Fire and Rescue Service in England and Wales - Case Study Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Law and Globalization Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction International search and rescue team is a non- governmental organization based in UK and most of the UK’s brigades belong to it. This rescue team was formed to help those in suffering and in distress due to effects of hazards and emergency risks and disasters in the United Kingdom and in other areas of the globe. This organization carries out its rescue operations while observing the internationally set practices and laws while helping people in emergencies and disasters. The International search and rescue team also offers other services to its member communities such as training, medical response services, and support in civil matters. The organization also helps the member countries on how to remain prepared for emergency disasters, and also on how to reduce chances of disaster occurrences. For e team to become member of the UK’s International search and rescue team there is need for preparedness to operate within its legal structure and to observe its ethics. This is because during all its emergency response activities, the team must operate within a particular legal framework. This paper looks at the legal and ethical issues surrounding the membership to the International search and rescue team (House of Commons GB 2006). Fire and Rescue Service in England and Wales The fire and rescue service teams in England and Wales total up to fifty. There are other counterparts in countries such as Ireland and Scotland which together form the UK fire and rescue service. Other organizations that work together with the UK fire and rescue services however maintain their independence as fire brigades. Fire fighting is not the main role of the UK fire and rescue services. Out of the many calls made to the team, only a few of them concerns fire fighting. Most of their other duties include pumping out flood waters, helping in road, air, and railway crashes and helping those trapped in buildings. The fire and rescue service team in England and Wales is made up of around thirty three thousand full time workers and twelve thousand part time workers. This team offers advice to members of nations on fire prevention, fire escape routes in offices and homes, and also inspecting buildings to see whether they meet the regulations on fire safety. The team also works with schools to help students become aware of dangers of fire. The organization also gives checklists to home owners to guide them in ensuring that their homes are safe. Acquiring membership in the UK fire and rescue service is free for fire brigades and other individuals. The organization gives free training to the members to enable them carry out the rescue services. However, in carrying out its operations there are legal, political, and ethical issues that are experienced (GB, Fire Service Inspectorate, 2007). Application of laws of England and Wales in UK search and rescue service In 1938, before the Second World War, the fire and rescue services in England and Wales were operating under the fire brigades act 1938. However, this situation continuously changes after the Second World War where the local authority fire services were established and given powers under new legislations. A sequence of national fire strikes took place in 2002 that led to the formation of Independent Review of the Fire Service. This changed how the fire services would be operating. The current operations of the fire and rescue services in England and Wales follows the requirements of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 made the main notable change in the law concerning fire and rescue eservices in England and Wales. The act that was operating before had laws that focused on fire fighting only and this limited the actions of the fire and rescue services. Under the act of 2004, the fire and rescues services are headed by the fire and rescue authority which is made up of local council members whose responsibility is to supervise the policies and activities of the fire and rescue services. This is a supervisory committee that ensures that the fire and rescue service carries out its duties effectively and meets the interests of the nations and communities that it serves (GB. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister 2004). The statutory duties of the fire and rescues services team as stated in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 includes promoting fire safety. This entails preparedness in fire fighting and protecting people from fire injuries and property destruction. Another role is rescue people who are involved in road accidents, and also to help in emergency services which may result from attacks by terrorists and also from flooding. To achieve all this, the act also sets out means which can be adopted. These include not limiting the activities of the fire and rescue authorities to those stated by the act, but to any other activities that can help in meeting their duties. The act also gives the fire and rescue authorities power to prepare themselves properly for any other possible risks. This include making them free to purchase equipments and train staff on other issues that they think may cause risks to people and the environment. The act also sets the authority free to use its equipment and staff for any other work that may seem appropriated to them. Generally, this act aims at giving the fire and rescue service team powers that equips them to face the challenges in the 21st century. Some of these challenges may be the political issues that face the operations of the fire and rescue services, ethical considerations and the effects of globalization. The management of the fire and rescue operations in the United Kingdom has been continuously changing due to different likes of the government and the politicians. The seniormost politician who heads the fire and rescue services in England and Wales is referred to as the fire service minister. This duty is however not under cabinet of the prime minister. The duty is taken up by a junior minister who is answerable to the state secretary for community and local government. At