IFSTA Company Officer: Ch. 2 Flashcards

Organizational Structure

1
Q

Why is Organizational Structure important to fire and emergency services?

A

It permits effective, organized and efficient use of resources

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2
Q

What helps fire and emergency services organizations provide the highest level of service to their customers at the lowest possible cost?

A

Organizational Structure

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3
Q

The top official in most North American public fire and emergency service organizations is called what 4 things?

A

Fire Chief, Chief, Commissioner or CEO

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4
Q

What are SOP/SOGs used to define?

A

organizational policy and behavioral/performance expectations of employees

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5
Q

What is Scalar Structure?

A

Having an uninterrupted series of steps or chain of command.

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6
Q

Direct communication at lower organizational levels allows for what?

A

quicker actions and reactions

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7
Q

Within a scalar structure, information is generally ___________ for decision-making

A

centralized

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8
Q

Personnel who deliver services to the public or external customers are called?

A

Line Personnel

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9
Q

Typical functions of Staff personnel are:

A

Training, Logistics and Personnel Administration

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10
Q

What is defined as the legal ability of an individual to make and implement decisions for which the individual is held accountable?

A

Authority

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11
Q

What are two types of decision making models?

A

Centralized and Decentralized

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12
Q

Which decision making model works well in very small organizations?

A

Centralized

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13
Q

As a leader in large organizations, what can be done to exceed span of control?

A

Delegate authority

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14
Q

What must a chief ensure that all members understand in a decentralized system

A

Direction, Values, and Goals of organization

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15
Q

Under which decision making model, is decision making authority limited to those tasks which personnel have been given authority?

A

Decentralized

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16
Q

Which decison making model allows for the expeditious handling of most matters?

A

Decentralized

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17
Q

What is a negative drawback to a decentralization of authority?

A

duplication of effort may occur

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18
Q

What is defined as the process of providing subordinates with the authority, direction and resources need to complete an assignment.

A

Delegation

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19
Q

Under Unity of Command, each subordinate has how many supervisors?

A

One

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20
Q

Unity of Command depends on the use of:

A

Chain of Command and Function Supervison

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21
Q

The process of going around a link in the chain of command to deal with an issue is defined as?

A

Sidestepping

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22
Q

What is Skip Level Notification?

A

Notifying one’s supervisor that one wishes to take an issue to the supervisor’s supervisor

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23
Q

Four ways you can reduce sidestepping?

A

Be available to listen
Listen to problems sincerely
Take action and notify the employee
Take a problem to the next level if it can’t be solved

24
Q

What is an organizational principle that allows workers to report to more than one supervisor?

A

Functional Supervision

25
Q

Functional supervision deviates from _____________ when personnel are assigned by a senior officer to perform duties that fall under the authority of another supervisor

A

Unity of Command

26
Q

What is defined as the number of subordinates and/or number of functions an individual can effectively supervise?

A

Span of Control

27
Q

NIMS-ICS model suggest an optimum span of control is ______

A

Five

28
Q

What consists of dividing large jobs into smaller tasks to be assigned to specific individuals?

A

Division of Labor

29
Q

What are 3 reasons division of labor is important?

A

Assigning responsibility
Preventing duplication of effort
Making clear cut assignments

30
Q

Emergency service organizations are organized into what 3 divisions?

A

Emergency Response Service
Community Services
Internal Services

31
Q

Work groups can be created based on what elements?

A
Type of Task
Geographical Area
Time of year/Season
Available Resources
Skills
32
Q

Depending on how the organization is funded, fire and emergency services can be classified as either ________ or ________

A

Public —- Private

33
Q

The primary means of categorizing public fire and emergency service organizations is by ______________

A

jurisdiction the organization serves

34
Q

What are the 6 common public jurisdictions that provide fire and emergency service protection?

A

Municipal, County, Fire District, State/Provincial, Federal, Tribal

35
Q

Staffing for municipal departments may be what 3 types?

A

Career, Combination/Composite, Volunteer

36
Q

Municipal is defined as:

A

Functional division of the lowest level of local government

37
Q

The size of municipal fire and emergency services organizations depend primarily on __________ and _________

A

Size of population

Geographical Area

38
Q

County is defined as:

A

Political subdivision of a state, province, or territory for admin purposes and public safety.

39
Q

A county is also known as a _________

A

Parish

40
Q

What is considered the second level of local government?

A

A county

41
Q

Fire District is defined as:

A

Designated geographic area where fire protection is provided, through a supportive tax or an area where fire prevention codes are enforced.

42
Q

What are (2) other names for a fire district?

A

Fire Protection District

Regional Fire Authority

43
Q

Fire districts operate under a ____________ or ____________ who represent the residents of the district.

A

Board of Trustees

Commissioners

44
Q

What is the term giving to an area that lies outside of taxpayer supported or funded jurisdictions?

A

No Man’s Land

45
Q

What are state/provincial emergency fire suppression companies organized for?

A

Forest, Wildland and urban interface fires

46
Q

What does USFA stand for?

A

U.S. Fire Administration

47
Q

What does NFA stand for?

A

National Fire Academy

48
Q

What does EMI stand for?

A

Emergency Management Institute

49
Q

How many federally recognized Native American tribal governments exist?

A

562

50
Q

Private emergency service organizations fall into which (3) categories?

A

Industrial Fire Brigades
For-Profit
Non Profit

51
Q

Who’s rules permit non-profit fire and emergency service organizations to request and receive Fire Act Grant funds.

A

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

52
Q

Approximately how much percent of fire and emergency service organizations are comprised of Volunteer firefighters?

A

70

53
Q

What is reciprocal assistance from one fire and emergency services agency to another during an emergency?

A

Mutual Aid

54
Q

What is a written agreement between two or more agencies to automatically dispatch predetermined resources to any fire or other emergency reported in the geographic area covered?

A

Automatic Aid

55
Q

Assistance from agencies or fire departments that are not part of the agency having jurisdiction is called?

A

Outside Aid

56
Q

Outside Aid and Mutual Aid are similar except that:

A

Pay per response or annual fee is made.