Community Risk Reduction for the Fire Services and Emergency Services

Course Syllabus FIR 3307, Community Risk Reduction for the Fire and Emergency Services Course Course Description Provides an overview of the comprehensive approach to fire prevention within the community. Covers strategic planning and community programs as they relate to fire safety prevention and terrorist incidents. Explores the plan review process, code development, code enforcement, fire investigation, and evaluating prevention programs. Course Textbook Shaw, R. (Ed.). (2012). Community-based disaster risk reduction (Vol. 10). Bingley, England: Emerald. Unit Assignments Unit I Assignment due 8/7/2018 Building a Demographic Profile of Your Community Introduction: In this assignment, you will practice using “American Fact Finder;” create a demographic, social, economic, and housing profile of your community; profile how your community has developed and changed over the past 20 years; and predict what your community may look like 10 years from now. A. Practice Using “American Fact Finder” 1. Using this website, you will first locate your local jurisdiction by city. Follow the instructions below to access information on your community. 2. Go to the U.S. Census Bureau Fact Finder website at http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml. Type the city and state in the search box for the community you would like to research. B. Build a Demographic Profile of Your Home Community 1. Use “American Fact Finder” to build a current demographic profile of your home community. Develop a profile of the people who live in your community (age, gender, race, ethnicity, incomes, poverty, etc.). Perform the same actions for housing (type of homes, age, owner versus renter, etc.). Also, explore a profile of employment. A worksheet with prompting questions is provided below to assist you. • The demographic information will be used throughout the course. • You must have this information available throughout the course in order to process the in-class activities and the culminating project for the course. Saving the information on a memory device or printing hard copies is highly recommended. All “American Fact Finder” categories can be downloaded or printed. You also may wish to save the U.S. Census Bureau website as a favorite on your PC. • Explore the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page for “American Fact Finder.” The link to the page is located on the top right of the “American Fact Finder” website. 2. Once information has been gathered, consider how your home community has developed over time (past 20 years). Also consider how it may change as time progresses. As part of this assignment, develop a short narrative on how your community has changed over the past 20 years and what its profile might look like 10 years from now. • One last huge point to consider: The U.S. Census is collected and processed every 10 years. Community demographics can change dramatically in that timeframe. EFOs must remain knowledgeable of their home community’s changing demographics. • It is wise to have a discussion with your local planning or community development professionals. If you have such a discussion, please include your findings as part of the narrative for this section. • Being able to explain and use the demographic, social, and cultural development of your community is essential to the effectiveness and credibility of a strategic decision maker. Click here to access a PDF of the Demographic Worksheet example. Unit III Assignment due 8/21/2018 Using your judgment and the information you gathered from previous units, select the three leading hazards in your community and complete the following worksheet for each hazard. Click here to access the Community Hazards worksheet. Complete the worksheet, save it using your last name and student ID, and submit it. Unit IV Assignment due 8/28/2018 Assess your community’s vulnerability for each of the three hazards identified in the Unit III Assignment. It is essential that each area of vulnerability be considered for each hazard. Next, consider all factors associated with each hazard discussed in this unit. Assign a level of priority to each hazard. Also, consider your community’s acceptable level of risk based on your experience and knowledge of your community. Finally, rank your three hazards according to their level of priority. Click here to access the Word document of the High Risk Populations worksheet. Complete the worksheet, save it using your last name and student ID, and submit it. Unit VI Assignment due 9/11/2018 Read the article referenced below in the CSU Online Library, Academic Search Complete database. Barnett, D. J., Balicer, R. D., Blodgett, D., Fews, A. L., Parker, C. L., & Links, J. M. (2005). The application of the Haddon matrix to public health readiness and response planning. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113(5), 561-566. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/apps/doc/A133138661/AONE?u=oran95108&sid=AONE&xid=95a82e46 Using the examples provided, choose two of the following risks to complete the Haddon Matrix worksheet: 1. Cooking fire in the kitchen 2. Firefighter fatalities due to lack of seatbelt use in emergency vehicles 3. Flash flood in rural community 4. Falls in bathrooms of people age 65 and over in their homes. Using the Haddon Matrix worksheet document linked below, list in each block as many different causal and contributing factors as possible that need to be considered in the prevention and cause of an injury or risk. When complete, highlight the cell or cells that lend themselves to the greatest opportunities to prevent and or mitigate risk. Click here to access the Haddon Matrix worksheet. Complete the worksheet, save it using your last name and student ID, and submit it. Unit