Fire Department Structure
Formal line of authority responsibility, and communication within an organization.
Chain of Command
Guide to decision making in an organization.
Policy
Personnel who provide administrative and logistical support to the line units (internal customers).
Staff/Support Functions
Being a part of the fire service gives most firefighters a feeling of self-respect and self-worth.
Pride
What is the mission of the fire service?
To save lives and protect property and the environment from fires and other hazardous situations
This principle means that each employee reports directly to just one supervisor.
Unity of Command
Written guidelines that direct the care of EMS personnel provide for patients.
Protocols
Personnel who provide emergency services to the external customers (the public).
Line Functions
Firefighters will risk their own lives to save a trapped or missing firefighter.
Loyalty
The ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and use the information that has been exchanged is called:
Interoperability
This principle establishes the maximum number of subordinates or functions that any one supervisor can control, typically three to seven. Five is considered optimum.
Span of Control
Step-by-step written plan that is closely related to a policy.
Procedure
Personnel who monitor operational safety at emergency incidents.
Fire Department Incident Safety Officer
Firefighters care about the citizens they serve, their fellow firefighters, and their families
Compassion
What provides a coordinated approach to a wide variety of incidents; all responders use a similar, coordinated approach with a common set of authorities, protections, and resources.
All-Hazards Approach
The process of dividing large jobs into smaller jobs in order to make them more manageable.
Division of Labor
A collection of rules and regulations that has been enacted by law in a particular jurisdiction. They typically address a single subject area (such as mechanical, electrical, building or fire).
Code
A member of the EMS system whose training emphasizes assessment, care, and transportation of the ill or injured patient.
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
Valuing the virtues of hard work and thoroughness.
Work Ethic
Term used in codes and standards to identify the legal entity, such as a building or fire official that has the authority to enforce a code and to approve or require equipment.
Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
Citizens of the service area protected by the organization.
External customers
A set of principles, protocols or procedures to be followed. Adhering to them is not required by law, although they may be incorporated in codes, which are legally enforceable.
Standard
Personnel trained to extinguish fires in outdoor vegetation, including the wildland/urban interface.
Wildland Firefighter
Following a strict ethical code and doing the right thing simply because it is right, not because it is required.
Integrity
How many fatalities resulted from the Station Fire on February 20, 2003
100