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• Biological Warfare Improved Response Program (BW-IRP) Response Decision Tree Workshop

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  "Based on PL 104-201, the Biological Warfare Improved Response Program (BW-IRP) was established in 1998 to identify, evaluate, and demonstrate the best practical approaches to improve domestic preparedness for incidents of biological warfare (BW). The BW-IRP is a multi-year program under the auspices of the Department of Defense and operated by the US Army Soldier Biological and Chemical Command (SBCCOM). During its first year of operation, the BW-IRP assembled an experienced, multi-agency team from the medical and responder communities to develop two primary products: a BW Response Template summarized in Figure 1 and a prioritized list of response gaps and improvements that would be the basis for additional study. The workshop participants concluded that development of the BW Decision Tree was a significant aid in identifying and tracking the difficult but necessary decisions that must be made during an ongoing large scale medical emergency. Additionally, the participants concluded that the BW Decision Tree is extremely helpful in providing a quick overview of the BW Response Template, facilitating its use, and understanding the rationale for why it is needed."

  U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command

  1999-08
• Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria's Nuclear Weapons Experience

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  The primary focus of the paper is the impact of key South African leaders on the successful development and subsequent rollback of South Africa's nuclear weapons capability. It highlights the important milestones in the development of South Africa's nuclear weapon capability. It also relates how different groups within South Africa (scientists, politicians, military and technocrats) interacted to successfully produce South Africa's nuclear deterrent. It emphasizes the pivotal influence of the senior political leadership to pursue nuclear rollback given the disadvantages of its nuclear means to achieve vital national interests. The conclusions drawn from this effort are the South African nuclear program was an extreme response to its own "identity crisis." Nuclear weapons became a means to achieving a long-term end of a closer affiliation with the West. A South Africa yearning to be identified as a Western nation--and receive guarantees of its security--rationalized the need for a nuclear deterrent. The deterrent was intended to draw in Western support to counter a feared "total onslaught" by Communist forces in the region. Two decades later, that same South Africa relinquished its nuclear deterrent and reformed its domestic policies to secure improved economic and political integration with the West. Several recommendations are offered for critical review of the above issues to include the need for greater international dialogue and constructive engagement with threshold nations such as India and Pakistan. Nonproliferation regimes can be used to promote mutual verification, transparency, and the resolution of mutual security concerns. More than anything, policymakers must be prepared to assist threshold nuclear states in resolving their core regional security concerns if they wish to encourage states to pursue nuclear rollback.

  USAF Institute for National Security Studies

  Horton, Roy E.

  1999-08
• Radiation Safety Manual

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  These radiation safety requirements were prepared and approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Radiation Safety Committee with the guidance of the CDC Radiation Safety Officer for CDC laboratory scientists and technical staff who use radioactive material licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Applicable regulations are incorporated in this manual, along with procedures for handling radioactive material. The manual is a practical reference, but users must also have technical knowledge of radiation and some experience in handling radioactive materials. The safety requirements provided in this manual form the basic program. The Office of Health and Safety provides radioisotope users with required safety procedures on the use of radioactive materials in the laboratory setting and on general laboratory practices. The Radiation Safety Manual is one chapter of the CDC/ATSDR Occupational Health and Safety Manual.

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

  1999-08
• Media Interaction with the Public in Emergency Situations: Four Case Studies

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  "This report provides an analysis of media coverage of four major emergency situations in the United States and the impact of that coverage on the public. The situations analyzed are the Three Mile Island nuclear accident (1979), the Los Angeles riots (1992), the World Trade Center bombing (1993), and the Oklahoma City bombing (1995). Each study consists of a chronology of events followed by a discussion of the interaction of the media and the public in that particular situation. Emphasis is upon the initial hours or days of each event. Print and television coverage was analyzed in each study; radio coverage was analyzed in one instance. The conclusion discusses several themes that emerge from a comparison of the role of the media in these emergencies. Sources consulted appear in the bibliography at the end of the report."

