1. List the four main public concerns identified during “the decade of conflagrations” that are still applicable to today’s fire service.
• The need for fire resistive construction materials in buildings
• A need for dependable water supply
• The regular inspection of fire and life saving equipment
• The safe storage of combustible and flammable materials
2. Identify the five major differences between the United States and other industrialized countries that contribute to higher fire losses.
• Less than 3%-5% of the total fire department budget is spent on fire prevention related activities
• U.S. social acceptance allows an uncontrolled fire to occur
• Wood is extensively used in construction
• Fire services receive low or inadequate funding
• The use of plastics has increased, thus increasing the heat output of a fire over wood products
3. Describe the major differences between the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
The ICS is a personnel management structure through which disaster response is controlled. ICS was developed by the State of California as a method by which earthquakes and other emergencies could be handled efficiently.
NIMS is designed to prepare for, prevent, and manage response to emergency and disaster situations, and to coordinate emergency response disaster responders on the local, state and federal levels.
The Essay on Hurricane Katrina Disaster Response
Bureaucratic/hierarchical model is a kind of organizational management wherein all the members of the organization contribute for the achievement of its purpose which is to give the best possible performance. It has rules and regulation which the members followed. and the personnel took orders from the top. The advantages of bureaucratic/hierarchical model include the following: its power and ...
4. Describe how the events of 9/11 help identify improvements to building and fire codes. They helped identified the need for Elevators high-rise buildings more than 120 feet tall so firefighters can get to, and fight fires, without walking up from the ground floor with heavy equipment, A higher standard for fire resistance in high-rise buildings more than 420 feet tall, a stronger fire proofing for buildings more than 75 feet tall, shafts enclosing elevators and exit stairways that have impact resistant walls, self-luminous exit pathway markings in all exit stairways that provide a lighted pathway when both the primary and secondary lighting fails, and radio coverage systems within the building to allow emergency personnel to better communicate within the building and with emergency staff outside the building supporting the response.
5. How does a global positioning system help in the fire service? GPS tracking can be of great benefit to firefighters by mapping the fire, locating and directing personnel to the hot spots, directing rescue teams if necessary, and sending additional help to the right location.