VII Assignment due 9/18/2018 Carefully consider all of the change leadership attributes. Score yourself on the change leadership attributes described on the worksheet. Keep in mind that this assessment is for your leadership of a community risk reduction initiative in your organization and/or community. If you believe you are highly competent in an area, score yourself a 4 or 5. If you believe you are average in an area based on someone at your rank and tenure, score yourself a 3. If you believe you are weak in an area and require more development or training in order to be effective, score yourself a 1 or 2. Remember, you are not scoring yourself against another person. Your assessment should be of your ability to be an effective leader of a change initiative. For each area you scored yourself a 3 or more, justify your answer based on your own experience. If you scored a 2 or less in an area, determine personal action you can take to improve your ability in that area. It may be to seek out training, participate on a leadership team, volunteer to coordinate a project, etc. Click here to access the Word document of the Self-Assessment worksheet. Complete the worksheet, save it using your last name and student ID, and submit it. Unit VII Case Study due 9/18/2018 Watch the video, Beyond the Flames: The Story of Project Wildfire at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAK8PHnIN0. Click here to access a PDF of the transcript for this video. It is about a collaborative fire-wise effort dealing with wildland fire interface risk reduction efforts in the community of Bend, Oregon. Following the video, in one to two pages, answer the questions listed below. Be as specific as possible. 1. What was the critical risk reduction issue for Bend, Oregon? 2. Who were the members of the leadership team for the initiative? 3. Which of the eight stages of change were used by the leadership team? 4. What were the leadership keys to the success of the initiative? 5. Identify and explain the leadership lessons that you found in this video. Unit VIII Case Study 9/25/2018 Click here to access a PDF of the Community Values Case Study. Read the case study, and make notes on the impact of community values on the recruitment and hiring of a woman firefighter. Consider your own experiences with community values as a leader in your department if applicable. In one to two pages answer the questions following the case history. Be sure you answer each question completely. Research Paper due Unit I Research Paper Topic due 8/7/2018 For this unit, you will identify what risk-reduction you will research in the particular community where you live (examples include flooding, drought, tornadoes, evacuation, earthquake, hazardous materials, etc.). After you choose what risk-reduction to address in your community, you should write a brief description on why you identified the particular risk-reduction topic. Your submission should be one page. You do not need a cover page but should include a separate reference page if resources are used in your assignment. Unit II Research Paper Outline due 8/14/2018 Create an outline for your community risk-reduction project. The outline should include the type of disaster or hazard impacting the community, who will be involved in assisting the creation of the risk-reduction plan, types of organizations that are community stakeholders, what types of nongovernmental organizations may be involved, political figures who would be supportive of such a measure, length of project to completion, probable pitfalls that may be associated with the project, cultural considerations (demographics, those who have experienced a disaster in this location, etc.), what types of volunteers will be needed to serve during times of crisis, funding for the project, and how sustainability will be used for maintaining the project/program several years from its inception. There is no minimum length or amount. It will be based on the topic you have developed in Unit I. Unit IV Annotated Bibliography due 8/28/2018 Spend time researching 10 references related to your selected topic that you can use in your research paper. Create an APA formatted annotated bibliography of the 10 articles from your research. Click here for an example Annotated Bibliography provided by the CSU Writing Center. Unit V Research Proposal due 9/4/2018 For this unit you will write a statement of the problem regarding the risk reduction project topic you chose in Unit I. Your paper should follow APA guidelines for citing and formatting of all resources. You should begin your paper with the proposal type and rationale for this choice. Your paper should be one to two pages in length. You do not need a cover page but should include a separate reference page. Unit VI Research Draft due 9/11/2018 Write a two-page paper for the research paper to include: • Introduction • Background on the issue • Key issues for commencing the risk reduction project • Key stakeholders involved • Demographics • Geographic region • Past/historical disasters for the area Your paper should follow APA guidelines for formatting of all resources, both in-text citations and references. Your draft paper should include a cover page and should include a separate reference page. Unit VIII Research Paper due 9/25/2018 Write a two-page paper incorporating feedback from your instructor on the draft for the course project. The final submission should include: • Introduction • Background on the issue • Key issues for commencing the risk reduction project • Key stakeholders involved • Demographics • Geographic region • Past/historical disasters for the area Your paper should follow APA guidelines for formatting of all resources, both in-text citations and references. Your draft paper should include a cover page and should include a separate reference page