Law, Justice and Community: Search and Rescue Team - Case Study Example

Law, Justice and Community Studies The Fire and Rescue Service plays a significant role in the day to day life of the people. It protects them from fires and saves valuable property and life. This is a major objective of the fire service. In order to accomplish this, fire and rescue services must integrate with and work closely with the community. The employees of the fire service must interact with the members of the community, and accept their suggestions and advice (West Sussex County Council, 2010). In addition, fire-fighters have to acquire knowledge and improve their skills. They should educate the people and teach them to deal with emergencies at their home, office or business. Fire – fighters should provide information to the people, regarding the manner in which to escape from hazardous situations (West Sussex County Council, 2010). Fire-fighters should make frequent visits to schools. Such visits should educate and create awareness among school children, about the dangers associated with fireworks and matches. Moreover, fire fighters should ensure that all the buildings are compliant with safety regulations. They should inspect businesses and conference halls, in order to determine whether the fire safety regulations are being followed in them (West Sussex County Council, 2010). They face new challenges, due to natural calamities, such as floods, storms, and earthquakes. In addition to these, they have to address accidents on the roads, oil spills and terrorist activities. Undoubtedly, fire – fighters have to enhance their skills and knowledge, periodically, in order to protect society from such incidents (West Sussex County Council, 2010). There are a number of challenging situations and emergencies that depend on the capabilities of fire – fighters to deal with them successfully. The problems arising from terrorist threats and chemical spillages in the modern society, pose new challenges to fire – fighters. Thus, fire – fighters enact an important role while working closely with the society (West Sussex County Council, 2010). The United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) was an active participant in the Haitian rescue operations. For this purpose, it had established its camp in its Base of Operations at Port-au-Prince Airport in Haiti. The UK-ISAR operated in association with the UN in Haiti as part of the relief measures (The Chief Fire Officers Association, 2010). The Operations Room at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service directly regulated the operations of the six UK Fire and Rescue Service teams that were deployed in Haiti, via satellite phones. Moreover, the Local Emergency Management Authority coordinated the operations of the different groups that had been engaged in the relief operations (The Chief Fire Officers Association, 2010). According to John Bonney, President of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association, the UK FRS teams had worked with full commitment and dedication in Haiti. Furthermore, the unstinted efforts of this organisation had been instrumental in maintaining the rescue operations in full swing. These teams had been in operation in the Deprez district, in coordination with local agencies, such as schools (The Chief Fire Officers Association, 2010). The fire-fighters from Greater Manchester, West Sussex, Kent, West Midlands, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire, and Mid Wales once again proved their expertise. As such, the services of the UK-ISAR can be accessed at any time, and its team members are always ready to respond to attend to any disaster or calamity (The Chief Fire Officers Association, 2010). The UK fire-fighters had remained in Haiti, till such time as their services had been required, in order to restore normalcy. As such, the fire-fighters are not confined to the job of fighting fires. They provide several other services, and they deal with an array of emergency situations. Instances of fire and the calls for their services are not very many, and according to an estimate, only one in five calls to the Fire and Rescue Service, require its services to fight fires (The UK Fire and Rescue Service, 2009). The department responds to calls for getting rid of floodwaters, clearing chemical spills, attending road and rail accidents and air crashes. It also provides emergency casualty care in such disasters, and rescues people who are accidentally trapped in elevators and buildings. There are more than 33,000 full-time employees and nearly 12,000 part-time employees in the Fire and Rescue Services in England and Wales (The UK Fire and Rescue Service, 2009). An efficient fire-fighter possesses several qualities, such as confidence, adaptability, effective communication, integrity and commitment. These qualities help fire-fighters to become more effective in their profession. Moreover, the introduction of new technologies and equipment requires fire-fighters to acquire new knowledge and enhance their skills. Fire – fighters are required to work closely with the community, and prevent fires and accidents. In addition, they should visit schools, businesses, homes, and community centres frequently, so as to educate people and increase awareness among them (West Sussex County Council, 2010). The government of the UK had published a White Paper namely, Our Fire and Rescue Service. This publication led to the enactment of the Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004. This statute resulted in considerable changes to the National Fire Service. This Act implements a new policy and modernised agenda as part of the National Framework document to be implemented by the Fire Service department. Furthermore, it introduced a number of nationwide projects to be implemented by the fire services. Moreover, it evaluates the performance of all the Fire Services in the Comprehensive Area Assessment programme (West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, 2008). The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 supplants the erstwhile Fire Services Act 1947. This legislation established new frameworks for the fire and rescue services, which enabled it to address the new challenges posed in the