Improving the Response to Marine Emergencies Report

Aim of the project and its importance

This project aims to develop strategies that can help firefighters better respond to marine emergencies. Firefighters, who struggle against emergencies at sea, often lack proper resources and manpower. In part, these difficulties can be explained by the fact that governmental organizations are not prepared for such emergencies. Such situations require fire departments, police and medical workers to coordinate their efforts (Henstra, 2008, p 302). They cannot be effectively managed without effective use of marine-based, land-based and air-based resources (Collins, 2004, p 226). In this case, we need to speak about the fire engines, fire boats, helicopters etc. Each firefighter has to possess well-developed skills as well experience to perform his/her duties effectively in such circumstances. Furthermore, it is of crucial importance that they are able to work a group, since the outcomes will strongly depend on this ability. This is why this project is so important. Thus, one can say certain organizational changes should take place. Moreover, the policy-makers must ensure that each fire-fighter and rescuer is ready to act efficiently.

Major Objectives

It is possible to set several objectives which are consistent with this goal.

1. First of all, it is necessary to provide appropriate training to firefighters, and for this purpose one has to develop a training program that would take into account the challenges which are faced by firefighters and rescuers during marine emergencies. This objective must be attained within the next three months.
2. Secondly, a fire service needs to create a more effective emergency response system which must be ready in four months. This task is of great importance because in order to respond to marine emergencies, a fire service needs to mobilize different resources: equipment, vehicles, boats, or boats. Unfortunately in many cases this process becomes very time-consuming. The new system will enable this organization to reduce delay time to a minimum. Furthermore, it would allow fire department to better coordinate its actions with other public agencies, for example other fire departments and hospitals. The thing is that fire service stations can be located throughout the town, and in case of marine emergency they cannot mobilize their forces as quickly as possible. This argument is particular important when we are speaking about marine and air-based resources such as boats and helicopters. Furthermore, this response system is supposed to alert those firefighters and rescuers who are returning from a call. It will be most beneficial when the rescuers and firefighters have to cope with serious accidents that demand immediate mobilization of personnel and resources. At this point, we need to specify the major deliverables. First of all, one has to speak about the web-based application that stores data about the resources, available to rescuers and firefighters. Moreover, this program must specify its current location, and it is particularly important when the department has to respond to numerous calls at a time. This information will be accessible via Internet and mobile phone. Secondly, it will spread the information about emergency throughout various fire stations.
3. The third objective is to disseminate this practice among other fire departments. It seems that other organizations will also adopt this model if it proves successful. However, we still need to facilitate this process, for instance, by informing the National Fire Service about the implementation of this project and its results. These are the most objectives that have to be attained in the course of this project.

Benefits

At this point, we can single out the following benefits which this project will bring. Most importantly, successful implementation of this project will enable firefighters to better protect the lives and property of other people. This is eventual goal of every fire service department. Furthermore, this strategy will lead to improved use of resources such as fire engines, boats, equipment, etc. Finally, we need to speak about the overall performance of the fire service. The new alarm system that we had mentioned in the previous section will help this department to respond not only to marine emergencies but to the land-based fires as well. However, one should not assume that this project will improve only the quality of their work. It will also help them minimize their expenses. For instance, the fire service has to spend a substantial amount of money to indemnify the employees who were injured while performing their duties. This is what we can expect from this project.

Costs

At this stage, we can make only approximate estimations of the costs since we do not know the exact amount of money required for the development of the emergency response system and the costs of training. On the whole, it is possible to divide the costs into the following groups:

These are the major expenses that the Fire and Rescue Department needs to incur in order to better serve the community and minimize the risks for the lives of rescuers and firefighters. Additionally the costs will involve training of the personnel, however, the lengths and costs of training will not be available. The total costs are given below:

Business Case

Thus, when we have identified the costs and benefits of this project we need to better explain why this project is necessary. In the previous section of the paper, we have already said that this new model will greatly improve firefighters’ ability to respond to marine as well as to land-based emergencies. Secondly, it will minimize the risks for the life and health of firefighters. By providing extra training to them, the department will succeed in avoiding a great number of accidents and injuries. Under such circumstances, one should oneself a question what would happen if the administration refuses to offer additional training to firefighters and abandons the idea of introducing new emergency response system. Therefore, it is quite likely that in the future this department will face such dangers as risks as increased number of incidents among firefighters and subsequent costs of health insurance. As it has been said before, this project will bring not only qualitative benefits.