local levels, there are local bodies that elect the members of the fire rescue authority. The level below this is of the brigades. Joining the UK’s search and rescue team at the brigade level Joining the UK’s search and rescue team as a brigade requires operating under the command of a senior officer in the rank. With the modern plans being carried out, brigades can also enter as graduates and can earn promotion. Being a brigade member in the UK’s search and rescue team takes various practices which include the command level, area brigade, the divisional level, and a borough. The command level belongs to the big brigades for example the London fire brigade. Such a brigade is then sub divided into the other three levels since it cannot function as one unit. The area level is a subdivision of the large brigades where the sub units function in geographical areas such as the north, south, east, and west. The divisional level is a smaller geographical area where decision scan be made locally. The borough is a smaller division which is associated with the local councils. It is made up of borough teams and smaller stations that belong to that particular borough. During an emergency response the main role of the brigades is to provide information such as on the type and scene of the incident, what is affected for example people or buildings, the resources that are required in the rescue mission, the nearest operational area for example landing points, and any other information relevant to the incident. These roles were also observed during the rescue operations at the time of Haiti earthquake (National Audit Office 2008). Action of the UK’s search and rescue team during the Haiti earthquake The new set of powers granted to the UK fire and rescue services by the fire and rescue service act 2004 played a very important role in enabling its operations during the Haiti rescue services. The act allows the fire and rescue service to make decisions with consultations to the community its working on. During the Haiti earthquake rescue activities, some of the actions that they did with the powers granted to them included deployment of additional staff. Deployment and logistics were organized by the UK command to have a well able team. The team was also able to purchase equipments that they found necessary in their operations in Haiti (Jamieson 2010). Ethical considerations for UK fire and rescue services New individuals and brigades who are willing to join the UK fire and rescue services must undergo some form of training which includes the ethical considerations during the rescue operations. These ethical considerations are in a set of standards that govern all their activities. The ethical standards also act to increase the sense of responsibility among the team members. This enables them to perfume all their activities to the interest of the communities that are serving. Some of the ethical considerations for working in fire and rescue services include a positive attitude. The UK fire and rescue services find themselves in very difficult situations such as during the Haiti earthquake. During their rescue operations in Haiti, there were problems of getting food and water due to difficulties in transport. In such difficult situations, the members of the service team are required to maintain a positive attitude since panic a low attitude may cause the members to panic (Morrison & Monagle 2009). The other ethical standard of the organization is the spirit of team work. The whole team of UK international search and rescue team are made up of teams of brigades from England, Wales and other nations throughout the world. These have different working techniques and may therefore have different opinions. However, with all the differences, they are required to work as one team. The ethical standards of the team therefore require that different teams work together since it in not or their personal interests but for those that hay are serving. Since the Fire and Rescue Act 2004 gives them powers to make decisions with consultation to the communities they are helping, the standards require that views of the community be respected and that decisions should not be made in favour of the team’s interests. Other ethical requirements include proper use of authority’s resources, proper use of power, respect, and equal treatment for the members of the rescue team and also those being rescued and anti discriminatory actions. These standards are stated in the code of conduct document that is issued to all the members wishing to join either as individuals or brigade teams. They are also explained during the training offered to new members (Morrison & Monagle 2009). Role of the fire and rescue services in a changing world environment The world environment is changing due to globalization, and this also calls for changes in the operations of the fire and rescue services. Many fire and rescue services such as the Jamaican risk management system are integrating its system to encourage exchange of data and information among its agencies. This is also important among the decision makers. With the globalization turning the world into one global market, the fire and rescue services are required to intensify their operations so that they can be able to serve the global market. The integrated rescue services can be designed involving both the private and public sectors and the government authorities (National Audit Office 2008). Following the difficulties that were experienced during the rescue services in Haiti, the rescue services need to build up on their structures to meet the changing need in different countries. Some of the challenges that are faced in the global world concerns communication and accessibility. For immediate response, it important for rescue services to have a well structured communication system for communication to the affected area and within its organization. Establishing international access means for example through the undersea cable is an important initiative to the fire and rescue services (Cote 2003). To improve on communication, fire and rescue emergency response in England is taking up the Intergraph Public Safety and Security Solutions. This service offers immediate response