Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service - Example

Community Fire Safety Name Course Instructor Date Every year there are incidences where people are injured or die as a result of domestic and industrial fires. Besides the life and human risks that are posed by the fires, businesses lose millions of pounds as a result fires. Insurance companies also incur heavy losses as they attempt to compensate their clients for the property that is lost through fire. There are also many businesses which find themselves not able to recover from the devastating effects of fire United Kingdom fire safety laws places a lot of emphasis on the prevention of fires as well as reducing the risks that are posed by this kind of disaster. The law recognizes the establishment of fire fighting unit in each devolved unit. (Wallington 2008) Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services is one of the Fire Response Authorities operating in United Kingdom, in its integrated plan for 2012/2015 the agency outlines the measures it has taken to serve the community at a period when government is cutting its public spending. In this plan, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services has outlined its achievements for the previous period covering 2004/5 to 2010/11.This paper Evaluates the statistical information relating to the analysis of Fire and Rescue data included in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services, in MFRS Integrated Risk Management plan 2012-1 and provides an overview the data as well develops a strategy for improving community safety in areas you have identified as being at risk. Response to fire in property Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services report that they have had a 93 percent success rate in responding to fires in properties for the period of five years. Given that they attended to three thousand two hundred and fifty incidences, it means that they succeeded in responding positively to three thousand and twenty four occasions. They surpassed the set targets of 90 percent, in all the months except for the month of December 2010. The yearly performance as far as the response to fire in the property was concerned had increased gradually for the period in question to rise to 95.3 per cent in 2010/2011.By any standard, a score of ninety percent is considered excellent, it shows that those who are responsible in performing their duties are trying hard to ensure that they respond to each and every situation when called upon to do so. Given that there is a high rate of awareness that is carried by those who are responsible the rates are expected be high and at the same time ought to rise gradually over the period of time. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) Property is considered to be a greater risk in Merseyside community, in its planning Merseyside Fire Rescue Service usually carries out frequent inspection and auditing to ensure that the owners of the commercial and residential premises have complied with the public safety laws. This could explain why there are few incidents of fire and the fact that they are able to record such high success rates in responding to situation involving properties. There have also been efforts to promote positive approach aiming at educating the community and all stakeholders to meet the responsibilities endowed to them. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service aims at working with the responsible person as defined in the Regulatory Reform Order 2005. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) Confining the Fire to the Room of Origin in Fires in the Home When responding to fire emergencies, the fire rescue service aims at containing the fire within the shortest time possible. To achieve this, the fire fighter must get to the point of emergency within the shortest time possible. They should also identify the areas where people might be trapped and attempt to rescue as quickly as possible. If they manage to get at the accident scene within a shortest time, containing the fire and confining it at its origin point is easily achieveable. Merseyside Fire Rescue Service usually measures the number of times they have been successful in confining fire at its point of origin and further stopping its spread. To Merseyside Fire Rescue Service this is the most effective and accurate indicator when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of their mission. If they are not able to confine the fire in its room of origin, it means that it will spread to other rooms and situation might be out of hand. When it is contained in a single room, more so its point of origin, it means that the properties in other rooms will be safe and so are the people who might be trapped inside these rooms. Merseyside Fire Rescue Service had put a target of ninety two percent for this indicator, their report shows that they managed to achieve this every month except on one month where they failed by a small margin. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) (Wallington 2008) This shows the effectiveness of Merseyside Fire Rescue Service in confining of fires within the room of room of origin. In a period of one year Merseyside Fire Rescue Service reports that they responded to one thousand,one hundred and ninety nine accidental fires and only sixty nine of them escalated and failed to be confined in the rooms where they started. Merseyside Fire Rescue Service attributes this achievement to the level of professionalism and effectiveness that is always observed by the fire fighters in this authority. This also indicates that majority of homes which suffered fire outbreaks did not incur heavy losses as the fire was contained before it escalated to a higher level. This also means that these families were in a position to recover quickly from their losses. This is also a pointer that the people in Merseyside are safer at their home due to effective response by those who are given the responsibility of rescuing them from disastrous situations. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) (Fire Brigade Union 2012) Response time target In different Fire Response Authorities, there have been variances in response time to fire incidents as well as the general targets. For example in Wiltshire the target has been 9.1 minutes, Avon 5.9 minutes, Merseyside has had a target of 7.1 minutes In 2003 the national standards of fire cover were abolished to give room for individual Fire Response Authorities to set their own targets. The targets are supposed to be influenced by several factors including infrastructure, the number of staff or generally the level of resources involved in meeting the targets. Recent reports indicate that the fire response times for most fire fighting authorities across United Kingdom have been falling, in their report Merseyside have not given their targets on the response time neither have they shown how they have fared over the time. This in an area that each and every Fire Response Service needs to improve on. Reports in the media quoted one of the Fire Response Service admitting that they have not met any of their response target for a whole year. They have performed dismally due to challenges in funding and resources that have been allocated to these agencies. It could also be a case of setting high targets which cannot be met with the current level of resource. It is a universal practice to set targets which can be achieved. When this happens, it is possible to follow up and know what might have hampered the efforts of the workers towards meeting the targets. Setting targets especially in an area which is sensitive as fire response need to be a team work. Every body should be involved in the process to make sure that their inputs are captured. A situation where targets are set without putting into consideration the team inputs, finally ends in frustration as they are hardly met. