Crisis Management and Fire Rescue Service Proposal - Report Example

Insert your name here Subject: Architecture Title: Interior design structures 3rd June 2010 Crisis management and fire rescue service proposal Introduction This research objective is to write a proposal on crisis management of fire hazards and how it a crisis can either be averted or handled with utmost professionalism and less damage to human and property. A crisis is where a person or group of people experiences some kind of problem that puts them in danger of either loss of property, loss of confidence, damage to the property. A crisis also can cause death or harm to the person or people involved. A crisis management involves the means and ways to protect and or prevent damage from happening. The crisis management differs from organization to organization and also there is difference in nature of the crisis. In fire rescue services most crisis they come across are related to fire hazard accidents, rescue from hazardous situation. In an organization this might not necessarily be damage to the people around but it might involve damage to the reputation of the company. This may be caused by either slander, their computers being infected or crashing or even sales and services which they offer might suffer a crisis which might be detrimental to the welfare of the company. But still every organization needs to be ready with a crisis management plan for fire hazards. This is where fire and rescue services comes to mind Aims and objectives of fire rescue There are a number of aims and objectives for fire rescue services. This includes objectives such as: Main objective To lessen the effects of fire incident in an organization. Specific objectives To prevent destruction of property in case of a fire incident To prevent loss of life and injuries to individuals in event of a fire incident. To restore an organization to its normal operations after a fire incident. Types of crisis or risks There are different types of crisis. This includes: Low probability High impact Causes and effect which are uncertain Perception differential Low probability is where there is very minimal chance for fire to cause extensive damage to property or life of the population as such The next type is high impact where there is danger to people all around which can result in loss of life and or properties. The causes and effects of nature such as wild fire, earthquakes etc. are also termed as another type of crisis. With this you can not predict but you can be able to plan for it when and if it happens Perception differential is another type of crisis Literature review A crisis is where there is a lot of danger facing something which might be an organization, a country, a county or even company. This is where there is an emergency need for rescue operation to take place. It is important for an organization to plan for its rescue and crisis management so that when a crisis strike there is fluidity in the handling of such a crisis. This is done by appointing a crisis management team to oversee that there is a plan in place that can be implemented when the need arises for such a crisis. It is always important for an organization to be alert and be able to combat a crisis at its earliest possible time with as little damage as possible to property or loss of life. According to Sturgeon on page 8, who quoted from Sheafer and Mano- Negrin, he claims that there are very few empirical studies of crisis management that exists and much of the research used is therefore normative or of a perspective nature. Most of studies have been focused on the post crisis management much more than on the pre-crisis management. It is imperative that organization plan before the incident happens so that they are prepared in the eventuality of the incident and is confident that they could handle this types of crisis if it happens. The worst part of a crisis if when you face it while unprepared since you will not be able to know what to do and most probably than not you will hinder your progress instead of working a way out of the situation There are three types of crisis response which are listed as follows. Pre-Crisis Phase This is imperative for an organization since this is where they are able to plan for a non foreseeable crisis which might happen in the future and how to deal with it in the eventuality that this happens. They also are able to assign responsibility on who will do what or how will the whole operation be carried out if it came to pass. Crisis Response This is where the crisis has happened and the people responsible are looked up to carry out the crisis management plan which was laid out in the first instance. It is imperative that the crisis management team be able to respond to the crisis as swiftly as possible and in a manner that will be effective in combating the crisis and will also be able to reduce the damage that will be caused from the crisis to a minimal. The crisis team should also have by now been able to ascertain what type of response is needed in such a situation, like for instance if there is a fire somewhere the fire rescue is supposed to be equipped with the needed material to be able to combat fire. They should also be equipped with enough of what is needed so that they are well able to deal with the crisis all the way through and not half way through. They should also be able to assess the severity of the crisis and take care of the crisis before it spreads any further causing much more damage to the property or population Initial Response This should be done immediately after an alarm is raised with regards to what is happening. This may happen as soon as fire has been spotted and the timely way in which people are asked to leave the building or the area of danger Post-Crisis Phase This comes after the crisis has happened and the people involved need to give out a summary of what was done to minimize the damage. This usually might