Analyze your own community fire service capabilities

Question

Assignment:

	Emergency Communications System	Fire Department Structure	Water Supply System	Community Efforts Risk Reduction
0	No emergency call center	Non-staffed	No public water supply	No programs or enforcement
1	Uses direct dial 7 or 10 digit number to reach either police or fire ; i.e. 222-1212 or 222-2323 or 901-222-1212 or 901-222-2323	Staffed by first responders only for EMS calls; stations are not open 24/7	No public water supply; only "dry wells" or ponds, lakes, and streams for drafting	Annual fire prevention activities limited to schools only
2	County 911 system non-Enhanced system; separate police & fire dispatching	Staffed by part-time paid-per-call EMS personnel only; one station open 24/7	Municipal fresh water treatment; no hydrants	Annual fire prevention activities limited to schools and senior centers
3	County E-911 (Enhanced) system with central police & fire dispatching	Staffed by full-time paid EMS personnel only; only one station open 24/7	Municipal fresh water treatment; hydrants spaced greater than 1,000 feet apart	Annual fire prevention activities and daily fire inspections of high risk occupancies
4	Municipal 911 system; non-Enhanced system; separate police & fire dispatching	Staffed by full-time paid EMS and fire suppression personnel; limited number of stations 24/7	Municipal fresh water treatment; fire hydrants spaced greater than 500 feet apart	Annual fire prevention and public fire safety programs for all audiences
5	Municipal E-911 (Enhance) system with central call intake center with central dispatch or police and fire dispatch on own after E-911 call is received	Staffed by full-time paid EMS and fire suppression personnel; stations positioned	Municipal fresh water treatment; fire hydrants spaced 500 or less apart; total community coverage	Staffed full-time Fire Prevention Division; annual fire prevention activities; fire inspections; fire investigations & code enforcements

For this assignment, you will research your community, and calculate a rating similar to ISO/PPC though NOT using an ISO/PPC rating scale.

For this project, you will be using our own rating scale, which is found in the grid above.

For this project, you will conduct an ISO/PPC "like" analysis of your community. Using a five-point rating scale where 0 is the worst and 5 is the best, analyze and rate your community's ability to address the four components used by ISO/PPC in its rating system. Keep in mind that this rating is similar to, but not the same as, the ISO/PPC rating scale. Primary differences include: this scale is backwards in that 0 = worst and 5 = best, and greater details are not included in each of the four categories.

Using the rating-scale grid from above, analyze your own community's fire service capabilities. If you are a fire service employee, you will most likely know how your community operates and what services (emergency communications, fire department structure, water supply, and risk reduction) are in place. If you are non-fire service employee, you will most likely be able to assess two categories, emergency communications and water supply, by simply knowing your emergency call system and seeing fire hydrants on the streets. For the two remaining categories, you will need to call your local fire department and speak to a firefighter, or fire officer, who should be pleased to answer your questions. You could also, time permitting, take a trip to the fire department and ask for a tour for answers to your questions. To finish the project, you will need to construct a grid similar to the one above, or identify each of the four categories with their corresponding numerical rating number.

Once you have analyzed your community and composed your numbering system, write a brief paragraph for each of the four categories that supports your number selection for each category. There is no "right" or "wrong" response here, as every student may have a differently constructed community.

Your final paper should be written in proper APA format, and include citations for sources as needed. You must have a title page, double-spaced, with only the following information written in the center: title of paper, your name, and university name. No reference page is required, no abstract is required, and no headers are required.The finished paper should be a minimum of three pages of written grid/graph and narration; however, not more than four pages in length. This page requirement does not include your cover page.