National Fire Department Census Quick Facts - Assignment Example

National Fire Department Census Quick Facts The Fire department provides vital services that touch the lives of millions of citizens everyday at vulnerable and noteworthy times. In recent decades, technology and quick response time have substantially improved how fire safety is delivered and the forecasts for recovery. In reference to the American emergency services, the fire department is ranked as one of the best in the world.My public safety research is based on the fire department of Springfield, the capital of the capital city of Illinois.

Illinois is the 5th most populated and 25th broadest state (Kemp, 2007). Notwithstanding these achievements, the cost, quality, and accessibility of American fire safety care services have become a major policy and legislative issues. Substantial increases in the cost of fire safety care have considerable cost on household, public safety department and state budgets, as well as the employment-based fire related insurance system. Public safety, fire department services’ quality varies widely, source of payment, state or individual sponsor and preferences.

At some point during any given year most Americans lack fire related insurance coverage. The costs of providing uncompensated damages; as a result, of fire, are a considerable burden for many public safety care providers, taxpayers and other consumers.In the state of Springfield, fire departments are staffed by around 1,190,000 personnel. This includes volunteer, career, and paid per call firefighters as well as non-firefighting and civilian staff personnel. There are a total of approximately 1,044,300 active volunteer, careers, and are paid per call firefighters.

This is nearly 88% of the registered departments' personnel.For instance in 2011 Fire departments responded to 30,100,000 calls for service. The two-thirds of the cases were for medical help, 7.6% were deceitful alarms, and only 4.6% (1,400,000) were for actual fires. Currently, the department receives 4000 a day on average. On average Springfield fire departments respond to one million fire calls that each year, representing the highest number of cases in the industrialized world. This result to death and injury of thousands of people annually and property damages reach the billions of dollars.

It involves indirect costs, for instance, temporary lodging expenses for the displaced, psychological damages and medical expenses are equally alarming. The Budget is approximately $41.306 million annually. The budget cuts across machinery, fire engines, fire education, servicing of the existing engines and machinery, emergency cases (National Academy of Engineering, 1970). The main specialized services provided by fire department include fire/injury prevention, vehicle extrication, and public education, wildfire interface, and basic life support services.

The fire department comprises of different units. The most common units within the fire department and how the personnel is deployed within the department is briefly discussed below (Kemp, 2007). The unit is subdivided into two sectors, Fire South and Fire North. Both, the north and south sectors receive commands from an Assistant Deputy Commissioner (Fire Department, 2004). The purpose of the education in the fire department is to increase fire safety awareness, better occupant knowledge and fire safety behavior.

The unit is commanded by Assistant Deputy Commissioner (Fire Department, 2004). The Emergency Medical Services Division is further divided into two-sub units, EMS South and EMS North. Each sector is headed by an Assistant Deputy Chief Paramedic (Fire Department, 2004). Special operations are those that require special attention while dealing with them. They include Air Sea Rescue and Hazardous Materials. The unit is commanded by an Assistant Deputy Commissioner (Fire Department, 2004). The challenges that our fire department face during the execution of their duties include - Lack of some basic equipment, of registered departments only four percent have fireboat service, 16% have sworn investigators with arrest power.

Also, it is a challenge for our personnel to determine fake calls from real ones (Kemp, 2007). In conclusion, fire department is a public or private organization that provides emergency rescue and firefighting services for a certain jurisdiction. The fire department also provides fire avoidance and prevention services. In many countries, fire prevention is a key role for the fire service, as averting a fire from occurring saves lives and property. The success of the fire department relies upon proper selection of detection and suppression components to maintain systems properly.

Cohesion between different units in the fire department plays an important role in the success of fire department services.ReferencesDepartment, F. (2004, July 14). National Fire Department Census Quick Facts.National FireDepartment Census Quick Facts. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/census/summary.cfFire Department “We’re There, We Care”. (n.d.). City of Springfield, MO: Fire Department.Retrieved July 16, 2014, from http://www.springfieldmo.gov/fire/Kemp, R. L. (2007). Managing America's Cities: A Handbook for Local GovernmentProductivity.

Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.National Academy of Engineering. (1970). Public safety: a growing factor in modern design: Asymposium held at the fifth annual meeting of the National Academy of Engineering. Washington: National Academy of Engineering; [available from Printing and Publishing Office, National Academy of Sciences.