Introduction
The North Haven town is located ten miles from Yale University and New Haven and ten miles from Long Island Sound in Connecticut, United States of America. It is about seventy six miles from New York City. This town has an estimated area of about twenty one square miles whereby almost twenty square miles consist of land while the rest is covered by water. According to the census report of 2005 it was estimated that The North Haven town had a population of twenty three thousand nine hundred and eight people.
This town is home to various learning institutions like Quinnipiac University graduate colleges and schools and other New Haven based learning institutions. It derives a lot of fame through its developed infrastructure with a huge manufacturing and retail businesses employing about twelve thousand six hundred and forty people. This report aims at outlining various aspects in the structure and functioning of The North Haven Fire Department which plays a major role in rescue and emergency services.
The history of The North Haven Fire Department dates back to more than forty years ago when it was a constituent of a SAFER donation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, in 2009/2010 there were major changes in this department and it was allowed to develop its fire fighting abilities through investing in career development of its workers.
This plan was successful courtesy of the grants obtained from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the immense support from the community during a budget referendum to put the grant into consideration (The Library Director). This played an important role of ensuring there were enough resources to train their staff as far as fire fighting was concerned. The North Haven Fire Department consists of thirty four employees.
These employees are categorized as administrators who comprise of one Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief and four Lieutenants who also act as shift controllers. The other group of workers is referred to as the fire fighters and it consists of twenty eight workers. This department is further aided by other volunteer companies that include Montowese, West Ridge and Northeast companies that are allowed to have a maximum of thirty five workers.
These volunteer companies consists of a Captain, two Lieutenants and two Foremen while the Fire Police Division are supervised by Police Lieutenants assigned to each company and are answerable to the Chief of the Department. This Department has an elaborate system that enables all their plans to be carried out effectively (The Library Director). The management does not solely perform the administrative roles but rather allocates some of these duties to the managers of volunteer companies.
Through this division of labor it becomes very easy to offer quality fire fighting services to the residents of The New Haven town in terms of public awareness on fire fighting equipments and the steps to be taken in the event that there is a fire outbreak. Planning is an essential element in the process of delivering quality services to the people.
The office of the Fire Marshal has an elaborate plan that involves new activities and reviewing the existing practices. These activities include routine inspections of fire fighting equipments in homes, institutions and all other areas that have been considered to be risky in the event of fire breakouts.
All new and renovated buildings are visited to ensure they conform to the standards stipulated by the CT Fire Safety Code. Training of fire fighters is a mandatory practice that all disaster management organizations must adhere to in order to ensure the fire fighters and the victims are safe during rescue operations while ensuring there is no damage to property.
It is a requirement that all career and volunteer members of The North Haven Fire Department attain a minimum of Firefighter 1 level in order to handle medical emergencies and respond effectively to situations that require systematic rescue procedures.
There are daily training sessions by the career fire fighters using a time table prepared by the chief’s office and supervised by officers commanding these sections. In the volunteer companies training is done every week to ensure all fire fighters have the required skills and to inform them on how various equipments are used.
There are indoor sessions that offer basic and technical knowledge to all fire fighters to enable them develop and sharpen their field skills in order to have a wider knowledge on how to approach various disasters in the town. There were certification classes organized by the department to build on the skills of staff members in fire fighter 1 and 2 curriculums.
In addition, four members received higher training on Hazardous Material Technician Level (HMTL) to ensure they have skills that will enable them handle disasters in the Haz-Mat team levels (The Library Director).
It is very important that all fire fighters undergo regular training in order to build on their skills with regard to the inevitable changes that occur as a result of modernization. In addition, it is important for fire fighters to do routine exercises to ensure they remind themselves of the basic rules and guidelines that ensure effective rescue operations are conducted in the event of disasters.
Fire fighting and disaster management is a comprehensive activity that involves the use of physical, biological and mental assets of the victims and rescuers. It should be noted that the fire fighter’s safety is as important as the victim’s safety and without efficient equipments both of them will be subjected to great risks.
However, The North Haven Fire Department boasts of an elaborate network of apparatus that enable its workers perform their duties effectively (The Library Director). These equipments consist of a ladder truck, seven pumping engines, two rescue trucks and two vehicles that carry command functions.
There are other equipments for special cases like a boat for rescuing victims stranded in rivers and ponds and a gator for off road cases. Apart from performing rescue and evacuation services to the public The North Haven Fire Department offers public education on safety in schools, homes, companies and business premises through issuing educational brochures on safety topics.
The fire fighting department carries out periodic surveys on security matters in schools, homes and companies to ensure no one is exposed to any risk. In addition, they also help in supplying smoke detectors to homes that had faulty ones or none at all. This was made possible during one of the department’s campaign dubbed North Haven Cares that saw one thousand three hundred and forty three smoke detectors distributed in various homes that had faulty ones or none at all.
Conclusion
The North Haven Fire Department is one of the largest successful enterprises in the United States due to their ability to handle various forms of disasters that citizens are exposed to. These disasters range from fire outbreaks to drowning on swimming pools. Effective rescue operations are determined by the level of training of rescue workers, equipments used and public knowledge regarding essential safety measures at personal and institutional levels.
Works Cited
The Library Director. The North Haven Fire Department: The North Haven Town, May 2001. Web.