  Library of Congress. Federal Research Division

  Berry, LaVerle Bennette, 1942-; Jones, Amanda; Powers, Terence

  1999-08
• Plant City Fire Department Reserve Firefighter Program: Dissolve or Revitalize

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  "The Plant City Fire Department has operated as a combination department for many years. The career firefighters are augmented by a reserve force. The problem is the reserve program is lackadaisical with the members not adhering to the standard operating guidelines. The program appears to be lethargic with no administrative guidance and members apathetic in their participation while being compensated. The purpose of this research project was to determine if the reserve program should be dissolved or continued with some revitalization or structural change. The research method used for this project was evaluative. Information was acquired through literature review, three survey questionnaires and personal interviews. Research questions used in the evaluative method were: 1. What is the purpose and intent of the Plant City reserve program? 2. Are other fire departments using reserve programs? 3. What are the concerns, if any, of the Plant City Firefighters Union members regarding the existing program? 4. What can be done to revitalize and/or improve the existing reserve program? The principle procedures utilized for this research project were: (a) a literature review of existing material addressing reserve firefighter programs, (b) a survey of 87 random fire departments in Florida for informational data, (c) a survey of the eleven reserves currently in the program, (d) a survey of the 28 union members of the Plant City Fire Department, and (e) two personal interviews with former training officers."

  National Fire Academy

  Shiley, George D.

  1999-08
• How to Prevent Runaway Reactions, Case Study: Phenol-Formaldehyde Reaction Hazards

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  "EPA is issuing this Case Study as part of its ongoing effort to protect human health and the environment by preventing chemical accidents. Under CERCLA, section 104(e) and the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA has authority to conduct chemical accident investigations. EPA is striving to learn the causes and contributing factors associated with chemical accidents to prevent their recurrence. Major chemical accidents cannot be prevented solely through command and control regulatory requirements, but by understanding the fundamental root causes, widely disseminating the lessons learned, and integrating them into safe operations."

  United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office

  1999-08
• Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Practical Guide

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  "This monograph presents a problem-solving model that is applied to gang problems. This model is often referred to as SARA, an acronym for the four steps involved in the process--scanning, analysis, response, and assessment. Communities first initiate the problem-solving process by searching for and identifying gang problems--scanning. The second step of the problem-solving process--analysis--involves investigating the specific gang problem in greater detail. In general, analysis helps a community understand the nature of its gang problem--how it is manifested, who is harmed and how, and when the problems occur. Having identified their gang problems and thoroughly analyzed them, communities can proceed to the third step and develop their local response. The final step of the problem-solving process is an assessment of the effectiveness of the response. It can also be used to change the response, improve the analysis, or even redefine the problem."

  United States. Bureau of Justice Assistance

  Police Executive Research Forum

  1999-08
• Addressing Community Gang Problems: A Model for Problem Solving

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  "The Comprehensive Gang Initiative model provides a method for overcoming the barriers faced by agencies and groups attempting to address gang-related problems. It is a dynamic, ongoing process that provides guidance in examining a problem and finding out what factors allow the problem to persist. Answering the questions raised by the model is essential in selecting an appropriate response to gang-related problems in communities."

  United States. Bureau of Justice Assistance

  Police Executive Research Forum

  1999-08
• NS/EP Implications of GPS Timing

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  The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based positioning and navigation system that is funded and operated by the United States Department of Defense. Although originally developed for use by the U.S. military, GPS now supports thousands of civilian users worldwide and is employed in a wide range of applications. This technical note focuses on the use of GPS for telecommunications network timing and synchronization. The following sections describe the GPS system, how GPS calculates and transmits its timing signals, and how GPS timing is used in networks. Lastly, potential National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) implications are discussed.

  National Communications System (U.S.). Office of the Manager

  Brutt, LeeAnne

  1999-08
• Standards for Protection of Telecommunications Links

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  Public and Government attention has been focused not only on better methods of understanding stresses on public telecommunications networks, but also on protecting against these stresses. The development of new standards provides one method of understanding the issues of telecommunications stress. Likewise, these standards provide guidelines and data for building specifications to protect public telecommunications networks from stress threats.

