Developing a Medical and Fitness Standard - Essay Example

Developing a Medical and Fitness Standard By The importance of medical and fitness standard is to help in maintaining safety environment in a working place. Some of the organizations that work with medical and fitness standards are the police and the nurses or doctors. Not only these places, but also in some cases it is usually a requirement when applying for a job. This piece of assignment will be focusing on the medical and fitness standard concerning the safety of an officer at the fire station. The wellness and fitness of a fire station officer is the driving force behind the developing of the medical and fitness standards(Angle, 2016). There is a lot of trainings in the emergency sector and departments in the fire station. This includes the aspect of checking if all the apparatus are working and to check if officers are able to respond to an emergency. Emergency drifts are regularly carried out to ensure that all the employees are aware of the necessary protocol. When developing the standards, the first step is usually to determine the problem(Roy, Association, & al, 2006). After identifying the problem in a fire station, it is analyzed by knowing what causes the problem and who is been directly affected. After the analysis, a research is carried out by the officials with an objective of getting more alternative to solve the issue(Roy & Association, 2013). After coming up with the possible ways, the best line of action is chosen and then implemented. After implementing the best line of action, monitoring and evaluation follows. The importance of monitoring and evaluation is to ensure that the solutions are effective and are helping in improving the safety in a fire station(Schottke, Association, & Chiefs, 2014). And the process is continuous because it is a cycle of activities that are necessary for safety and wellbeing of the officers. Why do the officer in a fire station need medical and fitness standard The medical and fitness standards within every department is essential. Its necessity is to monitor and promote safety when working. The job for the firefighters is a physical one and there is need to keep the employs fit. Ways of keeping the employees fit is through physical exercises. Just imagine how it would be if an athlete went to a running competition without trainings and exercises? It would be a mess because the athlete will not be physically fit and will tire quickly and may not finish the race. If the athlete wants to win a race, then rigorous exercises must be incorporated(Windisch, Crosby, & Chiefs, 2008). The same case applies to the fire station officer. They should be trained regularly and allowed to exercise for body fitness. This is to keep them fit for an upcoming emergency. When responding to a fire, sometimes the fire fighters may be involved in a physical injury. Therefore, after every firefighting response, they should be cross-examined by a medical practitioner to ensure that they are well(Roy & Association, 2013). Where they have been hurt, medication should begin immediately. The regular check will even motivate the employees to perform well when working because they have peace of mind and their health is being taken care of by the management. When developing the medical and fitness standards, there should be injury programs to check on the overall health of the employees and their wellbeing. First aid kits and services should be readily available(Schottke, Association, & Chiefs, 2014). The employees should also be trained on how to offer first aid services for the fellow fire fighters who have been injured or have passed out when fighting fire. Having the equipment is not enough, knowledge on how to use them is equally important. Sometimes accidents can occur and the life of the victim can be saved through a first aid service. The regular trainings should always include the first aid trainings. Therefore, people will be always alert. Eating habits and diet should be monitored. Health can be determined by the types of foods the officers take(Roy & Association, 2013). Also, it predicts the physical fitness of an individual. The officers should be flexible and it should be youthful. To say youthful does not mean the young, it means individual who are health fit and active to respond to any emergency. Food diets should be proposed from a medical practitioner who understands the need for nutrients in the body. Firefighters are commonly involved in physical works and they should eat well so that they can become strong. Eating well should be accompanied with the regular medical screening will help in proposing the best diet and individual should be taking. The officers need to eat well and to have exercises to help them in keeping fit. Regular trainings is significant. Just like the police me who always are under training, whether there is war or not, they have to keep fit and on the toes. Same case is needed for the fire fighters(Angle, 2016). A human being is vulnerable to forgetting some of the tips and lines of action. Continuous training will help them to be aware of their environment and be ready to respond to an emergency. It would be an unpleasant scenario when officers go to fight fire and they fail to operate some of the tools because they forgot. This would be very embarrassing and it can make someone to be sued due to negligence. This is not good for the fire station because it will even destroy their public view and trust(Schottke, Association, & Chiefs, 2014). Therefore, the officers should be regularly trained and reminded of how the working tools operate. During training, the employees will be in a position to confirm if everything is on standby. How would it be when fire fighters reach at the location where there has been an outbreak and they realized that the tank did not have water? Simply because the officer in charge forgot to check the water status. Before they get water, there will be more victims at the scene. As training proceeds, checking on the equipment and apparatus is important. The top managers in the fire station departments should be at the fore front in encouraging the employees in checking on the safety and reporting any emergency case. They should also be participating in improving the medical and fitness standards within the department(Schottke, Association, & Chiefs, 2014). This will be achieved through encouraging the employees to participate in giving recommendation. The firefighters are the one to be actively involved in developing such policies because they are the ones directly on the ground in firefighting. The employees can also be filling in evaluation questionnaires to help in improving the systems. The top leaders should encourage the employees through taking action according to the recommended ideas. Ignoring the recommendation will make the department to have insufficient services and tools for work. The leaders in every department should have the mandate of holding regular meetings on weekly basis and training programs. There should be flyers and internal memos to highlight the essentials on safety and body fitness. The program should include medical and fitness evaluation, injury and medical rehabilitation, behavioral health and continuous implementation and evaluation(Roy, Association, & al, 2006). Through this kind of implementation there will be reduced risk of life and injury, reduced anxiety, stress and tension, increased self-esteem and working energy(Windisch, Crosby, & Chiefs, 2008). Therefore, all the fire station departments should have active policies on medical and fitness standard for improving safety and performance. References Angle, J. (2016). Occupational safety and health in the emrgency services. Burlington, MA: Jones & Barltlett Learning. Roy, B. A., Association, M. F., & al, e. (2006). The medical fitness model: facility standards and guidelines. Richmond, Virg: Medical Fitness Association. Roy, B., & Association, M. F. (2013). MFAs standards & guidelines for fire station fitness center facilities. Monterey, CA: Healthy Learning. Schottke, D., Association, N. f., & Chiefs, I. A. (2014). Fundamentals of the fire fighter skills. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Windisch, F. C., Crosby, F. C., & Chiefs, I. A. (2008). A leadership guide for combination fire departments. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Barlett Publishers. Read More