Chapter 12

Question 1

Qualities such as leadership, management skills, decision making, and ability to communicate are necessary at both levels, but may require greater depth of understanding or have different applications for company officers at level II.

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Question 2

Level II company officers will lead supervisors. They will manage higher level leadership issues, and they will be responsible for managing a larger sphere of influence.

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Question 3

To assist with handling inquiries and establishing strategic partnerships, company officers should be familiar with how strategic partnerships affect the delivery of safety, injury, and fire prevention education programs.

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Question 4

Company officer IIs may conduct preliminary investigations to determine a fire’s origin and cause.

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Question 5

The level II fire officer must be familiar with the jurisdiction’s health and safety policies, potential risks and hazards that result from unsafe practices, and methods for mitigating such risks and hazards.

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Question 6

An important challenge many fire officers face is managing change in the unit or organization.

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Question 7

To successfully manage change, the company officer must know the forces that generate change and the change process itself.

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Question 8

It is likely that the company officer will be the individual who implements change at the operational level.

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Question 9

The company officer must always maintain a positive posture toward the change, even when the officer does not necessarily agree with it.

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Question 10

Knowing the types of change and how to overcome resistance to change, implementing the change process, and using a follow up plan can lead to successful change management.

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Question 11

Problem solving may be part of the process for initiating and managing issues relating to change.

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Question 12

The ability to influence change is one of the most important skills for a company officer to master.

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Question 13

A good company officer will be able to lower resistance to change by building momentum with personnel who are leaders with their respective peer groups.

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Question 14

Change can originate from two forces: Internal and External

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Question 15

Internal forces originate within the unit/organization and include changes that are created by the delegation of responsibility, periodic reviews, organizational restructuring, and realignment of duties and tasks.

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Question 16

Internal forces may be driven by external forces that originate from political decisions, economic trends, community service demands, changes in technology, and changes in the demographics of the community, among others.

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Question 17

Support for change must be present at the top levels of an organization in order for it to be successful, but those that the change affects must take ownership through involvement and commitment.

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Question 18

Consistent communication on the change process helps eliminate fear and can move the change process forward in a positive manner.

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Question 19

The types of change that an organization may have to undergo include: strategic, structure, technology, people.

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Question 20

Strategic - affecting the organization’s short or long range plan.

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Question 21

Structure - affecting the organization’s design

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Question 22

Technology - Addition of new equipment, apparatus, communication systems, extinguishing agents, or computerization.

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Question 23

People - affecting skills, performances, attitudes, behaviors, or cultures of the workforce to meet the force of change.

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Question 24

Research indicates that organizational change can fail when employees resist it.

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Question 25

When company officers recognize the resistance to change and take steps to reduce it, they can increase the opportunity for success in the process.

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Question 26

When company officers assume the role of a change agent, they influence or cause change.

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Question 27

A change agent is a person who leads a change project or initiative.

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Question 28

Because bringing about change can be time consuming and involve complex issues and barriers, the change agent must have commitment and persistance.

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Question 29

In order to affect change, the officer must understand small group relations and interaction.

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Question 30

To combat change induced stress, the officer must have skills that will reduce or eliminate stress.

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Question 31

Interpersonal skills are essential and the officer must be able to communicate effectively with individuals and groups.

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Question 32

The officer must be able to sell the change to the organization and the community.

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Question 33

The officer must have time management skills and the ability to prioritize the project.

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Question 34

Even though change can come from both internal and external sources, establishing and following a specific change process benefits the organization.

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Question 35

All company officers should know the implementation policy and process.

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Question 36

Once the need for change has been recognized, resistance has been overcome, and an innovative solution has been agreed upon, it is time to implement the change.

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Question 37

Because change is a continuing process, it must be monitored to determine the effectiveness of the new process or procedure.

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Question 38

Change management models can help company officers better understand change and how it affects their organization.

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Question 39

Company officers should take best practices and lessons learned from the fire service and other fields and apply models that meet their organizational needs.

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Question 40

Change, whether minor or major, can be disruptive to an organization and company officers must make every attempt to facilitate change in a positive manner.

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Question 41

The follow up program is a formal part of the process that continues to monitor the change's effect.

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Question 42

The follow up is applied to behavioral changes made by individuals as well as structural changes to the organization.

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Question 43

The follow up program becomes part of the annual performance evaluation for personnel and the periodic review of programs, operations, or policies.

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Question 44

The change process should be viewed as cyclical rather than linear.

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Question 45

The follow up is the feedback that takes the results and loops them back to the first portion of the process, becoming the current level of performance.

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Question 46

As first line supervisors, company officers monitor the change process as it affects the company personnel and operations.

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Question 47

When feedback indicates that the process requires alteration, the company officer should inform the organization's administration.

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Question 48

Divide the change process into attainable segments and goals, and involve a diverse group of people to participate in the process.

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Question 49

Gain support for the change from the key actors in the organization and community.

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Question 50

Key actors within the organization and community must support any changes to be made.

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Question 51

Communicate the vision to all members of the organization, customers, and community stakeholders.

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Question 52

During the planning process, try to determine the arguments against the change and develop strategies to answer these arguments logically and factually.

