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Copyright 1999 by Walter G. Green III. All rights reserved.
Understanding the history of the emergency services is vital to managing them. Where we are today is a direct result of what has happened in the past in the fire service, emergency medical services, law enforcement, emergency management, and business continuity. And in large measure these past events continue to shape our development as traditions and as arbiters of change. We are fortunate in that there is a rich documentary and photographic record of all of the services except business continuity. As a discipline business continuity is so young (really under 20 years old) that those of us who have worked in the field do have the corporate memory of how it has developed - but we have not yet gotten around to writing it down.
At the end of this session each student will be able to:
(1) Analyze the history of their discipline to identify major themes in its development.
(2) Identify common elements that influence more than one emergency service's development.
(3) Characterize the impact of governmental structural changes on government agencies with an emergency services role.
(4) Identify the impact of folklore on how we perform emergency duties today.
(5) Apply the elements of emergency services history to their own organization.
During this session, read the following material:
(1) Chapter 3: History of the draft textbook MANAGING THE EMERGENCY SERVICES - AN INTRODUCTION (sent to you by e-mail).
Everyone answer three of the following five questions (one E-mail to the Listserver per question, and make sure you include a subject line that identifies which questions you are answering). You may answer them in any order you wish.
(1) Why are fire engines red? I am looking for your best reason - the answer is not in the reading. I am asking the question specifically to explore how you perceive the role of color in the fire service.
(2) There were three early public obligations of all citizens in Colonial America - service in fighting fires as a member of a bucket brigade, service on the night watch to prevent crime in the evenings and to provide an alarm service in the case of attack, and service in the general line militia. What impact do you think these early obligations had on how our emergency services are structured today?
(3) What do you think were the effects of the organizational changes that civil defense and emergency management went through in the period from the end of World War II to the 1980s?
(4) Write a short historical sketch of the history of your emergency services agency - where it came from, what was the impetus for its founding, how long has it been in operation, what major changes has it gone through?
(5) In your opinion in recent history what was a key event, media story, publication, etc. that greatly influenced how the emergency services have evolved or how that eveolution has been perceived? Yes, it is a broad question, and I am giving you plenty of room to choose an interesting answer.