Case Project Application

Question: Please write the application to case project description, needs, business case. Answer: MFB or the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board is an organization with a Victorian origin to fight fires and create a safe community. Covered by the Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958, the MFB provides emergency responses in case of fire outbursts and offers security, suppression measures and preventive measures to over 4 million Melbourne residents. The basic objective is to save lives, environment and property. ( MFB, 2015-2018) Annually almost 3.3million fires are reported with over 30 thousand deaths occurring in the entire world. Fires are a persistent issue in the country of Australia. It has taken the toll on lives of its residents and also on the countrys economy. Alone in Australia fires lead to almost 100 deaths and over 3000 injuries each year. The total loss cost wise incurred is around AUD $12 billion. This is 1.3% of the GDP in the country. The urban areas are most affected as the proximity of buildings are close. One of the main challenges faced by the firefighting team of MFB here is to prioritize these accidents and prevent the fire from spreading and causing further damage to life and property. ( MFB, 2015-2018) Appropriateness of Methodology The methodology opted by the MFB is standard and unique. Years of real time experience has made them proficient in choosing the right technique for ceasing fire and saving lives. Some of areas covered by them are. What to do after a fire, Emergency medical response, Total fire ban safety, Home safety, Safety programs, Melbourne bushfire and grassfire risks, vehicle, boats, portable gas heaters, Prevention of burns. All these addressed make sure the community is safe after a fire. ( Anonymous 2009) Case project description, needs, business case It is unknown why there are fire risks associated with hoardings. It is found that elderly people who are living alone suffers from a mental condition called OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder. They like hoarding things to them. It has the risk associated with fire in many ways. Some of the commonly hoarded items in a house are letters, clothes, bills, books, stationeries and magazines. These are quite combustible in nature. On account of a fire in a house these act as a fuel. MFB took up this project and found information about the people affected by real life fire incidents due to hoarding and quantified the pattern in between these incidents. These data collected were used by MFB and similar fire fighting organizations to enhance awareness, identify the primary causes, triggers and create safety measures to prevent them.(Lucini 2009) Data collection At present no standard methods are used by the MFB for collecting data or for reporting any incident of hoarding. The National base for collecting data is post incident data accumulation. Since there is no specific area where the hoarding can be acquainted for so there are nonspecific way to collect data. They depend on varied formal and informal methodologies. (Collapse, 2012) Risk, complexities, uncertainties and opportunities The risks involved are high in this profession. Here are some of the common risks. The complexities and uncertainties of human life and property loss is high in areas like Melbourne. After fire risk After a fire many times it becomes a risky situation to stay in the same place. MFB Fire officer in charge will be declaring whether it is safe to stay or not after thorough inspection. Bushfire and grassfire risks The area Melbourne is close by parks, reserves, open grasslands, bush or paddocks. During summer there are high risks of forest fires occurring in these regions. Areas like the parks, beaches, reserves and riverside fires are a great risk for human life here. Risk Analysis The different kind of risks faced by MFB are both from the perspective of the locals as well as global. Both these areas continue to provide new challenges to the main business. A tool used for analysis is the Phoneix Rapidfire modeling system.It is a part of the emergency planning process. Initially it was used as a tool for research in the year 2006 at University of Melbourne. From 2008. it gained recognition. Today it can stimulate the potential risks of fire spread efficiently.( Norris, 2014) Qualitative risk Risk from fire ( Can be bush fire or fire from either structures or non structures Any incident which is hazardous Automatic alarm system and response Road Accident Rescue system Any Emergency Medical responses Any other incidents like High Angle Rescue, Urban search rescue or marine response. Discussion of risk and classification Aging workforce A major portion of the workforce is aged. They will be retiring in the next 5 years times. Hence a large portion of experience will be gone from the organization. For the sake of the service obligations MFB has to maintain efficiency in its team no matter what. Expectation changes Expectation of the community is always changing. In terms of communication and emergency reporting, warnings technology, local information everything is changing. MFB needs to cater to these changing situations. Population The Metropolitan District is increasing in population day by day. Risk response By understanding the risk environments MFB is planning product delivery for mitigating these risks. Organisational resilience development and creating adaptive business model helps respond to the sector within the community. Recommendations One HNS or Hoarding Notification System to be promoted continuously by the MFB along with other external agencies. The safety of neighbors and occupants must be measured better. Two MFB and WPI both have recommended that AIRS must bring a change. For example a drop down box inclusion for CIR or Clutter Image Rating. Hence this will increase reporting of hoarding events. Three -FireServices and MFB must work collaboratively for developing information about hoardings,risks, identification of such risks and report through AIR box. Four If high amount of reports are coming in then consideration must be given to the drop down informations. (Homchenko, 2014) Constraints The cost is significant and it is the biggest constraint for MFB at present. Resources are continuously getting consumed. They are also aware of the risks from non conforming items which sometimes becomes an obligation for the MFB. Conclusion Studies show almost 80% of the LGA or the local government areas have one hoarding at least or an incident of squalor in their locations. Hence it gives a confirmation that these incidents are not bounded by geographical locations. They can happen anywhere. Studies made in year 2012 concluded that most of these incidents took place in standalone abodes. MFB hence, continues to fetch any opportunity it gets that can engage the stakeholders for further developing the various responses and practices. These stakeholders engaged will be the provider of valuable information. They will also provide the best possible information found in the industry. Hence overall the people affected by squalor or hoarding will be hugely benefitted by such information of MFB References MFB (2015-2018), A world class fire and emergencyservice, Dtpli.vic.gov.au Anonymous (2009), Community, Mfbc.vic.gov.au Colpas Emily (2012), Analysis of Hoarding Fire Incidents and MFB Organisational Response, Wpi.edu Lucini G ( 2009), Analysis of Fire Incidents Involving Hoarding Households, Web.cs.edu Homchenko M (2014), An Analysis of Hoarding and Squalor Related Incidents and Responses by the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, Melbourne MFB (2012), Strategic and Business Plan, mfb.gov.au Anonymous (2014), Construction Fire Norris J (2014), State Planning for Fire