be in form of a press conference or meeting to discuss details and measures which was taken to minimize this loss and how it was handled and what was learned from it. It also includes assessment of the extent of the damage caused. Methodology First and foremost the research for the project should start with the definition and understanding of the meaning of crisis management and then articles should be found on the subject of risk management in fire rescue operations and crisis. The articles should concern the way to deal with the crisis if it arises, the structure of the team needed to play a role in the risk management and the basic structure of the management principles of the crisis, the principle of the organization involved, the management and the structure this were stated as the behavioural theory of the organization. The research should include among others the success of a certain type of method of combating the disaster and crisis management. The question asked should include questions such as why the team thinks that their concept is successful. Why that kind of method is considered a better and higher kind of method than the others. What should be the role of every team member in the organization or crisis management team? Which is the most successful team in the organization? And the rate of the dimension of the team, (Sturgeon,2008, pg 15) these questions should be asked in order to determine why a particular kind of concept is better than the others. The first question asked should be able to provide one of the following answers; simple structure of the concept, control span and the command unity of the organization or crisis management team which is chosen to foresee a certain kind of crisis. The second question should determine what part of the team is the best performing team, whether the team is focused on achieving its goals and if they achieve the goals which are set out to be done. The third question should provide an insight into the team’s approach which is taken to combat crisis meaning that what is the responsibility of a person in the team and how do they add to the team’s ability to combat a crisis. This question also should be able to focus on the members of the team’s importance which includes experience, teamwork, flexibility and the effective way in which they communicate (sturgeon, 2008 pg 15). The fourth question should be able to examine the teams attribute which contributes to the success of the concept. This includes the level of training, dedication and experience of the team chosen to combat the crisis. The analysis of the research project should be able to come out with the answer received from the people surveyed and what their views are concerning the questions stated above. This should be a percentage of the people who answer such a survey and this should give conclusive evidence on the analysis of the survey taken. After taking a survey and analyzing the outcome the next step should be the working out and implementation of a crisis management plan. This is used as a guideline for when an organization should suffer such a crisis and what method will be suitable to combat such a crisis if and when it happens. Examples of crisis management implementation was when Columbia shuttle broke on re-entry to the earth space after a 16 days space research, in the months that followed the 21 American incidence management team and members of the united states forest service personnel conducted a ground search which covered almost 700,000 acres of land which extended for over 250 miles in the vicinity of Dallas, Texas and fort Polk in Louisiana to try and recover the broken space shuttle. This is a good example of a crisis management team since this response team not only conducted the largest crisis response management team but also proved the effectiveness of crisis management. This also happened after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York on September 11th where incident response teams were sent to New York to help deal with the crisis Crisis Management Plan A crisis management is where an organization is able to deal with a crisis which threatens to cause harm to the organization or the reputation of the organization. This is also where a county or state is able to deal with crisis which can damage property or endanger lives of the people in the surrounding at the onset immediately after a signal is sent out for need of assistance. The difference between a crisis management and a risk management is while a risk management is supposed to deal with the crisis before it occurs a crisis management is supposed to deal with the crisis after it has occurred. This is why organizations need to plan to deal with the outcome of the crisis to enable it to have the minimal damage to property and people. A crisis management plan is able to assist in this Endeavour. A good crisis management plan should include contact information, reminders of what should normally be carried out in the event of a crisis and the documents which will be needed in order to record the response to the crisis at hand. A crisis management plan saves time and property since everyone knows what is needed to be done when a crisis arise through the study of the plan or practical carrying out of the plan in a test run to see if the plan works or not. This should be done to test any plan since if a plan is untested then it offers no surety of its success when it is implemented in a crisis. It also gives everyone the idea of the roles they will play in the event of a crisis happening. It also saves time since everyone is assigned the role that they need to play when the crisis arise. Data can also be collected from the test trials which are carried out when the crisis management plan is being tested for implementations. Reference sources are also cited earlier on so that everyone knows what or whom to refer to when a crisis strikes. The crisis management plan is also a