Abu Dhabi Fire Service - Case Study Example

MANAGING RESOURCES ABU DHABI FIRE SERVICE 1. Introduction The Fire Service has unique management challenges including the need for equipment and personnel to effectively manage emergencies. Members of the fire service risk their lives daily to save lives and property in blazes. Proper management of resources in the fire service is very important as it can affect the performance of the fire fighters and the outcome of the incidents. The following section provides some information about resources commonly manage by the fire services. It also includes relevant facts about the resources management in the Abu Dhabi Fire Service under the Civil Defence and analysis of their crisis management approaches. Finally, the paper will conclude with the summary of information collected and recommendation on good resources management practices. 2. Fire Service Resources Fire departments were initially created to suppress fires but today fire departments do even more. Because of their success in reducing and coping with fire dangers and their traditional role in ensuring public safety, in addition to budgets constraints in local government, fire departments now provide services in the areas of fire prevention, hazardous material incidents, rescue, emergency medical treatment, and emergency management. Fire department service essentially involves fire and life safety which necessarily entail managing risks to life and property. All policy and operational decision about those services represent choices regarding risk. What levels of risk are acceptable, what ways to deal with risk are best, and what resources should be expended to do so. Policy makers decide the acceptable levels of risk and allocation of resources. Although more resources reduce risks, not all risks can be alleviated, and other services require resources as well1. Management in the fire service includes those processes used to provide an orderly structure to all of the events in the life cycle on an organization. It is a process of structuring the activities of an organization is such a way that it achieves efficiency and effectiveness in the use of human and physical resources to protect life and property2. A general rule in the fire service is to gear for the normal, not the extreme. This means, even though there are potential major catastrophes, the fire service only maintain what will be required to handle the ‘normal’ emergencies. Most of the time they only maintained the average resources adequate for the need and on extreme situations, they understand what resources are required, what resources are available, and under what time frames they must operate3. In an incident, various resources are needed to assist the fire service in managing the crisis. Capital resources include local equipment and equipment identified as being available from surrounding agencies or municipalities. Personnel resources are comprised of individuals from within the initial responding agency and those from adjoining municipalities or agencies. 2.1 Physical Resources The most valuable resources in any fire department are the people who staff its agencies and equipment. Yet no matter how well staffed the fire department or how competent the people, members cannot do their jobs without the necessary physical resources. A fire department uses three types of physical resources, facilities, apparatus, and equipment and supplies. These resources make it possible for a fire department to work toward its goals. A fire department’s facilities include buildings or areas for personnel, apparatus, equipment, and supplies, administrative offices, communications functions, training facilities, and maintenance. For instance, a fire station in the centre of fire-fighting operations thus it must be maintained correctly so that it remain functional in the future. If the present building is not adequate to meet the fire fighter and community needs, and if funds have not been budgeted to build a new station in the near future, then the department must make the best of the facilities and initiate steps to alleviate some of the problems4. 2.2 Financial Resources A fire department must be concerned with managing its financial resources effectively and efficient. Most department resources, other than those provided by certain volunteer fire departments, are purchase with public money. Public funding is supplemented by some alternative means like financial donations, equipment donations, fund-raising events, in-kind donations of service by professional and public-spirited citizens with special skills. The primary goals of management of financial resources are to ensure that the department will have the necessary funds and will administer them effectively to pay fair and equitable compensation to department staff members, maintain facilities and apparatus in full operating conditions, obtain the needed equipment and supplies, procure additional facilities when needed, purchase additional apparatus, and refurbish existing apparatus to stay abreast of the needs of the community to be protected5. Financial management is the art of directing the acquisition and judicious use of money to accomplish an end6, thus an agency must have specific policies, plans, programs, and management strategies how it will achieve long-term goals. 