Chapter 1
Chapter 1
IMPROVEDMENT MEASURES
KIM L. ARADILLA
NOEL L. ARADILLA
JENELYN B. BUSLON
JACKYLYN G. GALARION
IAN B. HINAYAS
MAYETTE P. ORTEGA
MARIECHE T. TUYOR
by:
KIM L. ARADILLA
NOEL L. ARADILLA
JENELYN B. BUSLON
JACKYLYN G. GALARION
IAN B. HINAYAS
MAYETTE P. ORTEGA
MARIECHE T. TUYOR
APPROVAL SHEET
EXAMINING TRIBUNAL
The researchers acknowledge with heartfelt thanks and gratitude for the
assistance of the following persons in making this research possible.
OIC of the College of Criminal Justice, as well as the faculty and staff for giving
the researchers the encouragement and inspiration that spurned the realization of this
work.
To the thesis panelist for sparing their endless patience in reading the
manuscript and above all for their valuable knowledge which somewhat like a medicine
that heals the writer’s muscle pains;
Their parents for the moral and financial support, friends and relatives who
extend a lending hand; and
Above all, to the Almighty God, for giving courage, strength, divine guidance
and enlightenment in the realization of this study.
Researchers
DEDICATION
This study is wholeheartedly dedicated to our beloved parents, who have been our
source of inspiration and gave us strength when we thought giving up, who continually
To our brothers, sisters, relatives, mentor, friends and classmates who shared their
And lastly, we dedicated this research to the Almighty God, thank you for the guidance,
strength, power of mind, protection and skills and for giving us a healthy life. All of this,
we offer to you.
Researchers
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Nowadays, for many employees, successfully combining work and non-work has
become a major challenge that sometimes creates problems or conflicts. The process
whereby work demands negatively affect one’s functioning in the home domain is
health complaints since prolonged mental and/or physical preoccupation with work
during non-work time limits the opportunities to recover from the effort expended at
work. A sustained lack of recovery will eventually manifest itself in health complaints.
The reverse process – that is, health complaints leading to work–home interference –
may also emerge, because it is possible that employees suffering from health
Firefighters have one of the most dangerous occupations and have higher than
average rates of workplace deaths and injuries. They perform physically demanding
work, encompassing multiple fire ground tasks: fire attack, search and rescue, exterior
and are frequently first on scene for emergency medical response, motor vehicle
accidents, and other emergencies such as floods, earthquakes, cyclones and terrorism.
Firefighting personnel experience stress each day in their work settings. Their
ability to cope with stress affects their capacity to function effectively in emergency
situations. Society has a stake in the ability of firefighting personnel to carry out their
responsibilities effectively. Given the threat of natural disasters, the threats from
terrorist attacks, mass casualties, and major environmental incidents, society depends
on the services of firefighting personnel who work long hours with little relief in these
situations. Fire departments and the personnel working in those settings need to
understand the stress involved and identify and develop effective coping strategies.
(2:2011).
There is a stark reality of life and death in the firefighter’s world.The day-to-day
when officers over-commit, devoting too much discretionary time to the team,
volunteer training, committee work, and among others. This over-involvement can
trigger a personality shift as the person becomes solely identified with the job. Soon,
they don’t know who they are when out of uniform, and their family doesn’t know who
they are at all (3:2010). This situation triggers the BS Criminology students of BIT
International College to conduct deep study on the life status of fire officer in
Tagbilaran City Fire Station in order to provide proposed program for the enhancement
Figure I
Theoretical Background
Theoretical Background
Theory. This study is premised on Transactional Model of Coping Stress as
the processes of coping with stressful events. Stressful experiences are construed as
external stressor. This is mediated by firstly the person’s appraisal of the stressor and
secondly on the social and cultural resources at his or her disposal. When faced with a
Secondary appraisals address what one can do about the situation. Actual coping
efforts aimed at regulation of the problem give rise to outcomes of the coping process.
