Side Effects of Community Risk Reduction

For decades, fire service agencies across the United States focused on fire prevention as a primary measure to reduce death and injury in the community. Through a blanket approach, we all provided education and resources to the residential community and code enforcement to businesses.  However, there was a fundamental lack in risk identification, risk prioritization, and risk-based resource deployments to the community.  

This strategic risk-based approach is the foundation of Community Risk Reduction (CRR).  In and around 2008, a change began to spread throughout the fire service industry.  The transformation centered around a cycle of risk identification, prioritization, resource investment, and evaluation. This cycle became the foundation for Community Risk Reduction and a national movement within our industry.

One of the most noticeable differences between traditional fire prevention and CRR is that our old school methods exhibited an absence of data-driven risk identification.  In the CRR model of activity, the risk of a specific community (or specific community demographic) is identified and prioritized through a comprehensive assessment. Reliable data is collected and specific risks are identified and defined.  

Raging structure fire risk may not always be our highest priority… who would have thought?   The data will likely show the risk of cardiac arrest, falls, or drownings may rank higher and resources can be deployed accordingly.  For those of us still looking for fire risk, we may find a specific community with late night kitchen fires prompting the deployment of education and stovetop fire stop devices.  

Having that comprehensive understanding of the community is difficult to fully achieve.  The difficulty is overshadowed however, by the side effects that accompany Community Risk Reduction activities.  We all understand the impacts and measured outcomes within our communities, but rarely do we discuss what happens inside our own departments 

Fully implementing Community Risk Reduction within an organization provides an array of benefits on top of the reduction of risk in the community.  The model of risk assessment, prioritization, and evaluation allows the organization to grow in many areas.

Organizational Self-Assessment: 

To achieve reliable outcomes from a model-based program, the organization must understand the resources, current programs, support structure, and strategic direction.  The model of Community Risk Reduction pushes organizations into self-assessment as plans are made for service-delivery, deployment, and evaluation. Self-assessment in the traditional fire service is a scary endeavor for many.  As an industry, we must open the doors and brush away the cobwebs before we can begin to make real progress.  

We must first understand who we are, what we can offer under our current models, and where we can go in the future.  Self-assessment allows our organizations to identify areas for continuous improvement only after fully understanding who we are and what we do.  Embracing the Community Risk Reduction Model opens the doors for comprehensive self-assessment.  

Workload Reduction:  

Model-based programs are focused and/or targeted.  As an example, instead of providing a county-wide fall prevention program, specific communities or locations are identified for resource deployment.  The risk of falls is decreased with a deployment of resources to a specific population, community, or location- thus reducing the workload.  Additionally, we didn’t have to work as hard to deliver program and achieve higher measurable outcomes.  

In a recent example, the Henrico Smoke Alarm Initiative installed more than 1,500 alarms in twelve months utilizing a risk-based deployment method.  Rather than using hundreds of operational staff knocking on doors, the program used two light-duty staff members.  More smoke alarms were installed in 2017 under this program than in the previous seven years combined.  As an added bonus, our risk assessment is 89% reliable at identifying homes without a working alarm.  

Increased Efficiency:  

Because of the focused and targeted nature of programs developed under the Community Risk Reduction Model, not only is workload decreased, but organizational efficiency is increased.  Utilizing a risk assessment, the most impact can be delivered to the community with minimal effort.

As an example, a program I developed uses a risk assessment to deploy engine companies to conduct life safety inspections, complete pre-incident plans, and satisfy code enforcement needs… all at 12% of the workload of the antiquated program it replaced.  Additionally, all target hazards will be pre-planned every twenty-four months district-wide.

Partnerships:  

One of the key components in the Community Risk Reduction Model that is rarely discussed is partnerships.  Working within organizational silos is highly inefficient and prone to failure. Finding the right people to sit together at the right table is a recipe for success.  By providing an environment for your department to work directly with other internal and external agencies grants ownership and pride in the community outcomes.

With our ever increasing access to technology and data, the fire service will continue to take giant steps forward in generating community outcomes under the CRR model.  Policy-makers and community leaders alike will seek out the measurable outcomes they expect from these Community Risk Reduction activities.  For departmental leadership however, we get to double-dip and recognize the parallel internal benefits of CRR.  Increased efficiency, decreased workload, fostered partnerships, and self-assessment all contribute to a better organizational experience.  That’s a better organizational experience for our own personnel, the greatest asset we have.