2.3 Human Resources The members of the fire service are always the most valuable resource in terms of costs and results. Without well-trained, well-equipped, and well-prepared members, the essential tasks at an incident scene cannot be accomplished effectively, safely, or competently7. The fire service poses some unique human resources challenges and shares a number of concerns and challenges with other areas of public administration. These include fair labour practices, health and safety, occupational hazards, etc.8. Human resources management in the fire service include issues such as wage scales and benefits packages, which play an instrumental role in the budget development for personnel services. It is also very important for the department to full understand other aspects involving personnel derived from collective bargaining agreements, and local, state, and federal laws. The fire service is among one of the most dangerous professions and with that comes inherent risk to personnel. As a result of work-related injuries, workers’ compensation claims and insurance premiums, departments are forced to dedicate monies to fund statutory requirements for workers’ compensation premiums. Departments should be aware of workers’ compensation laws in their respective states and any applicable laws that involve reporting of injuries, compensation of injured workers, or premiums for personnel9. 2.4 Knowledge Resources Knowledge is also considered a resource in the fire service, it is the ability of the leader and those involved in the incident10. Knowledge management is about inspiring and facilitating creative use of knowledge. It is not auditing the cross-sectional value of knowledge and skills available11. Managing knowledge resources in the fire service can generate new ideas and innovations, educate and inspire their members, stimulate more productive activity in the workplace12. However, managing knowledge requires appropriate attitudes, a systematic approach, and the right combination of enabling technologies. There are knowledge creating, sharing, and exploitation processes to be identified, established and supported13. 3. Managing Resources in Abu Dhabi Fire Service The General Directorate of Civil Defence or GDCD is responsible to meet the growing needs of Abu Dhabi in terms urban expansion and industrial development. This legal basis for this is the Law no. 3 of 1979 on Federal Civil Defence, Federal law no. 1 of 1992 as amended, Federal law no.1 of 1995 as amended, and the Ministerial Decision no. 154 of 1991. The UAE Civil Defences has applied regulations about fire prevention in private and public premises under the Ministerial Decision no. 154 of 1991 which is patterned with international standards. The Civil Defence is responsible for fighting fires, organizing assistance, rescue, preventing risks and the functioning of alarm systems over all the territory. In relation to fire fighting service and resources management, the Civil Defence is generally responsible for controlling the implementation of fire risk prevention measures in public and private premises. Updating equipment and material and facilitating their use, calling up volunteer rescuers and training them so that they be able to assist civil defence units if required, ensure training of managers, officers, and non-commissioned officers, and coordination medical, social, police, and other services. In a report coming from Washington Hall UK, the training centre for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, eighteen Abu Dhabi Officers have undertaken a Foundation Degree in Fire Service Management14. The GDCD renews its equipment regularly so as to ensure that its operations are undertaken under the best possible conditions. It has available modern equipment such as fire-fighting vehicles using water, foam, or powder, and water tankers. The 29 regional centres are also well equipped and have vehicles with hydraulic or telescopic ladders, ambulances, vehicles for the transport of the injured, means of communication, and first aid vehicles. In addition, they also have workshops for adapting and repairing equipment. More importantly, these centres have modern and efficient equipment such as robots for detecting explosives and victims buried under rubble, ambulances and other vehicles and equipment adapted to the climate15. As mentioned earlier, updating and upgrading of equipment for the fire service is with the Civil Defence. In March 2005, the Civil Defence was reported to have purchased six Heavy fire fighting vehicles for a total amount of about 1, 500,000 Euro. These vehicles are completely built in corrosion proof aluminium and equipped with a water tank of 4,000 litres. It also includes a complete too set for fire fighting and rescue operations and with a roomy crew can suitable for 1 to 5 persons16. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, also recently distributed eight new fire fighting vehicles to Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah to cover the Northern Emirates and spending about 21.6 million Dirham. The UAE Minister also allocated 30 million dirham for 2010 budget for Civil Defence tools and equipment17. In another report, claims on insurance are on the rise in Abu Dhabi in 2008 because of building’s quality standards resulting to fires, collapses, and accidents due to negligence. Consequently, in an attempt to control the increasing fire cost, the Civil Defence Department which is spending Dh250 or $68 per minute to put off a fire, have submitted a draft law to make insurance firms responsible for the Civil Defence bills. The idea behind this move to raise insurance cot is to