  National Communications System (U.S.). Office of the Manager

  Bain, Greg

  1999-08
• Special Oversight Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War Chemical and Biological Incidents

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  The Board's mission is to provide the President, through the Secretary of Defense, advice and recommendations based on its performance of two principal roles: 1) independent oversight of the remaining DoD investigations into possible detections of, and exposures to, chemical or biological warfare agents and environmental and other factors that may have contributed to Gulf War illnesses; and 2) overall evaluation of DoD's plan for and progress toward the implementation of the PAC's Special Report recommendations. The bulk of the Board efforts have concentrated on the work of the DoD Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses (OSAGWI) and its case narratives and environmental exposure reports. The Board has actively solicited the views and opinions of veterans groups, individual veterans, scientists, and researchers regarding Gulf War illnesses.

  United States. Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses

  1999-08
• Fire in the United States 1987-1996: Eleventh Edition

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  "Each year, the National Fire Data Center of the U.S. Fire Administration publishes a 10-year statistical overview of the fires in the United States, with focus on the latest year in which data were available at the time of preparation. This report is designed to arm the fire service and others with information that motivates corrective action, sets priorities, targets specific fire programs, serves as a model for state or local analyses of fire data, and provides a baseline for evaluating programs. This Eleventh Edition of Fire in the Unites States covers the 10-year period from 1987 to 1996, with emphasis on 1996. The primary source of data is from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), but National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) annual survey results, mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics, and data from the state fire marshals are also used. Because of the time it takes to collect data from nearly 13,000 fire departments that participate in NFIRS, edit and obtain corrections, and analyze and display the results, the publication lags the date of data collection. Each edition of this report describes the overall national fire problem and casualties to firefighters. Biannually, the reports address either a state-by-state examination of fire or, alternatively, the problem of fire in residential and non-residential structures--the subject of this Eleventh Edition. And each year, an assessment of several specific special topics is performed; this year, these topics include multiple-fatality fires, urban area fires, and the relationship of alcohol consumption to fire deaths."

  United States Fire Administration

  1999-08
• Recruiting and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters

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  "The Town of Canton Connecticut has been protected by all-volunteer fire departments for at least one hundred and fifty years. For the vast majority of this time these departments have enjoyed what seemed like an endless manpower pool from which to draw volunteers. This scenario existed up until the early 1980s when the number of new firefighters attracted to the Town's volunteer fire departments decreased substantially. The purpose of this research paper is to actually conduct the research portion of recommendation #21 of the Town of Canton (Connecticut) Final Report Relating to Fire Services study. Recommendation #21 states, 'The Town of Canton Fire and Rescue Department should research, develop, and maintain a reasonable, workable, recruitment and retention program.' The research methods utilized for this research project were historical, descriptive, and evaluative in nature. The writings of fire service experts and other authors on the subject of volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention were reviewed. The intention was to benchmark the best recruiting and retention practices of others in hopes of utilizing them in the Canton Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. The research questions to be answered in this paper are: 1. Why is the Town of Canton currently having difficulty recruiting and retaining volunteer fire fighters? 2. How are other communities across this country successfully recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters? 3. Is it practical for the Town of Canton to attempt to maintain an all volunteer fire department?"

  National Fire Academy

  Yacovino, Michael, Jr.

  1999-08
• Guidance for Auditing Risk Management Plans/Programs under Clean Air Act Section 112(r)

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  "This document provides guidance for implementing agencies that are required by the Risk Management Program regulation (40 CFR 68.220) to conduct audits. It is designed as a tool for auditors reviewing industry compliance with the Risk Management Program regulation. However, this guidance does not reflect all requirements that a stationary source must meet to be in compliance with the regulation."

  United States. Environmental Protection Agency

  1999-08
• Nuclear Safety: Information on the International Nuclear Regulators Association, Report to the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate

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  "The International Nuclear Regulators Associations activities since its inception over 2 years ago have focused in part on practical matters such as arranging and conducting meetings to discuss nuclear regulation and safety-related issues. Since 1998, the Association has published statements on topical matters, such as the year 2000 computer problem and its potential impact on the safe operation of nuclear power plants. The Commissions former Chairman told us that the Associations public statements are important because they increase public awareness of the group and help promote nuclear safety from a regulatory perspective. Members of the International Nuclear Regulators Association, representatives of international organizations, and U.S. government and U.S. nuclear industry officials expressed differing views about the Association. Seven Association members, including the former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman (who was also one of the Commissions five commissioners), found it to be useful as a way to exchange ideas and information about regulatory issues facing each country."

