Philadelphia Fire Department

Philadelphia Fire Department

Every organization requires sufficient funds to fulfill its objectives and mission. Without adequate finances, organizations will struggle and could be rendered unable to deliver quality services to the community. As Purchase (2017, p.170) rightly observes, “the budget is used as a tool for implementing the policies established by [an organization]”. This signifies the need to critically evaluate an organization’s budget to establish whether or not it can support fulfillment of organizational policies and goals. Using the case study of the Philadelphia Fire Department-PFD, it emerges that fire departments need to be creative in identifying low-cost strategies of complementing their budget allocations so that they can deliver satisfactory service to the community.

Part 1. Report on the overall budget of the fire department. Include the population covered, the size of the department, number of stations, etc. Give an overall view of the department’s budget.

The Philadelphia Fire Department has released its budget for the 2022 financial year. The Department’s overall budget amounts to $361,066,229. Compared to the previous fiscal year, the current budget for the Philadelphia Fire Department has gone higher by $22,009, 971. This amount (the budget) is spread as follows: employee compensation is set to receive $332,992,022; $6,728,143 will go towards purchase of services; materials, equipment, and supplies get $11,275,064; while the remaining $10,071,000 will go towards Other Funds, such as the Water Fund (Philadelphia Fire Department, 2021).

Philadelphia Fire Department is reputed as Pennsylvania’s biggest fire departments. It operates 63 fire stations and renders fore protection as well as emergency medical services to residents in the whole of Philadelphia City (City of Philadelphia, n.d.). This is to say that the PFD not only fights fires but also rescues residents from situations of danger, besides providing emergency health treatment to victims of fire.

Part 2. Specifically cover the fire prevention portion of the budget. Give a breakdown of the fire prevention budget and activities. Include the number of personnel, inspection efforts as well as fire safety education and community prevention efforts.

The PFD’s mission statement is “to serve the public by providing comprehensive all-hazard prevention, risk reduction, and emergency response and to ensure the health and safety of the PFD’s members” (Philadelphia Fire Department, 2021 p.1). From this mission, the various activities that the PFD undertakes towards the broad objective of fire prevention can be deduced. For example, the Department provides public education about ways of preventing fires and how to respond to a fire incident. The Department reports that it regularly offers safety presentations in institutions such as schools together with senior centers (Philadelphia Fire Department, 2021). It also means that the Department has installed necessary equipment for preventing fires. For example, smoke alarms have been installed as a strategy of preventing fires (Philadelphia Fire Department, 2021).

From the above description, it is possible to arrive at the budget that has been allocated to fire prevention. Basically, this will include the amount of money set aside for the Water Fund, employee compensation, and equipment, materials, and supplies. Adding the amount of money allocated to these three areas gives a total of $354,338,086.

Part 3. Give your opinion on whether or not the fire prevention effort is sufficient for the community. Include your opinion as to whether or not the budget and the associated fire prevention and education efforts are adequate. Describe how you think the department could increase the fire safety education and community prevention efforts, if possible, within the current budget allotment.

After taking into consideration a number of factors, it may be concluded that the fire prevention efforts of the Philadelphia Fire Department are not sufficient for the community. Overall, the Department has allocated more money to fire prevention activities in 2022 compared to the previous year. Employee compensation received an increment of $19,735,380, while materials, equipment and supplies received an additional $2,082,150 on top of what was allocated in 2021. In the same way, Other Funds got an additional $189,000.

Whilst these budget increments are laudable and helpful to the Department as it continues pursuing its mission, it may be argued that a lot more needs to be done. More specifically, the position taken in this paper is that the PFD ought to have allocated more money to fire prevention as well as education efforts. Being the biggest city in Pennsylvania, and being home to approximately 1.6 million people (United States Census Bureau, 2021), Philadelphia is a relatively vast city. Comparing the total population to the number of employees at the Philadelphia Fire Department, it appears that there is need for the Department to hire more employees in order to render adequate services. According to the Department, there are 3,448 full-time employees in the Philadelphia Fire Department. This may be interpreted to mean that for every single firefighter, there are approximately 460 households or individuals to be attended to. Without doubt, this causes the employees at the Department to be overworked, affecting their ability to provide quality services to the community.

There are several ways through which the Philadelphia Fire Department could enhance its fire prevention efforts without necessarily spending a lot of money. Even if the Department were to operate within the current budget, it is still possible to enhance fire safety education and community prevention. One of the ways through which can be done is collaboration together with partnerships. To reach out to as many stakeholders as possible, the Department may consider partnering with community services organizations, faith-based institutions, school systems, law enforces, and public health officials (Foskett, 2022). This kind of partnership would enable the PFD to educate and sensitize as many people as possible with very little expenses.

Secondly, the PFD could consider capitalizing on technology to help meet its objectives with as little costs as possible. The Department’s budget has already been developed, meaning that it might be difficult obtaining finances to install digital devices and technologies to boost fire prevention efforts. Even so, there are some low-cost technologies that could a long way in helping the Department to fulfill its mission. For example, employees could be taught on how to use their personal computers, emails, and the internet to reach out to community members.

References

City of Philadelphia. (n.d.). Philadelphia Fire Department. www.phila.gov/departments/philadelphia-fire-department/

Foskett, J. (2022). What’s next for the fire service: fire service leaders offer 2022 projections. www.firerescue1.com/2021-year-review/articles/whats-next-for-the-fire-service-fire-service-leaders-offer-2022-projections-iDygA5tgXvPXqH8P/

Philadelphia Fire Department. (2021). Fiscal year 2022 budget testimony. https://phlcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FY22-Budget-Hearings-Testimony_Fire_FINAL.pdf

Purchase, D. (2017). Chief officer: Principles and practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

United States Census Bureau. (2021). Quick facts: Philadelphia City, Pennsylvania. www.census.gov/quickfacts/philadelphiacitypennsylvania

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