In the table below the key constructs of the Transaction Model of Stress and Coping are
summarized.
selfatomization, that is, the person adapts to the stressor and does not require
will turn out for the better, regardless of how bad the current conditions may be. They
identified three types of stressors: 1. Mass casualty stressors (e.g., natural disasters,
event is not as disturbing; and 3. Daily hassles are the small, day-to-day situations or
Lazarus and Cohen theory of stress and coping identified ways in which
individuals are affected in the environment by stressors, how they encounter life’s daily
stressors, and how coping styles may be differentiated depending on the situational
aspects of the stressors. This theory connects on the importance of the family of the
fire fighter to be aware on the effect that occurs after the adrenaline wears off; this
leaves firefighters completely exhausted. At work, they are alive, alert, energetic, and
involved. When they come home, the after-effects may set in, and they may be tired,
detached, isolated, and apathetic. The greater the demand at work, the greater the
Legal basis. The study is anchored on the legal framework of Republic Act
2008” in which the state It is the policy of the State to ensure public safety and
promote economic development through the prevention and suppression of all kinds of
destructive fires and promote the professionalization of the fire service as a profession.
Towards this end, the State shall enforce all laws, rules and regulations to ensure
adherence to standard fire prevention and safety measures, and promote accountability
for fire safety in the fire protection service and prevention service.
The Bureau of Fire Protection Office shall constitute a technical staff of highly
qualified persons who are knowledgeable on fire prevention, fire safety, and fire
suppression. The complexity of their work with a greater prominence of danger has
created an increase in the skills needed in firefighting and broadening of the firefighter’s
limit.
Related Literature
extinguish hazardous fires that threaten property and civilian or natural populations,
and to rescue people from dangerous situations, like collapsed or burning buildings or
crashed vehicles. In some areas, they are also trained in Emergency Medical
researchers were not aware of any extant biases. Firefighting personnel may experience
a compromised physical health status and a lack of confidence to handle stress. Shifts
are so unpredictable they often compete with family obligations and negatively impact
particularly local and police departments. As every fire scene is technically a crime
scene until deemed otherwise (depending on the area) by a Fire Chief, a Police
Department, or qualified investigator, there is often overlap between the responsibilities
of responding firefighters and police officers such as evidence and scene protection,
initial observations of first respondents, and chain of evidence issues. The increasing
role of firefighters in providing emergency medical services also brings firefighters into
preservation of property, basic first aid, and fire control. Firefighting is further broken
down into skills which include size-up, extinguishing, ventilation, salvage and overhaul.
Wildland firefighting includes size up, containment, extinguishment, and mop up.
Search and Rescue, which has already been mentioned, is performed early in any fire
scenario and many times is in unison with extinguishing and ventilatio (7:2013).
Anyone having the honor of wearing the five horns knows well that having one
emergency response professionalism and proficiency in a fire department. This does not
mean, though, that all chiefs need to go to all calls, especially the well-known nuisance
alarms. Further, for those chiefs who have often found the position to be that of a
problem-solver, wet nurse and father confessor, in addition to all the roles usually
associated with the job, time away from these work responsibilities is crucial in order to
structures governing responses—a general alarm means a turnout of the entire body,
including all chiefs. The result: There are often three chiefs, numerous company officers
and many firefighters for assignments that are little more than confirming the stated
nature of what is a non-emergency call. More to the point, such turnouts also lead to
consequences like interrupted time at home, broken dinner dates, missed ball games
and school events, and other unnecessary disturbances to an already stressed home
life.
The management role of the Chief of BFP Office as it relates to addressing the
impact of the fire fighting responsibilities on their families. What followed was
implementation of some simple management initiatives that were easy to introduce and
maintain at the fire department, and that eased the impact of the firehouse on all of
households. The hardest part, was getting some fire officers to actually step back to
their family, resist the temptation to respond every time the pager activated, and
accept that it was OK to take a night off. Further, it was also a challenge for some other
line officers to understand that they would have to share more of the load. After all,
there are some officers who work hard to resist responsibility. The government and all
social agencies must lose no opportunity of insisting on the sanctity of marriage and the
The state and all social agencies must lose no opportunity of insisting on the
sanctity of marriage and the nobility of family life; that married life is something to be
entered into carefully. The government must take effective steps to control those
service. It is important to recognize exactly how stress can adversely affect our health,
job performance, career decision making, morale, and family life.” It has been long
known that stress can cause a variety of conditions and symptoms, most of which are
detrimental to health and well-being. “Job stress, whether in the corporate world or on
an assembly line, can damage employee performance,” Moderate stress in many cases
increases productivity and can be pleasant for some people. But higher levels of stress
can interfere with your ability to do your job, is rarely pleasurable, and lead to
emotional and physical problems. Some of these may be decreased job satisfaction,
Related Studies
that firefighting is, indeed, an occupation with many potential stressors for fathers. The
majority work over 60 hours per week, and nearly half of our sample reported going
without sleep in the past month and feeling that their lives are in danger at times. On
average, the firefighters had seen a fellow firefighter killed in the line of duty. We were
feeling lower stress than the neutral response. Similarly, we were surprised to note that
the average work-to-family conflict rating was about neutral. It is unclear if these
if other factors are protective for firefighters, such as high social support. The
hypothesis regarding work role stressors and work-to-family conflict was partially
more than 60 hours per week, and lacking sleep were linked to work-to-family conflict
in the expected directions. We did not find that feeling that one’s life is often in danger
or that seeing a fellow firefighter killed are related to higher work-to-family conflict, but
we suspect that, as work stressors, they may be associated with negative individual
per week, and lack of sleep were associated with greater work-to-family conflict, as was
perceived childcare load. Work-to-family conflict was associated with higher parenting
stress and lower parenting satisfaction. Working more than 60 hours per week
salience factors were also associated with parenting stress and parenting satisfaction.
