Title
Authorizing Council's Committee on Public Safety to investigate and hold public hearings reviewing the Philadelphia Fire Department's use of post incident critiques after major incidents and the impact they have upon the training and preparedness of firefighters and other first responder personnel of the Philadelphia Fire Department.
Body
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Fire Department employs more than 2,300 sworn members and civilians, all of whom must be trained at a high level in order to maintain public safety; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Fire Department has a duty to its members and the community to systematically evaluate major incidents and communicate the findings to all relevant emergency personnel through a post incident critique; and
WHEREAS, A critique is a fact-finding exercise to collect information that forms a picture of the major incident and how personnel responded from both a tactical and operational standpoint. It assesses firefighting, rescue, and training effectiveness. A critique also includes an evaluation of tactical plans, command decisions and how well they were followed. The lessons learned from the experience are then used constructively to correct deficiencies, highlight good practices, and influence training and education; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia recorded an all-time low of fire related deaths in 2013 and the annual number of fires in the City continues to decline. The reduction of fires lead to less actual firefighting experience for firefighters; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Fire Department is in the midst of a senior personnel transition due to a high amount of retirements. As staff leaves the department they take their command and operations experience. Even if these positions are replaced with newly trained personnel, those individuals will have less opportunity to hone their skills through actual firefighting or through personal experiences passed on by senior firefighters; and
WHEREAS, The post inci...
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