2-3 pages on terrorism - example attached

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HOW FIRE DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO DISASTERS

by

Student X

This Thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Bachelor of Science degree in Public Safety Management

Great College Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Fall, 2015

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DEDICATION

I would like to thank my wife Lindsey Perrotta for all of the help she has given

me throughout this research proposal, she was phenomenal in helping me complete this

project by answering questions for me and taking care of the children while I worked on

the project.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge Lindsey Perrotta for helping with the project, and

Professor Davis for providing guidance and the template for the project.

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ABSTRACT

This research proposal will answer the question of how prepared fire departments

are to respond to major disasters, by utilizing SOP’s SOG’s and mutual aid. It will

discuss problems that lie within these guidelines, such as communication issues, and

different equipment issues. The research proposal will also take a look at how well the

local fire department is prepared for any major incidents that arise, based on a small

population group, and a survey provided by the researcher to this group.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

Chapter 1 Introduction 6

Chapter 2 Review of Literature 8

Chapter 3 Methodology and Procedure 13

References 16

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Often times disaster strikes on an extremely large scale, a scale that is too big for

one agency to handle. When these types of disasters strike multiple agencies come

together to mitigate the incident. One of the biggest challenges to mitigating incidents

when multiple agencies are brought together is finding the middle area based on how all

the agencies operate, since many agencies have different operations. Scoppetta (2008)

stated that having capability and flexibility are vital components of being prepared for

natural disasters and when multiple agencies that come together have these qualities

disasters are mitigated with relative ease.

Background Context

Often time’s major disasters are too large for one municipal fire department to

handle and these departments call upon mutual aid. The mutual aid will almost always

have different literature and training on how to respond to these incidents, which can lead

to major complications on scene. By utilizing national models and outlines on how to

respond to incidents these problems are often curbed, however the challenge is getting all

agencies to have training once and a while to cover these models. This research project

will help highlight some ways this can be accomplished easier.

Comment [SP1]: se the essay you wrote for the Critical Incident assignment to describe the background of the problem.

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Purpose of Research

The purpose of the research is have a better understanding of the fire departments

preparedness for disasters. The primary research question is: How prepared is the fire

department for disasters? The sub-questions for research include: 1) how do firemen

respond to disasters? 2) What kind of standard operating procedures are in place for

disaster planning? 3) What kind of training is incorporated in the local fire department for

preparedness if or when disasters occur?

Significance of Research

The research that is performed in this paper will benefit any agency that utilizes

mutual aid, and the members of those agencies. It will also benefit the citizens in the

respective jurisdictions and areas that these agencies respond to by having the disasters

that take place mitigated with the least amount of loss of life, and property damage, by

having multiple agencies come together working with one another to successfully bring

any disaster under control.

Summary of Remaining Chapters

The next four chapters will discuss the review of literature, methodology, data and

analysis, and conclusions.

Comment [SP2]: Write a paragraph explaining how you, your co-researchers, and your research subjects will benefit from your findings.

Comment [CaL3R2]: The research that is performed in this paper will benefit any agency that utilized mutial aid. The

Comment [SP4]: Tell the reader what the next four chapters contain.

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CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Whenever a natural disaster, terrorist’s attacks, or mass casualties occur in the

United States, it is the Fire department that is the first responder on scene. Scoppetta

(2008) stated that having capability and flexibility are vital components of being prepared

for natural disasters. The amount of training, education, and preparedness are

detrimental in successfully saving people’s lives. There have been various studies that

have researched disasters and Fire fighters preparedness for when disaster strikes. The

question to be addresses is if Fire Fighters are responding appropriately when disasters

occur. What can be done differently from disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11

Terrorists Attacks, and mass casualty incidents. Is it safe to assume that fire departments

across the nation are implementing the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

that is mandated when responding to disasters?

A qualitative survey study by Jensen & Yoon (2011) was mailed out to 365 fire

chiefs at volunteer (rural) fire departments within North Dakota. The survey questioned

them regarding their personal perception of mandated policies associated with NIMS and

federal policies when responding to emergent situations. It was extremely alarming to

learn that the Jensen & Yoon (2011) study determined that NIMS was not acknowledged

by majority of the Fire Chiefs and their level of education regarding the federal mandated

policies were not implemented when responding to emergent situations. Some of the

participants felt that because they were volunteer fire fighters that they did not

necessarily need to meet all of these NIMS requirements when responding to

emergencies. If this is how one selected group of Firemen feel towards federal mandated

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policies when responding to disaster situations, are other departments having similar

feelings and could it be why some disasters were not appropriately handled?

The most recent disaster that most millennials might be more knowledgeable

about is the 9/11 terrorist attack on the New York Twin Towers. Dearstyne (2007) stated

that the New York Fire Department was the first responding agency to the Twin Towers.