and suggest that the salience of the fatherhood role provides a contextual
understanding for the relationship between work and parenting in fathers’ lives.
Personnel to Cope with Stress” found out that after involvement in a disaster or a
traumatic incident, firefighting personnel may be at risk for acute stress disorder leading
lack of sleep, and constant worry or fear, after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic
event. These symptoms can lead to a significant increase in psychiatric problems and
may require professional intervention (Clohessy & Ehlers, 1999). Firefighting personnel
are confronted with occupational and daily life stressors as they try to balance their
work in life-saving efforts with the needs and demands of family life. Even though they
face stress every day, little is known about how they cope. Other work-related factors
can lead to stress, distress, and burnout. The contributions of unrelenting ambient
noise, role ambiguity, uncertainty of one’s job performance, and hazardous work
personnel may experience physical and emotional problems after returning from an
emergency call or returning home for 48 hours. The results showed that firefighters
who were not physically fit, who lacked social support, and who were unable to control
stimulate physical activity and interest. External support could be solicited from health
health. The fire department could promote healthy activities to address relevance
private lives. Identifying the factors leading to stress and solving these concerns
contribute to higher group attendance, and create a higher level of interaction. Sharing
information within the group can stimulate insight into firefighting personnel’s stress,
address others who have similar feelings and have experienced similar situations, and
home interference as a serious risk for the occurrence and increase of fatigue and
view, as relationships between these health complaints and sickness and absenteeism
have been well established. This underlines the importance of a company policy aiming
private life, companies can avail of several measures such as the following : offering
flexible working time arrangements, for example, flexible start and finishing times, or
compressed work schedules; offering care facilities, such as subsidised parental leave
and subsidised childcare facilities; creating a company culture in which employees who
experience work–home interference feel entitled to use the facilities that are available.
EMR or motor vehicle calls, as well as inherent characteristics of the job, such as long
shiftwork, and organisational issues, including the adequacy of resources and the
degree of management support. A number of incidents have been identified as causing
higher levels of stress in firefighters including: 1) rare incidents such as major disasters
and terrorist events; and 2) incidents that firefighters deal with in the normal course of
their duties such as witnessing the death or injury of co-workers or patients, sustaining
Conceptual Framework
Work demands may interfere with a person’s ability to function in the non-work
depression and fatigue. Such health problems accumulate if this work situation is
shows the flow of the study. The inputs consist of the data of the profile of
the fire officers respondents in terms of their age, gender, educational attainment, and
the length of service as fire fighter, the responses of the respondents on the everyday
life of the fire fighter officer, and their preparedness during the alarm.
self-made questionnaire was used to collect data relative to responses of the fire fighter
respondents. The results from the data gathered were tallied, tabulated and
skills and profiling purpose of the fire officers in the Bureau of Fire Protection Office
THE PROBLEM
of life status of fire officer in Tagbilaran City Fire Station on their everyday life and work
for the year 2017 with and end of proposing an enhancement of their skills and
a. Age;
b. Gender;
c. Educational Attainment;
d. Length of service;
2. What is the situation on the everyday life of the fire fighter officer of BFP Tagbilaran
Office?
3. What is the preparedness level of fire officer during the fire alarm?
a. The situation on the everyday life of the fire fighter officer of BFP
Tagbilaran Office;
profiling purpose of the fire officers in the Bureau of Fire Protection Office (BFP)
Tagbilaran City?