Tasks

1. In the course of the project the team will need to perform the following tasks. Some of them can be done grouped together and done at the same time, while others will be critical milestones which require full attention of the project team.
2. To discuss this question with the administrators of the Fire and Rescue Department and most importantly receive permission for the initiation of the project. (April 4^th– April 7^th)
3. To interview firefighters about the expectations for a training program and a new emergency response system (April 8^th– April 14^th).
4. To research information about the best practices used by fire departments in the United Kingdom and throughout the world (April 8^th– April 20^th).
5. To consult with governmental officials (April 8^th– April 20^th).
6. To report the finding to the administration of the Fire and Rescue Department and receive their permission to continue the project (April 20^th).
7. To evaluate the services and prices of various of various IT developers that can provide the fire service with a new emergency response system (April 20^th– April 27^th).
8. To find instructors who have both experience and expertise to train rescuers and firefighters and prepare them for marine emergencies (April 20^th– April 27^th).
9. To monitor the work of IT developers (April 20^th– July 1^st)
10. To provide training to every member of the Fire and Rescue Department (April 27^th – June 1^st)
11. To introduce a new emergency response system (July 1^st – August 1^st)
12. To conduct follow-up assessment (August 1^st September 1st).
13. To report the findings to the National Fire Service.

Precedence Chart

On the basis of this tasks we draw a precedence chart. It can be presented in the following way:

We have highlighted critical milestones with red color. The activities play the most important role in this project. The project team should pay attention to the cooperation with IT developers, who will be responsible for the delivery of a new emergency response this team. These people must receive feedbacks from the administration and employees of the Fire and Rescue Department. Only in this way, we will be able to make this system reliable and efficient. However, the implementation of a new training program is the most significant stage of the project.

Staffing

In the previous section, we have identified the main members of the project team: project manager, project coordinator, two assistants, and supervisor. Each of these employees is indispensible for this task. The assistants will be responsible for interviewing firefighters and rescuers, search of information about the best practices used by fire departments, and other tasks. The project coordinator will help the Fire and Rescue Department cooperate with other organizations, in particular, IT developers and other governmental agencies such as National Fire Service. In his turn, project supervisors will ensure that every task is done properly and on time. Finally, we need to specify the responsibilities of a project manager. He has to act as a coordinator and facilitator (Grisham, 2009). He will work with the administrators of the department, governmental officials, suppliers, and employees.

Apart from that this project is possible only under condition that rescuers and firefighters are involved into decision-making process. In order to put this strategy into practice, the management should first gain support of the employees. This project will inevitable entail great changes in the organizational culture of this department, and it is quite probable that some people will resist it (Baca, 2005). Therefore, the management must clearly explain the benefits of this project. The firefighters need to know why they need to undergo extra training and why new alarm system has to be introduced. This problem can be overcome by involving firefighters into decision-making. For instance, one can ask them for their recommendations about the training program. They can accurately describe those difficulties which they encounter while responding to marine emergencies. It is also important that the project managers clearly assign roles and responsibilities to each person who will be responsible for the implementation of this project.

Risk Management Plan

Prior do developing risk management plan, we need to identify the major constraints that can prevent us from implementing this project. It is possible to mention the followings ones:

1. budget limitations;
2. organizational factors such as unwillingness of the employees to assist the project team;
3. lack of resources;
4. lack of time.

These are the risks that we need to expect and the main task of risk management is to avoid them or minimize their impact. At first, it is necessary to assess these risks in terms of their impact and probability. The results of this assessment can be presented in table format.

Thus, we have demonstrated that none of these risks are negligible and it is vital for us to mitigate their effects. The project team has to pay special attention to meticulous cost estimation and careful evaluation of different training programs that are available to firefighters. However, the most important thing is to encourage employees to take part in this project. Provided that the project team will have to cope with budget limitations, we will have to redevelop the training program for firefighters and make it less sophisticated. Additionally, we will have to redesign the emergency response system.

Documents Management Plan

The major purpose of a documents management plan is to determine how documents should be stored and to what extent they should be accessible to the stakeholders. In this case, we have to several groups of stakeholders: the administration of the fire department, the firefighters, and most importantly the community. Moreover, it is possible to classify the documents into the following groups:

1. Financial documents like receipts, bills, price catalogues etc (hardcopy and electronic version);
2. Information about the team’s progress (both hard copy and electronic version);
3. The results of the surveys which we will conduct among firefighters (hardcopy).

We should stress the idea that some documents should be accessible via Internet. The work of the project team must be made as transparent as possible, and this argument is extremely relevant for firefighters and community. They seem to be the major stakeholders of this project and they have a right to about the goals of the project and its outcomes. Provided that we make this documentation accessible only to the administrators, other employees of the Fire and Rescue Service will not support the efforts of the project team.

References

Baca C. 2005. Project manager’s spotlight on change management. NY: John Wiley and Sons.

Barkley B. 2004. Project risk management. London: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Collins L. 2004. Technical Rescue Operations, Volume I: Planning, Training, and Command. NY: PennWell Books.

Grisham. T. 2009. International Project Management: Leadership in Complex Environments. London: John Wiley and Sons.

Henstra D. 2008. Evaluating and explaining municipal emergency management policies in Ontario. London ProQuest.

Lock. D. 2007. Project management. London: Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Rad. P. 2002. Project estimating and cost management. Management Concepts.

Staples. L. 2010. Project Management: A Technician’s Guide. ISA.