A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING FIRE-FIGHTING SERVICE QUALITY OF A PUBLIC FIRE DEPARTMENT

Abstract

When a fire occurs, the fire-fighting service implemented by a public fire department is one of the most important aids for the fire victims. Through strict enforcement of the fire-fighting service, a public fire department can effectively reduce the damage and casualties. That means that the fire-fighting service provided by the public fire department has a very intimate relationship with peoples' lives and property. However, due to the varieties of the foreground situations and the different perspectives of the victims and the fire department, people often have varied assessments about the results of the fire-fighting. This article will focus on the aspect of quality management and the use of the Delphi method in order to lessen the divergence of opinions about the quality of the fire-fighting service between the victims and the firefighters and increase the management effectiveness of the service by formulating a conceptual framework to measure the quality of the fire-fighting service. The researchers have the hope that the divergent opinions and concepts of the people and the firefighters can be reduced by building such a conceptual framework of fire-fighting service quality for a fire department. This conceptual framework can then become the basis of fire-fighting service quality management. Studying the results obtained through the Delphi method, it was found that there are six main dimensional factors in the conceptual framework of fire-fighting service quality for a fire department, including the quick response in the fire-fighting process, understanding the fire ground situations, controlling the fire-fighting resources, dealing with the operations properly, and reducing the damage and casualties of the fire at the same time. With the building of this conceptual framework, the members of the fire departments can enhance the quality of the management of the fire-fighting service and, at the same time, the public will be satisfied with the better protection provided by the fire departments.