Null Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated for testing at 0.05 level of
a. The situation on the everyday life of the fire fighter officer of BFP
Tagbilaran Office;
The output of the investigation arrived with numerous advantages and benefits
Bureau of Fire Protection Tagbilaran Office. The result of the study would
provide enhancement program designed for their benefits in order to upgrade their fire
fighting skills as well as maintain the firm relationship with their own family, relatives
and friends.
Community Residents. The output of the study would gave them competent,
efficient and stable fire fighter officers who would help rescue and preserve their life
and property.
Personal Property. The result of the study would further enhance the skills of
the fire fighters in BFP Tagbilaran Office, thus, personal property would be preserved
more fully.
Students. The study would give them information regarding the life of the fire
fighters in which they may follow in the future. Hence, they would then learn to balance
The study covered the Fire Fighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection Tagbilaran
Office. The researchers gathered forty (40) fire fighters to respond in their study.
The study has limitations brought about by the nature of the study. The primary
limitation of this study was the concentration and consistency on the response of the
whether it can affect the findings and conclusions which would represent the groups as
a whole. The researcher relies on the respondent’s honesty and sincerity in answering
the questions. Such constraint was averted by securing the official permit from the
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
made questionnaire as the main data gathering tool to obtain the objectives of the
inquisition. This method is used in order to ascertain the normal condition, to practice
The study covered the Fire Fighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection Tagbilaran
Office. The researchers gathered forty (40) fire fighters to respond in their study.
Research Instrument
assistance of their thesis adviser was used as the main data gathering instrument. This
questionnaire obtains data regarding the demographic profile and their responses were
used for this study. This consists of three parts, Part I focuses on the profile of the
respondents in terms of their age, gender, educational attainment and length of service
as Fire Fighter officers. Part II, presents the responses of the respondents on their
everyday life as a fire fighter officer; and lastly Part III, records the preparedness of
Data-Gathering Procedure
The researcher secured the permission for the distribution and dissemination of
City. After securing the needed consent, the researchers personally distributed the
questionnaire to the respondents to get the data desired for the study. The respondents
were given enough time to answer the questionnaire and requested to return the
The data gathered were tabulated, interpreted and analyzed in order to establish
the norms of occurrence through the simple percentage of computations. To obtain the
percentages, the frequency of responses to each item was divided by the total number
of cases and then multiplied by one hundred, thus: Percent =f /N X 100 ; where f=
frequency and N- number of cases.The dataon the demographic profile was obtained
using the mean as basis for the profile table: M=Ex/N; where Ex is the summation of all
The following weights were assigned to the scales with their corresponding
equivalents.
3 Experienced (2.51-3.25)
Statistical Treatment
the life status of fire officer in Tagbilaran City Fire Station, the data were subjected to a
statistical formula using the Chi-square test of Contingency, with the following formula:
X² = Ʃ (fo-fe)²/ fe
In which :
fo - obtained frequency from the given value
fe - expected frequency from the given value
To prove the validity of the obtained r value, it was checked on the table of
critical value at 0.05 level of significance at a given degree of freedom (df).
DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following terms used in the study are operationally defined because they are
BFP
Tagbilaran City.
Fire
This refers to the active principle of burning, characterized by the heat and light
of combustion.
Fire Alarm
the occupants of the building or fire fighting elements of the presence or danger of fire
to enable them to undertake immediate action to save life and property and to suppress
the fire.
Fire Hazard
The term refers to any condition or act which increases or may cause an increase
in the probability of the occurrence of fire, or which may obstruct, delay, hinder or
interfere with fire fighting operations and the safeguarding of life and property.
Fire Protective and Fire Safety Device
This refers to any device intended for the protection of buildings or persons to
include but not limited to built-in protection system such as sprinklers and other
automatic extinguishing system, detectors for heat, smoke and combustion products
and other warning system components, personal protective equipment such as fire
blankets, helmets, fire suits, gloves and other garments that may be put on or worn by
Hazardous Operation/Process
Horizontal Exit
The term refers to the passageway from one building to another or through or
Chapter I, The Problem and Its Scope, contains the introduction, the
framework, the statement of the problem, the hypothesis, the importance of the study,
the scope and limitations of the study, the research design which includes the research
environment and subjects, the research instrument, the data gathering procedure, the
interprets the data gathered in the light of the different aspects of the problem; and
presents a summary of the problem, the research design and the findings, the
conclusions drawn there from and the recommendations which include a proposed
profiling and skills enhancement program for the Tagbilaran City Fire Officers.