For this forum assignment, please reflect on 1) your favorite part of the course and 2) describe how you will utilize the information you have learned in order to improve the services you can offer to your community. Please start a new thread when creating your initial post and write any responses to others within their existing discussion threads. To receive full credit, be sure to respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings.
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#1
These last eight weeks have flown by. One more class down in pursuit of that degree! I think that the most interesting part of the course was the paper looking at the budget of a specific department and the specific breakdown of how all the funding is routed. In the case of Chicago fire department that I wrote about, the fire prevention budget was absolutely the smallest amount of funding was provided for the fire prevention program, which seems to be the trend across the country. With budgets getting cut, the primary focus was on the operational side of the fire department, so departments had to get fancy with ideas on how to generate funding and community involvement from those they worked with.
Learning from this course I will understand better the functions of the fire department within the community on the basis of fire prevention and how to better connect with those people. Also, being able to utilize other methods of funding other than the normal budgeting that gets put out. Learning how to apply for certain grants can be the make or break for a departments fire prevention and community intervention program. Doing more with less has become a pretty standard idea throughout this course. Some other ideas that other students provided were working with local food businesses to help with their deliveries to better get the image and word out to the community with those who won?t normal interact with the department. Definitely something I will keep in my tool kit.
Good luck to everyone in their next class or whatever may be next!
#2
Welcome to week 8, first off it has been a pleasure reading your forums over the last few weeks and I now have a broader spectrum when it comes to fire prevention and how to determine its effectiveness but without further ado this week’s topic is up.
For me the big take away week was week 5, Multicultural Fire Prevention Efforts. I have heard of areas hiring out of necessity and law to try and have their departments demographic match those of the area they serve. But what I did not take into count when these areas are doing this is the effect it can have on the community. By matching or at least making an effort to match the demographic it shows the community they serve they are just as committed to the community as they are the job. Also by matching the communities demographic it makes it easier to reach out to the community to see where the needs are.