source for the crisis management team which will be formed as an implementation tool to assist when a crisis start. A crisis management plan mainly consists of frame work which will enable an organization to respond immediately and effectively to a crisis, it also consists of the roles boundaries and responsibilities of the crisis management team. Methods used to assess the situation are also included in the crisis management plan there is also the reminders of the major issues to be tackled in the first two days after the crisis has happened. It also describes the method of communications needed to be implemented in a crisis. The crisis management plan should be taken as a guide for implementation but not as a definite rule of implementation since even if a crisis is of the same nature for example fire; each crisis is unique in its own way. Crisis Management Team Different types of organization use different types of crisis management team depending on the structure of the organization and the type of crisis it is facing. For instance if an organization is suffering from a management crisis then the executive of the said company will be the ones involved in the crisis management. They will be the crisis management team. In an organization such as a fire station the firemen will be the crisis management team since they are well qualified to take care of the situation arising from fire, natural disaster and accidents among other things. In an organization they might also be able to choose a crisis management team to oversee the smooth running of implementation of a crisis plan in case of fire or hazardous situation which might threaten to destroy property or even cause damage to the population. The first step to a successful crisis management team is the definition of roles to be played among the members of the crisis management team. The communication level should also be determined; this should ensure that the crisis management team acts as one team when a crisis arises. The role of the crisis management team is to assist in solving the crisis while also paying attention to the details of safety and security which is needed by the population at large. They should also offer counselling and guidance and any other kind of support which will be needed by the people who are hit by the crisis. This should enable them come to term with the severity of the crisis and deal with the emotional side of it as well. They are also supposed to teach people on how to go through the crisis and also educate them on the appropriate steps to take in case the crisis should happen again in the future. The members of a crisis team should be a team which has gone through some kind of training to deal with such a situation of the crisis which arises. They should also be well versed with the crisis management plan but should also be able to adapt to the uniqueness of the crisis as it arise Spokesperson A crisis management spokesperson is the person who has got the highest impact in a crisis situation. He is the one responsible for speaking out and assuring the public in case of fire hazard or any other types of crisis which has occurred, what was the outcome of the crisis, the damage done by the crisis and how it has been handled. The training of a spokesperson to a crisis management team is paramount and is the main component in the crisis management team not only as a management but also as the surety of the organization. A crisis management spokesperson should be well trained and well prepared to speak to the public whether through a press conference with the media or in a private conference during the crisis. He should be able to clearly update the people concerned on the measures taken to deal with the crisis at hand. It is imperative that media training should be done before a crisis. A crisis management team spokesperson should be able to present the information clearly to the public while avoiding technical terms which are hard to understand. He should also be able to clearly give his statement to avoid suspicion of an organization trying to hide something. He should exude calm since if he is nervous then the rest of the people will be nervous too. The spokesperson work should be to brief the people on the step taken by an organization to combat the crisis which happened Pre-draft Messages the pre drafted messages should be made by the team spokesperson and should be very clear and accurate and to the point. This will enable the stake holders and the public have faith in the organizations capability to handle a crisis. Communication Channels Channels of communications should be left open at all time so that when a crisis hits the people will be able to hear of it from the management and not from other people. This would funnel disquiet in an organization Time scale In any crisis the crisis management team should be able to brief the people in the first 24 hours on the issues concerning the crisis and how it is being handled. If it is a prolonged crisis then a report should be made every 24 hours. This should be able to calm the stakeholder making them sure that the issue is being handled in a professional way. 1. Sturgeon W. dedicated incidence, retrieved on 24th September 2010 from http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/pdf/efop/efo42561.pdf 2. Hugman B, Crisis management Pretoria (September 2004) 3. Wikipedia, Crisis management, retrieved on 24th September 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_management 4. Coombs T W, crisis management and communications retrieved on 24th September 2010 from http://www.instituteforpr.com/essential_knowledge/detail/crisis_management_and_communications/ 5. Self help sheet student counseling service, retrieved on 24th September 2010 from http://www.mic.ul.ie/counselling/Factsheets/CrisisManagement.pdf 6. Dumont G F What is a crisis retrieved on 24th September 2010 from http://www.strategicsinternational.com/4endumont.htm Read More