  United States. Government Accountability Office

  1999-08
• Hurricane Georges Assessment: Review of Hurricane Evacuation Studies Utilization and Information Dissemination

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  "Before Hurricane Georges, a comprehensive hurricane evacuation study had been done for many of the impacted areas. Since Georges directly affected areas where previous study data were available, there was an opportunity to find out whether previous information collected was accurate, how well products were utilized from past studies, and what improvements could still be made. This report addresses information on behavioral characteristics of evacuees, public shelters, evacuation decisions and transportation clearance times."

  United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency; United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; United States. Army. Corps of Engineers

  1999-08
• Department of Defense: Military Assistance Provided at Branch Davidian Incident, Report to the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Report to the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of the Treasury

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  "In 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) received assistance from the U.S. military, including counterdrug program support, while investigating violations of federal firearms laws by members of an obscure sect, the Branch Davidians, and their leader, Vernon Howell (also known as David Koresh), in Waco, Texas. On February 28, 1993, as the ATF tried to serve warrants on the sect's compound, a gunfight erupted, idling and wounding agents and Davidians. A standoff ensued that soon involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The military provided support to the two federal law enforcement agencies (LEA) throughout the 51-day standoff, which ended April 19, 1993, when the compound was destroyed by fire. In August 1996, the House Committees on Government Reform and Oversight and on the Judiciary issued a report, 'Investigation into the Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians' (Report 104-749). The report recommended that we review certain aspects of the military assistance provided to the LEAs in this incident. We have reviewed the nature and extent of the assistance, including that from counterdrug programs, provided to these operations, as well as the counterdrug aspects of ATF's plans to serve a search warrant at the Davidian compound. We pursued three specific objectives: Determine whether the ATF's requests for support from military counterdrug programs met requirements for authorizing that support; Identify the measures ATF took to deal with any drug activity it might find during its warrant service, and determine whether those measures were appropriate for such operations where a methamphetamine laboratory might be encountered. Account for the types, costs, and reimbursements of all military support, including that from counterdrug programs, provided to the ATF and the FBI."

  United States. General Accounting Office

  1999-08
• Information Security Risk Assessment: Practices of Leading Organizations, Accounting and Information Management Division

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  "Managing the security risks associated with our governments growing reliance on information technology is a continuing challenge. In particular, federal agencies, like many private organizations, have struggled to find efficient ways to ensure that they fully understand the information security risks affecting their operations and implement appropriate controls to mitigate these risks. This guide, initially issued as an exposure draft, is intended to help federal managers implement an ongoing information security risk assessment process by providing examples, or case studies, of practical risk assessment procedures that have been successfully adopted by four organizations known for their efforts to implement good risk assessment practices. More importantly, it identifies, based on the case studies, factors that are important to the success of any risk assessment program, regardless of the specific methodology employed."

  United States. Government Accountability Office

  1999-08
• Problem of Accessing Health Care

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  This document discusses the issue of healthcare and the problems associated with accessing it. According to the article, Hispanics are still the least likely to be insured. The article also discusses: children's health insurance, minority health perspectives, Indian health care, patients' Bill of Rights, Gay minorities access to health services, EPA's pesticide network, and new INS guidelines on public charge issues.

  United States. Department of Health and Human Services

  Meadows, Michelle

  1999-08
• Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Fire Fighters due to Structural Collapse

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  This alert document provides information on fire fighter risk mitigation during structural fire fighting, fire fighter occupational safety program and standard operating procedures, determining the structural integrity of burning buildings, properly equipped and trained fire fighters, and case report describing incidents involving fire fighter injuries and deaths due to structural collapse.

  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

  1999-08
• Guidelines for Incident Commander's Use of Firefighter Protective Ensemble (FFPE) with Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for Rescue Operations During a Terrorist Chemical Agent Incident

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  "This report covers Man In Simulant Testing (MIST) of both new and used firefighter turnout gear. This testing examined how well turnout gear with SCBA protects the firefighter against vapor adsorption at the skin. Firefighters were exposed, while wearing turnout gear with SCBA, to a chemical agent simulant (methyl salicylate) to measure the Physiological Protective Dosage Factor (PPDF). An assessment was conducted using the measured PPDFs to determine quick rescue times for known living victims. The basic result is standard turnout gear with SCBA provides a first with sufficient protection from nerve agent vapor hazards inside interior or downwind areas of the hot zone to allow 30 minutes rescue time for known live victims."