raise awareness among the public about fire safety18. Procurement of physical resources for fire fighting purpose obviously as reported is a large part of the operating budget of Abu Dhabi Civil Defence. Purchasing policies vary widely among different governments and their agencies. However, normally, purchases can be justified by a useful life span prediction for the item, for instance, if Abu Dhabi Fire Services has four fire engines, and the chief can convince the Civil Defence Directorate that the useful life of a fire engine is 12 years, and then a good policy would dictate purchasing a new fire engine every 3 years19. In addition, although often overlooked, part the procurement process is the training and maintenance requirements of the equipment. The fire department must state up front what the training expectations are from the manufacturer20. 4. Crisis Management in Abu Dhabi Fire Service Crisis management is a planned efficient response to any event that significantly disrupts the operation of the organization21. A crisis is far more crucial than most issues and incidents. It is a major turning points resulting in permanent and drastic change to the organization. These events can have an internal or external impact, can be sudden or gradual, can be short-term or long-term in nature, and can be human in origin. The failure to respond at the appropriate level can lead to serious errors, spread alarm, and create a siege mentality. The response should be proactive since a nonreactive position may place the organization in a defensive position22. Recent fire related disasters have reinforced many lessons about emergency preparedness. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence realizes that importance of maintaining fire fighting capabilities at major incidents where many rescuers might be subject to life threatening conditions. To ensure maximum effectiveness, the Civil Defence is updating equipments and training their personnel including managers and non-commissioned officers. More importantly, they have established coordination with medical, police, social, and other services. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence renews its equipment regularly to ensure efficient operation and conducting workshops for repair and maintenance. The move was to comply with the law under the Ministerial Decision no. 154 of 1991 to ensure regulation and prevention of fire in public and private facilities. For instance, the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence has conducted a workshop for fire fighting and rescue services, police, military, emergency and medical support agencies as part of the Abu Dhabi airport’s crisis plan. “A more streamlines crisis management setup has now been incorporated into the plan to ensure better command and control and effective control among agencies in the event of an incident”23. A good crisis management involve more than simply trying to minimize danger to an organization but it should seek to maximize every possible opportunity24. In Abu Dhabi, application of such principle is evident because crisis preparation is a key tool in crisis management25. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence considers scenarios in which all stakeholders may need to make important decisions. This is evident in coordination with medical, police, volunteers, etc. More importantly training and other educational workshops are being given to everybody involve. This is because the efficiency of the crisis management directly depends on the quality of the organization and quality of personnel operating the systems26. 5. Conclusion/ Recommendation The Fire Service of today not only suppress fires but provide services in fire prevention, hazardous material incidents, rescue, emergency medical treatment, and crisis management. Management in the Fire Service includes managing resources efficiently and effectively. The general rule is to must maintain only those resources that are required to handle common emergencies or the average resource adequate for the need. Capital resources in the Fire Service include local equipment and those identified available from nearby agencies. Similarly, human resources are those within the initial responding agency and from adjoining agencies. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence applied several legislations to prevent fires in private and public premises. It has upgraded its fire fighting equipments, trained its personnel and volunteers, and coordinates it activities with different relevant agencies. It has a regular programme in managing it resources and procuring modern and highly useful equipments. Given a large amount for its annual operating budget, fire officers of the Abu Dhabi Fire Service should know how their agency’s procurement system functions. Supplies and equipment, for non-emergency as well as for emergency needs, must be maintained at adequate levels for each division of the fire department. Fire officers need to be aware of their role in maintaining adequate supply levels in their respective areas. Periodic physical counting of inventories of all items is needed to assure that control is maintained and resource availability is appropriate. Fire and emergency service managers should be able to spot mistakes or unplanned expenses as soon as possible sot that spending can be adjusted. A system should be set that keeps track of expenditures on a monthly basis. 6. 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