The Dearstyne (2007) article is a collaboration of interviews from firemen, EMS, and

responding agencies. Also, oral transcripts from the surviving responders are also

integrated into the scholarly article. There are numerous areas of error that occurred

during the 9/11 response from the Fire Department, some which could have been avoided

and possibly saved the lives of Fire and Police men. Dearstyne (2007) stated that

communication failures, disruption in command structures, extreme fear, communication

with other responding agencies such a police or news crews, and lack of areal/helicopter

reports of status of towers during the attacks all contributed to Fire Fighters not

responding appropriately to the disaster area.

Hurricane Katrina affected not only New Orleans but several surrounding areas

due to needing help from outside resources. There were several areas of error through the

government and chain of command when responding to a state of emergency. However,

the Cave (2008) study discussed the public safety agencies within New Orleans and how

they responded to the disasters. The Cave (2008) study entails a collaboration of over

300 interviews and oral history archives that are analyzed. The study describes the New

Orleans police department and how they inadequately responded to Hurricane Katrina.

Several Police officers were traumatized by the hurricane that they committed suicide the

following weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck.

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Another department that was analyzed by Cave (2008) study was the St. Bernard

Parish Fire Department, which was abandoned during Hurricane Katrina partially due to

it being the area that was hit hardest by the Hurricane. The Firemen were primarily

stationed at the two shelters during the hurricane and focused primarily on saving lives.

There is no mention of implementing federal mandated policies during the natural

disasters, just focusing on keeping the citizens alive. They also didn’t have a system to

properly store or place deceased bodies, they would place them in bins or closets. The

New Orleans Fire Department according to Cave (2008) was labeled as the most prepared

department among all of those involved with Hurricane Katrina. Some of the firemen

would bring their personal boats so they could recover people when it was safe to venture

outside after the storm. Many lives were saved by the effective communication and level

of preparedness the department implemented following Hurricane Katrina.

The Boston Marathon Bombings was one of the most recent mass casualties that

have occurred in our Nation. Due to the incident occurring not long ago, there have been

only a select few articles that are peer reviewed that study the responses by emergency

medical staff. Fleming (2014) complied a time line of the responses by the Boston Fire

Department and what new strategies they have implemented due to them learning from

the mass casualty of the Boston Marathon bombings. Some of the strategies that have

improved since the bombings include aggressive deployment posture, planning process

with stakeholders, continuous briefing, adequate amount of equipment, effective radio

communication, and maintaining interagency relationships. The Boston Fire department

did an outstanding job responding to the Boston Marathon Bombings, however they are

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implementing new policies and protocols to ensure optimal safety and life saving

strategies are utilized during high occupancy events.

Some scholarly articles have discussed ways that the Fire department can improve

to disaster relief protocols. Parker (2007) provides a collaboration of ways the Fire

department can be prepared for disasters on properties that have high occupancy. The

primary tool to being effective when responding to a disaster is maintaining

communication, having a plan, and practicing the plan. Events such as 9/11 and

Hurricane Katrina were unfathomable and the unexpected had occurred which made

some Fire Departments more aware of their weaknesses and how they can better prepare

themselves for other possible disasters. The Parker (2007) reiterates the important factors

to making a response to an emergency successful and effective.

Addressing the importance of preparedness and planning process for Fire

departments across the United States needs to be implemented and discussed more.

Burgess et al. (2014) is a study based off of a selection of 13 Fire Departments in various

countries and there level of on the job Fatalities over a 6 year period. The United States

alarmingly was ranked 2 nd

highest with on the job fatalities out of various countries. The

3 rd

highest ranking injury among Fire Men in the US was on the job training, some partly

because of physical fitness and lack thereof. Weinschenk (2008) survey study among the

Austin Fire department states that there is an unspoken connection between

noncompliance of standard operating guidelines and Firemen while performing on the job

training, which can be correlated with the United States high occurrences of on the job

training injuries.

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An example of the United States preparing its federal, state, and local public

safety agencies is preparing them for worst case scenarios. One of those scenarios is a

Cyanide attack which according to Eckstein (2008) Cyanide has been used throughout

history during various wars and terrorists attacks. The article describes the different

forms of cyanide and how terrorists have used it as weapons. The CDC

recommendations are also incorporated into the scholarly article along with ways to treat

an exposure. Hazmat teams have to readily be available and up to date with training to

properly respond to such an event. This is one of the many examples of how Fire

departments and other public safety agencies are trying to train and stay knowledgeable

about disasters that might occur in the United States.

There is no doubt that Fire Departments have been training for all sorts of

disasters. The Johnsons & Matthews (1997) is an older study but even determined that

almost 20 years ago the Fire Departments needed to implement new strategies and better

prepare themselves through these simulation training exercises. Throughout the disasters

such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Boston Marathon Bombings Fire Departments

have been heroic in saving lives but have also learned that mistakes occurred and how to

more forward and stronger than before. The key here is to have all Fire Departments

participant with the federal mandated training and protocol implementation along with

effective communication skills. Fire departments are responding to disasters as

appropriately as they have been taught and trained how to respond. The only thing we can

do is continue to train and educator ourselves on better ways to safely respond to all sorts

of disasters.

