Fire Department Research Paper

1633 Words7 Pages

Fire Department Vehicle Maintenance Program
Carlos M. Lopez
Applied Research In Fire Science FES-4783-317
January 24, 2016

Fire Department Vehicle Maintenance Program
The major response objective for the fire department is to provide initial response to all emergencies of one engine company consisting of a minimum of three firefighters within five minutes and not to exceed seven minutes 95% of the time. A second objective for the fire department is to provide a second engine company within 10 minutes from initial response 95% of the time. For this to happen, it is fundamental to ensure that fire department vehicle maintenance process is always effective. This can be achieved by developing a comprehensive program that takes …show more content…

To begin with, regular services have proven useful. Waiting for the vehicle to breakdown is always unbecoming. For short-term maintenance that can be completed in one day. There are some companies that carry a full complement of firefighting tools and equipment. The department uses long-term reserves for apparatus undergoing more lengthy repairs. Long-term reserves can last from two days to several months. When these are used, the apparatus crew switches over all of their equipment and tools into the reserve truck 's empty compartments.
Departments can tackle these concerns by having a clear modus operandi for the use of reserve apparatus and a defined process for the check-in/check-out of reserve gear. To begin with, it is always fundamental to assign an engineer for each piece of reserve apparatus. The technician could be the fleet manager or the officer of the day for the posting where the unit is housed. The engineer will always be answerable for implementation the check-out/check-in process with the receiving fire officer or …show more content…

With regards to the total cost of regular maintenance, perhaps the most expensive part is civil litigations. As mentioned earlier, the government no longer assures the fire department of immunity. Today, the management can easily be dragged into a legal battle, which is time and resources consuming. The entire department can be sued by failure to provide efficient services, despite having all the resources at its disposal. In addition to this, the need for emergency vehicle maintenance and associated program is being pushed into the lime light with the enactment of several laws and standards as well as the litigation process (Klinoff, 2007). In the modern times, the society has learnt to demand what belongs to them, by light as enshrined in the constitution. More so, the numbers of workers unions have escalated, increasing awareness on the rights of the community as well as the