Lee County volunteer fire departments looking to come up with Standard Operating Procedures Manual
The SOP will help enhance efficiency, safety, accountability and consistency
LEE COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – As chief of the Guntown Volunteer Fire Department, Larry McCoy knows the importance of training.
He also knows the importance of processes and procedures in the fire service. That’s why the Lee County Fire Chiefs’ Association has been getting input and information for a Standard Operating Procedures manual for volunteer fire departments.
“It keeps every department operating on the same page,” Chief McCoy said.
The fire chief’s association is working on an SOP manual. It is a main agenda item at the group’s monthly meetings.
The goal is to provide written guidelines for safe, consistent operations, covering areas such as chain of command, equipment use, training, and personnel matters.
Chief McCoy said an SOP will help save valuable time whenever there is a major incident involving multiple agencies.
“If Unity comes to Guntown to help us fight a structure fire, they are on the same page, know what we do; nobody has to explain to them what we want or anything else,” McCoy said.
Unity Volunteer Fire Chief Larry Williams said there are many advantages to having an SOP, such as standardized actions, reduced liability, and safety.
“To keep anyone from getting hurt or something bad happening, you have to know what to expect from everybody else, like when the first truck gets there, you know what they are going to do, but everyone coming behind them , they got a job too and that is what this takes care of,” Chief Williams said.
The Lee County Fire Chief’s association has been identifying needs, and collaborating on a county wide SOP manual for months. Guntown Chief McCoy says it could be approved by January.
That SOP manual will cover eight volunteer fire departments in the county, along with the Tupelo Fire Department.
