Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services - Essay Example

Affirmative action has seen to it that this has changed over time. It has achieved remarkable success in many ways. Significantly, African-American started working in the fire service around the 1920s. It was, however, not until the 1960’s that their right to fire service came to be safeguarded in the law. The impact of affirmative action in fire and emergency service is better felt with the massive recruitment of women to the departments. Women's entry into the fire and emergency service can be dated back to the 1990s.

This development was accompanied by the introduction of a prohibition of sexual harassment and putting up of restrooms for the privacy of female firefighters (Varone, 2007). One thing expected of new members in the fire and emergency service is that they will not expect special treatment. They are expected to become like the dominant group. The endeavor is immense on newcomers having to live through lots of stress, exclusion and isolation, role confusion, and unfriendly evaluations. It is a misguided notion to think that everyone in the fire service has identical needs (Varone, 2007).