  U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command

  1999-08
• Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Part Two: Security Functional Requirements

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  Security functional components, as defined in this CC Part 2, are the basis for the TOE IT security functional requirements expressed in a Protection Profile (PP) or a Security Target (ST). These requirements describe the desired security behavior expected of a Target of Evaluation (TOE) and are intended to meet the security objectives as stated in a PP or an ST. These requirements describe security properties that users can detect by direct interaction with the TOE (i.e. inputs, outputs) or by the TOE's response to stimulus. Security functional components express security requirements intended to counter threats in the assumed operating environment of the TOE and/or cover any identified organizational security policies and assumptions. The audience for this CC Part 2 includes consumers, developers, and evaluators of secure IT systems and products. CC Part 1 clause 3 provides additional information on the target audience of the CC, and on the use of the CC by the groups that comprise the target audience.

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.); United States. National Security Agency

  1999-08
• Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Part One: Introduction and General Model

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  Information held by IT products or systems is a critical resource that enables organizations to succeed in their mission. Additionally, individuals have a reasonable expectation that their personal information contained in IT products or systems remain private, be available to them as needed, and not be subject to unauthorized modification. IT products or systems should perform their functions while exercising proper control of the information to ensure it is protected against hazards such as unwanted or unwarranted dissemination, alteration, or loss. The term IT security is used to cover prevention and mitigation of these and similar hazards. Many consumers of IT lack the knowledge, expertise or resources necessary to judge whether their confidence in the security of their IT products or systems is appropriate, and they may not wish to rely solely on the assertions of the developers. Consumers may therefore choose to increase their confidence in the security measures of an IT product or system by ordering an analysis of its security (i.e. a security evaluation). The CC can be used to select the appropriate IT security measures and it contains criteria for evaluation of security requirements.

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.); United States. National Security Agency

  1999-08
• Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Part Three: Security Assurance Requirements

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  This Part 3 defines the assurance requirements of the CC. It includes the evaluation assurance levels (EALs) that define a scale for measuring assurance, the individual assurance components from which the assurance levels are composed, and the criteria for evaluation of PPs and STs.

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.); United States. National Security Agency

  1999-08
• Land Mobile Radio System Security Planning Template

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  "This template provides a guide for public safety radio managers to follow when developing their own security plans. The security planning template allows radio managers to identify the security requirements and security controls needed to protect the radio system from potential risks and vulnerabilities."

  United States. Department of Homeland Security. SAFECOM

  United States. Public Safety Wireless Network Program

  1999-08
• Confrontation Analysis: How to Win Operations Other Than War

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  "This book presents a simple idea. A Peace Operations campaign (or Operation Other Than War) should be seen as a linked sequence of confrontations--in contrast to a traditional, warfighting campaign, which is a linked sequence of battles. The objective in each confrontation is to bring about certain 'compliant' behavior on the part of other parties, until in the end the campaign objective is reached. This is a state of sufficient compliance to enable the military to leave the theater."

  Command and Control Research Program (U.S.)

  Howard, Nigel.

  1999-08
• Video Called 'Drill Today: Survive Tomorrow' and a Study of Coalition Building and Alternative Funding

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  "It was a problem that there were no video-based programs currently being used to teach fire and tornado drill procedures in the elementary schools in Irondale, Alabama. The research questions were as follows: (a) What video-based programs were available? (b) Was funding a problem for principals in obtaining a video-based program that teaches fire and tornado drill procedures? (c) Could an alternative funding model be used to create a cost- effective, video-based fire and tornado drill procedure program. The answers to these questions all helped to develop a cost-effective and alternatively funded video-based program that teaches fire and tornado drill procedures in the elementary schools of Irondale, Alabama. Descriptive research surveys indicated that there were no video-based programs currently being utilized and that funding was the primary reason. The surveys also made evident the need for such a video. The final question explored alternative funding in a problem-solving model to determine if a video could be produced. Through action research, a professional quality video on fire and tornado drills was created, copied, and sent to all primary educational schools in Alabama utilizing a new funding model. Alternative funding, building coalitions, the utilization of video media, need validation, and creative exploration were all recommended in this project."

