Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008 - (Page 40)

By Chief Kelly B. King T he social aspects of providing emergency services in the Texas cities (or anywhere for that matter) requires an understanding of expectations of our clientele or “customers.” It also requires an understanding of human service providers, his or her cultural norms within the organizational structure and the attitudes of the individuals performing those tasks necessary during daily interaction within this community. Fire fighters and other human service providers are “oriented on others” (Lauer and Lauer, 2004, EFL 623 Lecture 1) from a professional standpoint. However, we have observed that fi re fighters provide help to others both on and off duty. Having a job as a fi re fighter allows that person a legitimate outlet to serve others unselfi shly and make a living too. Attitudes both from within the organization itself and from the outside “civilian” population about the interaction between fi re fighters and their “customers” are generally very positive if for no other reason than the strong motivation of the fi re fighter to respond to a call for help and take action on behalf of the caller immediately. There is very little waiting on the part of customers and they really like the immediate response. As Donnelly (1992) observed, “Our needs usually come in clusters, not in bits and pieces. The best organizations organize themselves to satisfy clusters of customer needs.”(p. 17) Unless there are sanctions placed on fi re fighters by the organization in the form of rules, regulations or laws, fi re fighters tend to be quite resourceful in solving clusters of problems associated with emergencies and satisfying the needs of their customers, both internal and external. The overall guiding philosophy of most fi re departments is to provide fi re and emergency medical services within an acceptable level of risk to the citizens, workers and guests of this city including the human service providers as determined by the elected officials of the governing body and based upon the recommendations of the officials of the fi re rescue department. Each member of this agency will strive for excellence in every area of public service through professional competence and a caring attitude. This will involve taking calculated risks as required to protect our customer’s lives and property. We will look for and expect more from ourselves than others think possible because it is our calling. Cultural norms in this department come from a level of expectation of fi re fighters that is steeped in tradition. Fire fighters as a group desire to help people because helping people in distress is a fundamental reason they seek employment. New employees are also inoculated with this attitude by department staff members through departmental standard operating procedures and mentoring by fellow employees through a kind of “social-functionalism” (Lauer and Lauer, 2004, p. 7). The departmental social structure focuses on interdependency of teamwork in the TEXAS FIRE CHIEF Fall/Winter 2008 40 ©www.istockphoto.com/ Slobo Mitic Customer Service Orientation in Fire Rescue Departments

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008 Contents Executive Director’s Report Texas Fire Chiefs Academy Project Reports Southwest Fire Rescue Conference Program Membership Application Customer Service Orientation in Fire Rescue Departments A Visit to the E-One Plant Index to Advertisers

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008

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