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Question 53

Take a proactive approach and never allow the arguments to become barriers to change.

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Question 54

Prematurely declaring that the goal has been met will reduce credibility and lessen the team's enthusiasm and motivation.

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Question 55

Implement the change and monitor the change's results to ensure that it becomes permanent.

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Question 56

NFPA 1021 standard for fire officer professional qualifications, item 5.1.1, general prerequisite knowledge, identifies those knowledge items that candidates should know prior to testing for fire officer level II.

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Question 57

Most citizens have more direct contact with local government departments and divisions, to include fire and emergency services, than with any other level.

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Question 58

NFPA 1021 requires company officers to understand how local governments enact laws and/or ordinances.

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Question 59

In terms of emergency service issues, the local government will generally consider any information that the organization presents.

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Question 60

The authority over the jurisdiction, such as the council or commission, enacts local legislation.

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Question 61

A commonwealth is a state in which the government functions with the common consent of the people.

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Question 62

Provincial governments have three branches that include a unicameral legislative assembly, an executive headed by a premier, and a court system.

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Question 63

The Yukon territory's political head is the leader of the majority party and carries the title of government leader.

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Question 64

Canada's legislature, called parliament, has two houses: the house of commons, and the senate.

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Question 65

The most apparent differences between the U.S. and canadian federal governments exist in the executive branch.

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Question 66

An appointed official called the Governor General represents the British sovereign in Canada.

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Question 67

The true Chief executive of the canadian government is the Prime minister, who is assisted by a cabinet of ministers for various governmental functional areas.

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Question 68

Company officers should be familiar with the interagency and intergovernmental agreements their organization may have with other agencies.

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Question 69

Formal agreements between the fire and emergency services organization and various levels of government and agencies help ensure a coordinated response during a crisis.

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Question 70

NIMS-based ICS for Unified Command should be used as the model for response management in the area contingency plans to ensure an effective response.

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Question 71

Fire and emergency services organizations may enter into aid agreements with other agencies to provide additional resources to the fire and emergency services organization.

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Question 72

An interagency aid agreement may be a simple function of the local government and not require a written document to verify it, although a document may aid in establishing command and control detail.

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Question 73

The U.S. National Response Plan was created to integrate federal government prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation plans into one all discipline, all hazard approach to domestic incident management.

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Question 74

The NRP and NIMS provide the framework and processes to integrate all the capabilities and resources of the jurisdictions, disciplines, and levels of government and the private sector into a cohesive, unified, and coordinated approach to domestic incident management.

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Question 75

While representing the fire and emergency services organization, the company officer must keep the organization's interests in mind while also considering the community's best interests.

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Question 76

Like the company officer I, the company officer II must interact personally with superiors, peers, and subordinates to accomplish organizational goals and tasks.

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Question 77

Good communication skills are vital to developing interpersonal relationships and maintaining good community relations, as well as relations with other organizations and agencies.

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Question 78

Good communication skills are necessary for company officers at all levels.

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Question 79

CO II candidates should evaluate and improve their interpersonal, oral, written, and emergency scene communications skills as part of their advancement training.

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Question 80

Departments use data processing and computer systems to follow accidents trends, track data, and compile reports.

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Question 81

When supplying the facts relating to an incident, company officers are being interviewed, and they should avoid straying into speculation or expressing opinions.

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Question 82

Executive summaries are usually provided to supervisors or administrative bodies by the authors of the original reports and attached to the fronts of reports or papers.

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Question 83

An executive summary ensures that the essential information contained in the report is read.

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Question 84

An executive summary is basically the main topic statement of the report followed by bullets denoting the main points.

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Question 85

The conclusion of the summary is the recommendation or suggested action found in the paper or report.

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Question 86

An executive summary may also be an analysis of a technical report by a reviewer other than the original author.

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Question 87

Proper risk assessment also considers the frequency of the risks becoming hazards.

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Question 88

Determining frequency is based upon collected data.

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Question 89

Collecting data is a good place to begin identifying risks in the community.

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Question 90

Company officer II's may be tasked with supervising multi-unit implementation of community risk reduction programs.

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Question 91

Education aims to reduce fire and other risks that lead to deaths and injuries in the community by informing the public about potential hazards and how to prevent or mitigate them.

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Question 92

All firefighters are part of the fire and life safety educational delivery system.

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Question 93

Engineering provides solutions to prevent the risk or reduce the harm once the risk happens.

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Question 94

Engineering based strategies do not depend primarily on human factors; they are built into the environment.

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Question 95

Enforcement refers to codes, ordinances, and public policies that reduce risk for the community and have the force of law.

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Question 96

Economic incentives encourage individuals and the community to implement risk reduction practices through positive or negative financial outcomes.

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Question 97

Economic incentives to motivate behavioral change can be positive, such as coupons and rebates, or negative, such as fees, fines and penalties for noncompliance.

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Question 98

Emergency response is a mitigation strategy in which first responders intervene during emergencies to lessen or prevent loss.

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Question 99

Communities should ensure that emergency response services have the resources they need to effectively serve the community.

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Question 100

Community risk reduction strategies are often called the five E's.

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Question 101

Taken together, the five E's provide a comprehensive plan for building good CRR plans and programs.

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