Medford Fire -- Rescue Liability Checklist Mf-R

Medford Fire -- Rescue Liability Checklist

MF-R liability checklist

Does your department have copies of all legislation, regulations, bylaws, codes, and standards that are relevant to your department's operations?

The Department has access to all legislation at Federal, State, County, District and municipal levels, including regulations, bylaws where applicable, extensive codes, and standards issued by government, agency and professional associations. These documents are dispersed widely throughout government and agency literature, but most of the relevant operational policy documents are public and available on request if not accessible through the Internet. This regulatory detail is so extensive and widespread that a large part of Department administration's continuing education is devoted to simply keeping up with the ongoing changes and amendments to these laws, codes and best practices.

Has your municipality passed a fire bylaw? If so, was it tailor-made to suit the particular needs of your department? Does it accurately reflect both the duties imposed on your members by provincial or state legislation and the discretionary powers actually exercised by your department?

"Fire bylaw" is a Canadian term for what we call "Burning ordinances." Medford's Fire Prevention Division is an Assistant State Fire Marshal under the Oregon State Fire Marshal and has oversight of Medford's burning ordinances and permitting process. Our "fire bylaw" (burning ordinances) prohibit all burning without permit except for outdoor cooking fires and "agricultural heating devices" (City of Medford, Oregon, 2010a; 2010b). These regulations are permitted under the overlay of County and State ordinances implemented by the Fire Prevention Division, who approves or denies permits for regulated burning. As such, these individual permits are tailor-made to suit our Department and accurately reflect the overlying county and state laws, under which Fire Prevention exercises discretionary judgment and decision power.

Do you know how policies at the time of an incident can afford a defense to a civil liability action?

Having policy to defer to protects the employee against a civil liability action if the employee was following the policy accurately, to the degree a "reasonable person" would find adequate and prudent (Law Teacher, 2011). A complex and extensive body of case law has arisen based on what this hypothetical average person would do in various situations, given various constraints of professional training; intent; general practice; plausible prevention; extent of harm; proof of negligence and an effectively infinite series of possible mitigating factors that justify judge or jury assessment rather than automated legal standards. If policy is based on best practice, and if policy is followed in practice, and if the agent used reasonable precaution and diligence and no other factors of ill intent or prohibited behavior violate the agent's standing under the Department, then the actor's knowledge of and adherence to Department procedure and policy can provide a strong defense against civil 'tort' liability for damage caused through negligence, given all these conditions.

Does your department have written policies?

The Department has extensive written policy to cover reasonably foreseeable events and decision making where no Department precedent exists, since predicting all possible events is largely impossible. This body of policy and procedure appears across widespread documents from the classified staff employment contract (City of Medford, Oregon and International Association of Fire Fighters -- Local 1431, 2008), separate agreements for administration (City of Medford, Oregon, 2011a); to specific procedures for equipment, facilities and compliance with state, federal and county overlays (see e.g. Bierwiler, 2007 for a sample of many such overlying policies). Much of the fire floor's continuing education is devoted to review of this body of policy, which is constantly evolving along with technology and industry best practice.

Does your department have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the implementation of department policies? If so, were they tailor-made to suit the particular needs of your department?

The Department has extensive, explicit Standard Operating Procedures and Performance Guidelines drawn up under Department administration, Jackson County EMS 'Standing Orders,' and under City, County and State procedures and guidelines. These are adopted from precedent and customized for Department operations.

Is there a mechanism for the review of the SOPs on a regular basis to assess them and implement changes?

The Department Training Chief reviews performance guidelines; Standard Operating Procedures are reviewed under the Operations Chief, and the Fire Chief reviews administrative policy on an ongoing and regular basis as innovation in technology and practice dictate.

Are members from the fire floor (i.e. The general firefighter population, the operational rank and file) involved in the development of department policies and the SOPs?

Classified staff leaders are trained in specialized subject matter areas and thus serve as experts advising administration on Standard Operating Procedures and training, and Guidelines for Operations, within the fire floor organization. Fire staff deploy procedures and guidelines in the field every day, make recommendations to classified leadership, and those experts make recommendations to administration for review and implementation.

Does your department provide instructional programs, either in-house or through an outside agency, to train department members in the operational standards required by the SOPs?

The Department's Training Division is in the process of implementing Key Objectives and Performance Measures for ongoing firefighter education and advancement (City of Medford, Oregon 2010c). These in-house and external instructional programs will enhance existing Training and Safety Committees that constitute a large share of classified continuing education requirements.

Does your department have methods of recording and maintaining information that may be needed for defending a liability action or an occupational health and safety (OH&S [see Chapter 10 on U.S. OSHA]) prosecution?

The Department keeps accident and OSHA '801' forms at the supervisor and firehouse levels, to defend against tort liability and workers' compensation claims in the event of prosecution. Such liability is in fact the justification for much of the Department's extensive and evolving formal Procedures and Guidelines.