Fire Department Incident Safety Officer by David .W. Dodson - Book Report/Review Example

The paper "Fire Department Incident Safety Officer by David .W. Dodson" is an excellent example of a book review on social science.  David .W. Dodson in his book ‘Fire Department Incident Safety Officer’ gives the functions and attributes of effective Fire Department Incident Officers. He argues that an effective Incident Safety Officer should not only be able to meet the minimum requirements set out in the law but also “they must be able to acquire additional skills and knowledge well past Fire Officer 1 level” (Dodson, 2007, p.79). This means that an effective Incident Safety Officer should have surpassed the minimum skill level in order to discharge his duties effectively.

Besides their need to gain a basic understanding of what is around them and the risks involved, an Incident Safety Officer must have a general idea of the skills and information that are a mandatory requirement to be within his knowledge. Dodson, (2007, p.80) argues that it is the function of an effective Incident Safety Officer (ISO) to be, at a minimum, knowledgeable in the fields of building construction, risk/benefit concepts, fire behavior, firefighter physiology, hazardous energy, and incident management systems. However, he maintains that the key skill is developed towards successful translation of the knowledge learned into application devoid of constant supervision. This, therefore, means that upon mastery of the knowledge, the ISO has a function to carry out the mandated tasks with a ninety percent efficiency and effectiveness. This means that an ISO must be able to carry out his tasks with, “analytical automation that is deeply connected with appropriate action for the incident” (Dodson, 2007, p.79). This entails a succinct understanding of the fact that the acquisition of such knowledge must be accompanied by the effective application of such skills. It is this skill and knowledge that enables an ISO to recognize the potential of an incident (Dodson, 2007, p.79).
The combined knowledge of skill and a clear understanding of the skills required to neutralize an incident, and the development of an elevated awareness or common sense to deal with any incident as it raises forms the attributes of an effective Incident Safety Officer. Read More