modern era. This Act has focused on the prevention of disasters, and requires fire and rescue personnel to promote fire safety and create safer communities (Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Factsheet). The Integrated Risk Management Plan is one such authority .Other features have been appended to the fundamental role of fire-fighting, and some of these are rope-rescue, health hazards, and moorland fires. These will remain as co-responder activities for the fire-fighters and they have to respond to these requests. The new Act is instrumental in founding the Fire and Rescue National Framework as a legal instrument. Under this framework, the government is required to provide national and strategic guidance, and support to the fire and rescue services (Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Factsheet). This Act proposed the integration of the fire and rescue authorities and to effect an enhancement in their powers. Public safety is the fundamental aim of this Act, and in addition it seeks to render the economy more effective. The government and its ministers have to take a decision with regard to the integration of these two services, in the best of interests of the public (Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Factsheet). Moreover, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 introduced several new policies and procedures into the national fire and rescue services. The new Equality Impact Assessments are helpful in recognising the negative and positive impacts, in the context of the provision of service on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion, belief, sex, and age of community members. This Act requires the fire and rescue services to provide suitable and accessible services, with regard to a wide range of public necessities. The Strategic Management Team or the Combined Fire Authority will review the performance of the national service teams (Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service).In the UK, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, imposes several duties on the fire and rescue authorities. It regulates employment matters in the fire department, and provides education and training to the employees in the department (Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004). In addition, this Act deals with the salaries and pensions of the employees of this department, and makes provision for the supply of water to douse fires. The provisions of this Act deal with false fire alarms made by miscreants, and provide the necessary funds to the advisory bodies and for any other associated purpose (Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004). The UK established the UK-ISAR to provide emergency services all over the world. The UK-ISAR responds to emergency situations that occur outside the UK, and it is a union of 13 Fire Services teams in the UK. The objective of these teams is to respond, whenever there is an official call, and to provide the required emergency services to the victims of international disasters (United Kingdom Fire and Rescue - International Search and Rescue). These teams are highly – trained in the area of search and rescue. They conduct joint operation to enhance their skills and knowledge. They also share their knowledge with each other, and immediately respond to emergencies and provide the required services. The UK-ISAR was restructured following UN guidelines to categorise it as the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team (United Kingdom Fire and Rescue - International Search and Rescue). This classification further fortified its place in the field of rescue operations. This organisation can be deployed in disaster zones by the government of the UK. Moreover, its services can be utilised in places where heavy structural collapse has transpired. The UK-ISAR has all the resources and equipment to respond to such situations and provide its services, in excess of ten days. It had performed search and rescue operations at Fort Widley, near Portsmouth for about a week, and gained UN accreditation, due to this act (United Kingdom Fire and Rescue - International Search and Rescue). Several UK teams function under the UK-ISAR, to work in a coordinated manner and rescue people from collapsed buildings. This organisation has demonstrated it capacity to rescue people trapped in confined spaces, with consummate skill (United Kingdom Fire and Rescue - International Search and Rescue). The Comite Technique International de Prevention et d’ Extinction du Feu (CTIF) is an international organisation, with representatives from 52 countries. The UK played an important role in the founding this entity. It represents workers from the fire and rescue services. The Federation of British Fire Organisations (FOBFO) functions as a network alliance partner to the CTIF in the UK. The FOBFO is the UK National Committee for the CTIF. It coordinates and supports other members of the CTIF (FOBFO). Disaster management is a very important feature of any society. As such, dealing with disasters is a difficult process. In many cases, disaster management had caused dissatisfaction among the survivors. Thus, the process of disaster management is attended with uncertainties. For a victim of a disaster, relief from the trying situation has greater importance than the disaster management (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). Thus, satisfaction depends on various factors, like the type and extent to which relief had been provided, and the consistency of disaster relief. The quality of relief services depends on the skill and preparedness of the providers of such relief. The experience of emergency responders is another importance issue. In order to improve experience and skills, the responders and service providers have to undergo training continuously (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). It is commonplace for disaster relief agencies to realise that they could not respond adequately to the needs of survivors, after a severe disaster. Disaster management is also subject to the government’s policies and regulations. Consequently, there may be unclear or unnecessarily stringent policies that affect the quality of the service provided to the survivors. Some