Fsmt281 Week 6 Forum

Since there are 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives and only eight weeks of class, we are going to discuss two initiatives per week in the forums.

Along with the required weekly readings, you should be using the website Everyone Goes Home.  The website is an excellent source of information, for you, that is devoted to the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.  When using the Everyone Goes Home website, be sure to look at each of the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives sections.  Also, be sure to click on the Resources section of that website as it contains downloadable text and video resources that will provide you with additional information to answer the forum questions.

Initiative 11 – Response Policies

Uniform response standards in the fire service can lead to operational effectiveness and give credibility to the profession in the sense of education, credentialing and training, but success has been limited due to competing opinions from volunteer, career, or combination departments.  The 11th Initiative calls for these organizations to adopt similar policies and procedures to assure life safety at every fire.

After reading the required weekly readings, and reviewing the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives section regarding Response Policies on the website Everyone Goes Home, write a post that achieves the following:

1. Please read the case study below and answer the following questions:

Case Study:  Your department has just been awarded a grant for the purchase of new equipment that will likely require some changes to your procedures.  Your lieutenant shares with you some sample SOPs and SOGs he located on the internet, but some are in direct conflict with each other.  Although similar in format, none are consistent with the style of your department’s SOPs.

A. How do you know which procedure is the best?

B. Does the format or designation of SOP’s or SOG’s really matter?

C. What would be the benefit of standard policies and procedures?

Initiative 12 – Violent Incident Response

Safety has always been a concern for emergency responders working in violent situations.  In many dangerous situations such as riots, emergency responders can become targets.  As a result, it is imperative that a risk-benefit analysis is built into all violent incidents through standard policies and procedures.  The 12th Initiative expands our understanding of how and where firefighters can be injured and demonstrates the need for the development of national protocols regarding violent incidents.

After reading the required weekly readings, and reviewing the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives section regarding Violent Incident Response on the website Everyone Goes Home, write a post that achieves the following:

1. Discuss the importance of establishing better training to be prepared for violent incidents.
2. Please read the case study below and answer the following questions:

Case Study:  Your department has been conducting an annual review of your standard operating procedures (SOPs) and has solicited input from the membership for changes to existing procedures.  After watching the news report of an active shooter in a grocery store, a discussion breaks out at the firehouse about the violent incidents that have been occurring throughout the country and how existing SOPs don’t address many of the concerns that emergency responders face.  Your lieutenant agrees to bring the concerns up at the next officers’ meeting, along with a list of suggestions for a procedure for responding to violent incidents.

A. What additional concerns do emergency responders have in a post 9/11 era?
B. Do violent incidents suggest changes in uniform or additional personal protective equipment (PPE)?