to numerous calls from all over the world. Intergraph will enable the England fire and rescue services to have a network of several control centers in different regions that will handle fire and rescue services across the whole world. This system will make it easy to meet the service demands in all regions and also enable management of its resources. The control centers that will be located in different regions will make use of the Intergraph’s solutions to manage all the information required for an effective response. This will enable high level of coordination during emergency response in whatever region of the world (Intergraph Corp 2010) Role of the practitioner in a changing world environment In the current global world, the role of practitioner is changing towards integration of new methods to tackle the demands of the global world. Globalization is taking place in all directions including political, economic, cultural, and technological. These changes in world environment have brought issues such as pollution, and high risk activities in the business world. Political issues resulting to wars are also subjecting people to conditions which may result to life risks. People are therefore facing risks of fire, injuries, and other health risks. The practitioner’s role is therefore changing direction in response to the changing world environment. The changing technology is also subjecting people in all over the world to various health conditions which are calling for improved services from the practitioners. Some countries have therefore established emergency medical services whose main role is to respond to health concerns of patients outside the hospital setting. This is part of the integrated health care system that most hospitals have adopted to deal with the health demands of the changing world (Roberts & Mays 1998). In England, one of the initiatives in improving its integrated health care system is the establishment of an emergency care practitioner. This is a new role of the practitioners due to the changing demands in the workforce that will ensure that the needs of patients are adequately met. This new role of practitioners is to enable them meet the challenges of the global world characterized by high demand for health services and inadequate resources. This situation at the same time requires safe and efficient health care delivery. The practitioners in this role are therefore trained with multiple skills that will enable them to attend to patients with multiple needs all over the world. UK also adopted a model of ambulatory care that consisted of advanced practice nurses. This model was part of efforts to ensure advanced roles of nurses. The nurses had to undergo training under curriculum that will equip all nurses in UK with skills that will enable them to handle the new roles of the integrated health care system. Generally, the role of the practitioner is changing with the changing world. There is increase in the demands of health care all over the world and this is calling for a more flexible health practice. The practitioners are therefore increasing their flexibility to meet the changing needs. Most countries are also adopting integrated health care system that will equip practitioners with skills of handling their changing roles (Jones, Endacott, & Crouch 2003). Practitioners joining the UK fire and rescue services are also required to be prepared to deal with the changing roles. To enable them for this, the organization is taking them through training that gives them the desired skills for the new roles. However, roles are changing for all teams in the rescue services including the brigade teams. Every individual or team of brigades joining the UK fire and rescue service needs to be flexible to take up whatever new role is introduced to them. Conclusion The operations of UK International search and rescue team operates under the Fire and Rescue Act 2004 is a very important aspect that has contributed to success in all its activities including the Haiti rescue. This is because the act allows for flexibility in all the activities of the fire and rescue services. The legal framework in which it operates is therefore flexible and does not limit the working of the organization. Before joining the UK fire and rescue service, it is important to understand the legal framework and the ethical considerations of the team. The changing world environment is also impacting the roles of the fire and rescue services but with the flexibility of its working framework, the players who include the practitioners are able to take up the new roles. Bibliography House of Commons GB, 2006, The Fire and Rescue Service: Session 2005-06, The Stationery Office, London. GB, Fire Service Inspectorate, 2007, Fire and Rescue Service manual: Vol. 2: Fire service operations, Incidents involving rescue from road vehicles, Volume 2, The Stationery Office, London. National Audit Office, 2008, New Dimension: Enhancing the Fire and Rescue Services Capacity to Respond to Terrorist and Other Large-scale Incidents, The Stationery Office, London. Cote, A., 2003, Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services, Jones & Bartlett Learning, New York. GB. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004: factsheet, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London. Intergraph Corp, 2010, England’s Nationwide Fire and Rescue Emergency Response System to Use Intergraph Public Safety and Security Solutions, retrieved on 25th September, 2010, from http://www.intergraph.com/assets/pressreleases/2010/04-20-2010.aspx. Roberts, E., Mays, N., 1998, Can primary care and community based models of emergency care substitute for the hospital accident and emergency department. Health Policy, 44: 191–214. Jones, G., Endacott, R., & Crouch, R., 2003, Emergency nursing care: principles and practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Morrison, E., & Monagle, J., 2009, Health care ethics: critical issues for the 21st century, Jones & Bartlett Learning, New York. Jamieson, A., 2010, Haiti Earthquake: British rescue teams, retrieved on 25th September 2010 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/7059936/Haiti-earthquake-British-rescue-team-returns.html Read More