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the research is have a better understanding of the fire departments

preparedness for disasters. The primary research question is: How prepared is the fire

department for disasters? The sub-questions for research include: 1) how do firemen

respond to disasters? 2) What kind of standard operating procedures are in place for

disaster planning? 3) What kind of training is incorporated in the local fire department for

preparedness if or when disasters occur?

Rationale for Research Methods

I will use action research because research has showing that through quantitative

and qualitative studies on fire department preparedness, that preparedness has saved lives

when disasters occur. Cave (2008) stated that the New Orleans fire department was the

most prepared fire department when hurricane Katrina made landfall, and they were able

to rescue numerous people that were stranded because of the flooding. For my research I

will analyze quantitative data that will be personally collected and then through a survey

analyze qualitative data. Then come to a conclusion like various other studies such as

Cave (2008) have regarding fire department preparedness.

Definition of Study Population

The Participants in the study will be men and women that are current employees

in a local fire department. Diversity will play an important factor in collecting a sample

of the population. I will incorporate various ethnic backgrounds to try and obtain an

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adequate sample population.

Procedures for Data Collection

Data will be collected in a confidential manner and no subjects will be exposed

during the research process. I will start with a qualitative survey regarding what the fire

department staff feel in regards to their preparedness for disasters on a scale of 1 to 5, 5

being most prepared. Then I will interview members to see what type of preparedness

training is incorporated in their job description for disaster planning. Lastly I will

perform a quantitative research in regards to any injuries that might have occurred while

on the job.

Procedures and Methods for Data Analysis

Once data has been collected I will maintain confidentiality by utilizing alphabet

assigned to participants and creating pie chart with the amount of people that feel

prepared with their jobs. Then I will create a table to describe the different trainings fire

department staff endure for disasters. Finally with the quantitative research I will have a

bar graph to review on the job injuries.

Limitations of Study

The limitations of this study will be that the population will not represent the

general population in the US. It is only a handful of members that work at the fire

department. I will reduce bias by selecting individuals that work at the fire department

and on all shifts at one station. Implementing various techniques in collecting data

regarding questions with the fire department preparedness will help me in validate the

authenticity of the research being conducted. Also, having another person review the

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data that is collected and interrupted will also be included, however; she will not have

access to the participant’s names or personal information. The data collected will be

compared to previous studies that have been performed regarding this topic.

Timeline for Data Collection

In November the surveys will be handed out to the fellow firemen at the station.

After that the data ill then be interrupted appropriately and safely into a graph. After that

an interview will be conducted to learn the type of preparedness that is incorporated into

their job descriptions while at the fire department. Finally, the firemen will be asked

about on the job injuries. After all of the data has been collected and interrupted, the

final synthesis of data will be compiled into a final paper for instructor review at the

beginning of December

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REFERENCES

Burgess, J. j., Duncan, M. m., Mallett, J. m., LaFleur, B. b., Littau, S. s., & Shiwaku, K.

s. (2014). International Comparison of Fire Department Injuries. Fire Technology,

50(5), 1043-1059.

Cave, M. (2008). Through Hell and High Water: New Orleans, August 29-September 15,

2005. Oral History Review, 35(1), 1-10. doi:10.1093/ohr/ohm003

Dearstyne, B. (2007). The FDNY on 9/11: Information and decision making in crisis.

Government Information Quarterly, 24(1), 29-46.

Eckstein, M. (2008). Enhancing Public Health Preparedness for a Terrorist Attack

Involving Cyanide. Journal Of Emergency Medicine (0736-4679), 35(1), 59-65.

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.03.040

Fleming, J. (2014). One Year Later: Lessons from the Boston Marathon Bombings. Fire

Engineering, 167(5), 43-56.

Jensen, J. A., & Yoon, D. (2011). Volunteer Fire Department Perceptions of ICS and

NIMS. Journal Of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, 8(1), 1-19.

doi:10.2202/1547- 7355.1808

Johnson, W. H., & Matthews, W. R. (1997). Disaster plan simulates plane crash into

high-rise building. Disaster Prevention & Management, 6(5), 311.

doi:10.1108/09653569710193745

Parker, J. (2007). Preparing for the Worst. Journal Of Property Management, 72(2), 34-

37.

Comment [SP5]: List at least 30 references in APA Style in alphabetical order, double-spaced

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References Continued

Scoppetta, N. (2008). Disaster Planning and Preparedness: A Human Story. Social

Research: An International Quarterly, (3), 807.

Weinschenk, C., Ezekoye, O. A., & Nicks, R. (2008). Analysis of Fireground Standard

Operating Guidelines/Procedures Compliance for Austin Fire Department. Fire

Technology, 44(1), 39-64.