policies may require a high level of financial management skills on the part of the service providers, which could prove to be difficult to realise in practice (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). Rigid and impractical regulations affect the quality of service and at times even delay or deny services. Such regulations have to be analysed, in order to improve the quality of services and to enhance the rate of success. Despite the best efforts put in by the service providers, ineffective policies and regulations damage the quality of such services. Moreover, these regulations may not be adequately responsive to the needs and requirements of the survivors (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). Thus, they are considered to be deficient in moral ethics and standards. However, with the passage of time disaster response, management, and the programmes designed for relief become more effective and sophisticated. In addition, the coordination between the service providing agencies and the government increasingly becomes more efficient and better organised. Consequently, the implementation of these plans becomes more efficient in preventing the dire consequences that usually result from a disaster (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). Thus, clear objectives and concrete services ensure the success of relief programmes. Moreover, with the passage of time, new policies and plans have emerged to make disaster management effective. These plans and policies are implemented at both the local and international levels. Training and proper implementation, in the context of these policies effectively addresses the dilemmas and ethical issues involved in such incidents (Soliman & Rogge, 2002). The process of globalisation has removed trade barriers, across the world. It introduced liberalised trade practices, promoted privatisation and removed trade regulations. In order to procure loans from the World Bank and IMF, countries are forced to adopt the principles and policies that promote globalisation. The impact of globalisation is more on the developing nations, which had to make several structural adjustment programmes to accommodate the liberalised policies of globalisation (Protecting public services). Many countries were compelled to allocate a greater share of their budget towards promoting these reforms. As countries direct large amounts of money to accommodate the provisions of globalisation, they are finding it difficult to allot funds to public services such as health and education (Protecting public services). The World Trade Organisation encourages the liberalisation and privatisation of public services as part of the globalisation process. This generated serious public concern in the developing countries. In order to cope with this situation, nearly 500 public service trade unions from 140 countries formed an organisation, namely the Public Services International. This organisation acts as an international trade union federation. This federation fights on behalf of more than 20 million workers in the public sector (Protecting public services). The Public Services International comprises of social workers from different backgrounds, like health workers, fire – fighters, public utility workers, child minders, civil servants, judges, food inspectors, social workers, and other professional groups. This organisation negotiates with international entities, such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO, MNCs, and governments, which are active in hastening the process of globalisation. Moreover, these entities are responsible for the liberalisation of global trade, production, investment, and other structural arrangements (Protecting public services). The Fire and Rescue Services Act attempts to broaden the role of fire-fighters by extending the earlier role. Thus, at present, fire and rescue services cover road accidents and other major natural calamities, like floods and earthquakes. It also includes threats posed by terrorists, in the role of fire-fighting. This Act provides a new authority to the service providers, according to which they can respond to different needs of the community, as and when the situation warrants. List of References The UK Fire and Rescue Service. (2009, November 9). Retrieved October 1, 2010, from Directgov: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/InYourHome/FireSafety/DG_071763 Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/21/introduction Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Factsheet. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/fire/pdf/128941.pdf FOBFO. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.fobfo.org/ Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service. (n.d.). Race Equality Scheme 2005-2008. Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.notts-fire.gov.uk/internet/nottsfr/nottinghamshirefireandrescue.nsf/Attachments/AttachmentStore/$file/race_equality_scheme_2005_summary.pdf?OpenElement Protecting public services. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.tuc.org.uk/Globalisation/inaction.htm#public Soliman, H. H., & Rogge, M. E. (2002, February 15). Ethical Considerations in disaster services: A social work perspective. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.centerforurbanstudies.com/documents/electronic_library/disaster_planning/ethics_in_disasterplanning.pdf The Chief Fire Officers Association. (2010, January). UK-ISAR team now established in Haiti . Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.cfoa.org.uk/11178?not_logged_in=true United Kingdom Fire and Rescue - International Search and Rescue. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.ukfssartdogteams.org.uk/ West Sussex County Council. (2010). A career in the Fire and Rescue Service. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/living/emergencies/fire_and_rescue_service/fire_and_rescue_service/a_career_in_the_fire_an_rescue.aspx West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. (2008). Human Resources and Workforce development strategy. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service: http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/fireAuthority/agendas2008_09/documents/HRannexitem7.pdf Read More