Fire and emergency services are agencies with the primary objective of enhancing public safety and health by responding to different emergencies. Some of the organizations participate in community awareness and protection programs to enable the public detect, avoid, and report emergencies effectively. This paper will examine the legal roles of emergency services staff as well as the functions of various ranks in the agency, which aid in the implementation of emergency plans.
Legal Responsibilities of Emergency Services Personnel
Emergency organizations are set up by the government with an objective of ensuring that effective and proper-practiced contingency plans are put in place (Varone, 2014). Below are some of the legal responsibilities of emergency service workers.
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Law enforcement- emergency services personnel have the responsibility of administering the law to stop crime, reach out to the community, and write reports and investigation of offenses. For example, the police have the responsibility to prevent crimes in the community.
Emergency medical services- this entails the provision of the staff to deal with medical emergencies and ambulances.
Fire services- providing firefighters for handling fire-related emergencies (Varone, 2014). They are also required to take preventive measures to protect fire and also rescue services.
Responsibilities of Personnel in an Emergency Service Organisation
There are various ranks in the Emergency Service Organisation where every individual plays a distinct role in the daily operation of the organization (Smeby, 2014).
Firefighter- He or she is in the frontline during emergency fire service. Firefighters are operational in nature, in that they carry out the manual work needed to respond and mitigate emergencies and department officers manage them. They go through training and carry out education activities and fire prevention.
Company officer- this is a fire line officer. Company officer might be an employee with the rank of lieutenant, captain or any other position (Smeby, 2014). He or she is a supervisor who controls and directs a limited personnel at the emergency scene or training sessions.
Chief Officer- this is the personnel who is answerable to the municipality council that appointed him or her with the responsibility of providing fire protection services and acting as a commander in emergency scenes (Smeby, 2014). He or she manages the fire department, enhances the growth of officers, develops and executes department planning.
To sum up, emergency planning starts with creating awareness on what is the legal responsibility of the Emergency Service organizations. Additionally, this includes the responsibilities of various ranks in the organization as pointed out above. This will play a significant role in the establishment and implementation of emergency plans.
References
Varone, J. C. (2014). Legal considerations: For fire and emergency services .
Smeby, L. C. (2014). Fire and emergency services administration: Management and leadership practices . Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