  National Fire Academy

  Lynch, Joe L.

  1999-08
• Transition into Disaster Worker Stress Auditing: Orlando Moves to the Future

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  "This research project analyzed the factors that make up a disaster stress audit. The problem was that the Orlando Fire Department does not provide for assessing the stress levels of emergency workers during extended disaster operations. The purpose of the research project was to develop a disaster stress audit guideline to monitor the signs, symptoms, and behaviors exhibited by emergency workers effected by the stress of disaster operations. This research employed action research (a) to determine what items should be included in a stress audit, (b) what training should be provided to potential sector officers that will use the stress audit, (c) what is the current mind set among emergency workers relating to their susceptibility to stress during disaster operations, (d) what criteria should be used for not allowing an emergency worker to return to disaster operations, (e) what type of relationship should be initiated with the mental health community for support prior to a disaster striking a community, and (f) is there an acceptance of psychological duty related injury with the more commonly known and accepted forms of duty related injury? The principle procedure employed was review of published materials and a survey. Data were compiled in graphic form to facilitate a comparison of published materials and contemporary fire department applications of appraising stress in emergency workers. The major findings of this research were that few fire departments currently incorporate a stress audit into their disaster operations. Principle among those factors was that only 2.47% of surveyed departments even have a formal process in place for evaluating the stress in their emergency workers."

  National Fire Academy

  Sorenson, Robert L.

  1999-08
• Slaying the Performance Evaluation Dragon

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  "The problem addressed was the poor evaluation process, due to little or no training of the members and limited employee observation in the decentralized work environment. The purpose of this applied research project was to develop an improved evaluation system for the Anchorage Fire Department. An action research method was used to answer the following research questions: 1. How is the current checklist used? 2. How are other like-sized fire departments evaluating behavior? 3. What limitations are there in adopting some of these other systems/procedures? The process began at the National Fire Academy with a literature review of current applied research projects. Local and electronic libraries were utilized to access current related information. Forty like-sized departments in like-sized cities were surveyed to determine how they conducted performance evaluations. All line members of the Anchorage Fire Department were surveyed to determine their feelings and attitude regarding the present evaluation system and to solicit ideas regarding change. The results were that the Anchorage Fire Department's personnel evaluation system was not current, inapplicable and of little value to the majority of the department for personal and professional development. Present performance evaluation scores were highly inflated. Surveys reflected a desire for an applicable evaluation, prepared and presented with sincerity and used for personal development. Most respondents believed they could give and receive quality performance feedback from co-workers and subordinates. Survey respondents related the poor evaluation system to the lack of training in conducting performance appraisal."

  National Fire Academy

  Strahan, Wade

  1999-08
• Cost Effectiveness of Fire Station Siting & the Impact on Emergency Response

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  "This research project analyzed the factors that influence the decision making process for the siting of fire stations in relation to emergency response. The problem was that taxpayer dollars were not being cost effectively utilized. The purpose of this applied research paper was to determine whether it was feasible for the Moraga-Orinda Fire District to maximize community emergency response and cost effectiveness by relocating and combining Fire Station 43 and Fire Station 16. The research employed was both historical and action. The research was historical through the literature review to the extent of understanding the relationship between fire station location and emergency fire response. The research was action research in that the information gathered was applied in a real-world context. The research questions to be answered were: 1. What are the criteria to be taken under consideration when determining a site to construct a fire station? 2. What would the impact of relocating and consolidating Fire Station 43 and Fire Station 16 have on the response of emergency services? 3. What are other factors that need to be considered in moving forward with an implementation plan to combine fire stations? The principle procedure utilized a computer-modeling program to determine response times and distances for existing and proposed fire station locations. The data collected from various studies was used to compare service impact with various station configurations. The results indicated that combining two existing fire stations and relocating to one strategic site resulted in improved emergency coverage with a savings of $520,000 per year in operational costs and $1,000,000 in capital costs."

  National Fire Academy

  Johnston, Jim

  1999-08