion There are various legislations, which govern the fire and rescue service. They include the fire and rescue act 2004, the health and safety act, the UK human right act, the European convention on human rights and the UN human rights act. These legislations are essential in promoting the right to life. They form the basis of reacting to emergencies that could violate the right life. They also provide a foundation of enhancing safety in cases of calamities such as fire, flooding, earthquakes and even war that may compromise human life. The legislations are essential in preventing some emergencies such as fire outbreaks through training of the public to engage in safe activities. They also ensure that people work in safe environments, which do not endanger human life. The legislations also empower rescue organization to corporate at international levels in case of emergencies. Globalization has been instrumental in ensuring that equipments, technologies and information required to save lives in times of emergence are effectively and efficiently provided to help in tackling the emergence to save lives and even help preventing the occurrence of some disasters or evacuating the public prior to occurrence of such disasters. Firefighters are often faced with many ethical issues as they try to deliver their services. Proper education and training can be instrumental in ensuring that many of such ethical issues do not occur. References Books, LLC. 2010. Fire and Rescue Services of the United Kingdom: Defunct Fire and Rescue Services of the United Kingdom, Fire and Rescue Services of England. London: General Books LLC. BSI British Standards. 2008. Code of Practice for Fire Safety in the Design, Management, and use of Buildings – BS 9999: 2008. London: Stationary Office. Communities and Local Government. (2007). Fire Safety: Approved Document B – Volume – Buildings other than Dwellinghouses. London: Stationary Office. Davies, P. 2007. The NHS in the UK 2007/08, 9th Ed. London: The NHS Confederation. Great Britain: H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate. 2006. Fire and Rescue Service Manual, Volume 2. London: The Stationery Office. Grimwood, P. 2008. Euro Firefighter: Global Firefighting Strategy and Tactics, Command and Control and Firefighter Safety. London: Jeremy Mills Publishing. National Audit Office. 2008. New Dimension: Enhancing the Fire and Rescue Services Capacity to Respond to Terrorist and Other Large-scale Incidents. London: The Stationery Office. Read More