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) Some of the factors which have been cited as to have contributed in facility response time target include the abolition of the national standards. Although this would have been the best model as far as setting targets is concerned, it seems that the local Fire Response Services failed in the basics, either they adopted the existing targets without considering the local capacity to handle fire situation or they were over ambitious. The removal of national standards fire cover has also been seen to shift the emphasis more on prevention and community safety while not paying enough attention of response to emergency situations. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) (Fire Brigade Union 2012) (Wallington 2008) All accidents requiring Merseyside Fire Rescue Service attention A reduction in the number of incidences where Merseyside Fire Rescue Service has been called to respond to fire emergency situations has been observed over the time. For the incidences which involve the property there has been a reduction of fifty two percent. This is a high reduction for a period of less than ten years. This is an indications that the audits which are conducted regularly as well as the sensitization campaigns which are undertaken by Merseyside Fire Rescue Service and other partners have had positive impacts. It also indicates that the families in Merseyside are more careful when it comes to dealing with fire and other combustion agents. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) When it comes to small fires a reduction of forty one percent has been observed since 2004/2005.Although a reduction in these fires has been observed, it is still worrying that these incidences are still being experienced at home. The level of sensitization which has been carried over the period is enough to have seen a higher achievement. Although some achievements have been recorded, it is not worth celebrating at this juncture, a lot need to be done to ensure that these fires are brought down by a significant margin. If the situation is not controlled as fast as it should be, it means that incidences of small fires at home will continue to be experience. It is worth noting that these fires later escalate to a higher magnitude leading to high losses and damages. Given that Merseyside has a high population of people who are described as low class,there is a need to step the efforts in educating the public on the ways to reduce small fire incidents. This is one area that can contribute to greater savings for Merseyside Fire Rescue Service now that the government has reduced its funding. Merseyside Fire Rescue Service can also train the community members on ways through which they can respond to small fires without necessarily relying on the fire fighter. Small fires if they are arrested and contained early can be managed without calling for fire fighting services. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) One of the reasons that is attributed to the reduction in the number of cases which have been reported since 2004 could be containment of the situation at family and community level. This is a positive indication that families and community are more prepared to deal with emergency situation. This is something which should be further encouraged. Through this it will reach a time when Merseyside Fire Rescue Service will only be called upon to respond to fires which are beyond community coping mechanisms.This will work towards cutting costs as well as help Merseyside Fire Rescue Service manage with the allocated funds. (Fire Brigade Union 2012) (Wallington 2008) One the area of false alarms, Merseyside Fire Rescue Service has performed dismally over the period. This an area that they need to work on, there is an urgency in carrying out a periodic system audits to ensure that these alarms which are caused by automatic fire alarms are significantly reduced. Although there has been a reduction of six percent, this is an area that needs to be checked on a regular basis. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) Responding to false alarms is not only a waste of scarce funds but also time which should be spends on other activities. There could be a situation where the fire fighters respond to false alarms and in another location serious accidents has occurred. This will automatically affect the response time target as well as overwhelm the service. A fire which would have been easily contained might escalate and lead to massive destruction. (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service 2012) This situation would have been avoided if there were regular system checks to avoid false alarms. A moment when the resources are committed in response to a false alarm funds are wasted, fire fighters morale and the reputation of the Fire Services are affected(Wallington 2008) It is encouraging to learn that an action has already been taken to make sure that false alarms are drastically reduced if not eliminated. According to Merseyside Fire Rescue Service Fire and Rescue Authority has in the recent past approved the introduction of a system which will deal with automatic false alarms. There is a need to confirm any alarm so that the number of incidences can be reduced. A conformation where possible will reduce the number of false incidences even without instituting complex systems. Given that automatic false alarms and small fires account to a third of incidences that Merseyside Fire Rescue Service attend to, an attempt to deal with the situation will go a long way in helping the agency to save and survive the budget cuts. (Furness and Muckett 2009) On incidents across Merseyside a reduction of thirty six percent has been recorded for a period of six years. This means that the level of activity in the stations has reduced drastically; there can be further reductions if the issue of small fires and false alarms can be seriously considered. The welfare of fire fighters and environment through which they operate needs some special attention. With the freeze in pay rise and the fact that no more new recruits will be hired, there is bound to be a strain in workforce. Given that there will be a reduction of fire fighter by natural attrition; managers have to come up with innovative ways through which the workers can remain motivated. (Fire Brigade Union 2012) Otherwise failure to do so will affect their morale and ultimately erode the gains which have been made over the years. (Grice 2009) As Merseyside Fire Rescue Service has observed in their plan, gains have been made for the period in question. This does not mean that the fire agency can afford to relax, more ground need to be covered in bridging the gaps which have been identified. There is a need to address the issue of community safety and the role members of the community can play in an attempt to help the agency save on some areas. Small fires still account to a large number as far as the incidences which are attended by the agency are concerned. (Fire Brigade Union 2012) Community can be very helpful in reduction of incidences touching on small fires. More campaigns and trainings are need along this line. This is an area which does not require a lot of resources. It can also be achieved over a short period. The issue of false alarms need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, Merseyside Fire Rescue Service should target at zero false alarms. It is saddening to learn that false alarms constitute a large proportion of incidences which Merseyside Fire Rescue Service attend to, this a blatant waste of resources which should not be tolerated. (Grice 2009) References Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (2012) Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Integrated Risk Management Plan 2012/15 accessed at http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/aspx/pages/IRMP/pdf/IRMP_2012- 15_Published_Edition.pdf on 1/12/2013 Fire Brigade Union (2012) Its about time, why emergency response time matters to the firefighters and the public accessed at http://www.essexfbu.co.uk/documents/ItsAboutTime_001.pdf Neil Wallington (2008) One Hundred Years of the British Fire Engine, Jeremy Mills Publishing Allan Grice (2009) Fire Risk: Fire Safety Law and Its Practical Application,Thorogood Publishing Andrew Furness, Martin Muckett (2009) Introduction to Fire Safety Management, Routledge   Read More