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Iowa City Fire Department
CFAI Accreditation -- Process and Timeline
A. [March 24, 1997] Mission, Vision, and Values Statements
A department meeting was called to kick off the strategic planning process. Five
meetings followed that were facilitated by Tim Shields of the Iowa Institute of Public
Affairs. Each shift met independently with Mr. Shields, as did the command staff. A
final meeting consisting of combined representatives led to the formation of the
department’s mission, vision, and values statements.
B. [August 29, 1997] Self Assessment Documents
Four committees were established to proceed with the self-assessment process. The
committees were structured according to the following: Administration and Support,
Emergency Operations, Fire Prevention, and Training & Equipment. The committees
were working out of the Fire and Emergency Service Self-Assessment Manual, 2nd
Edition. Of note, the department was ultimately accredited under the 7th Edition
FESSAM.
Phase II Committee Charter
Members
ADMINISTRATION &
SUPPORT
EMERGENCY
OPERATIONS
B.C. Humston Brenda Miller B.C. Stutzman Lt. Grier
Capt. Blank FF. Langstaff Capt. Smith FF. Vest
Lt. Lacina FF. Rohr Capt. Barta FF. Suedkamp
Lt. B. Platz FF. Riss Lt. Hanson FF. Buser
Lt. Stimmel Lt. Bok FF. Tinnes
FIRE PREVENTION
TRAINING &
EQUIPMENT
F.M. Jensen FF. Koch B.C. Brenneman FF. Reyhons
Lt. Brown FF. Knight T.O. Dolan FF. Henry
Lt. Kelly FF. Greer FF. Hansen
FF. Wyss FF. Bredman
The self assessment began with a 156 page Research and Information Collection Guide.
The yes/no questions began to identify deficiencies within the organization, as well as
exhibits to substantiate conformance. The committees went on to complete a first round
self-assessment document on or about December 1999. The appraisals clearly identified
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our strengths as a municipal fire agency, as well as the areas that needed to be improved
upon. ‘To-do lists’ evolved as a way to track our progress and prioritize goals. Some
shortcomings were easily corrected, while others required budget authority and/or a
sequence of changes to ultimately comply.
C. [February 12, 2001] Strategic Planning Document
Jude West, Professor Emeritus, Management and Organizations Department, Henry B.
Tippie College of Business, The University of Iowa, was retained to assist in the
development of a strategic plan. Committee members included two citizen members
(Ann Rhodes & James Berry), the Assistant Director of PCD (Jeff Davidson) and the fire
department command staff (A. Rocca, R. Jensen, R. Stutzman, E. Brenneman, J.
Humston, and D. Smith). The final document (FY2003 to FY2012) was presented to
council in August 2002. The original document included 18 goals. On January 6, 2006,
an addendum was released, adding nine more goals to the FY2006-2008 time frame.
D. [February 2, 2005 – August 31, 2007] Standards of Response Coverage
Document
Adam Chapin (2/2/05 – 12/30/05) was a University of Iowa mechanical engineering
student that interned in the fire marshal’s office. Adam assisted with fire protection
equipment plan review and special projects. Adam was very skilled with Microsoft Excel
and created an important analysis tool to help us quantify risk factors on the 20,000 plus
parcel data in Iowa City. The Risk Hazard and Value Evaluation (RHAVE) project was
an important first step in enumerating the scope, complexity, and relationship of the
various risk factors. Adam obtained the majority of the data from the City Assessor and
the University of Iowa before graduating. Buildings were scored in five main categories
and several subcategories to quantify a final overall score. Adam’s replacement, Nick
Prybil (3/2/06 – 12/21/07), finished gathering the data and worked with Rick Havel of
Johnson County to create a GIS map file to visually display the parcels and risk factors,
while adding annual response data layers to correlate historical data by type of incident
and year. We could now start to analyze risk by fire district and census tract and overlay
the information with a historical response perspective. The risk analysis portion of
‘Standards of Cover’ was taking shape. To summarize, standards of response coverage
documents are those written policies and procedures that establish the distribution and
concentration of fixed and mobile resources of an agency.
Bogdana Rus (8/30/05 – 8/31/07), an urban planning graduate student intern worked
within all of our documents to create the charts and graphs, assemble required exhibits,
and make the performance indicators reflect current practices. Nearly six years had gone
by since the performance indicators were first drafted. Many changes took place during
that time and needed to be incorporated into the documents. The Commission on Fire
Accreditation International (CFAI) was now operating out of the 7th Edition of the
FESSAM. Bogdana revisited all 244 performance indicators, working closely with the
command staff to assure accuracy.
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E. [September 15, 2005 – March 2, 2008] Agency Status
Registered Agency -
On September 15, 2005, the Iowa City Fire Department became a registered agency with
the CFAI. Registered agency status provides access to CFAI mailing lists, newsletters,
network, and trained members of the commission to answer questions and offer guidance.
Applicant Agency -
On March 3, 2006, the Iowa City Fire Department became an applicant agency.
Applicant agencies must have an accreditation manager that has received ‘self-
assessment’, ‘standard of cover’, and ‘peer assessor’ workshop training. Chief Rocca
became the accreditation manager. With applicant agency status, final documents had to
be submitted to the CFAI within 18 months. An accreditation mentor was assigned to
assist with a first review of our documents. Scott Avery of O’Fallon, MO, was our
accreditation mentor. Due to timing delays beyond anyone’s control, Scott’s
involvement was minimal.
Candidate Agency -
On September 13, 2007, the Iowa City Fire Department became a candidate agency. The
peer assessment team was assigned and the Iowa City Fire Department’s 7th Edition
FESSAM documents, 10-Year Strategic Plan, and Standards of Response Coverage 2007
documents were electronically made available to the peer assessment team members on a
SharePoint site for comment and analysis. Clarifications and modifications based upon
their comments continued through February 2008.
F. [March 2 – 6, 2008] Peer Assessor Site Visit
The Iowa City Peer Assessor Team -
Dwaine Booth, Team Leader - Florida
James Evans, California
Martin Goughnour, Oregon
Kenneth Uzeloc, Calgary, Alberta, CANADA
ARRIVAL DEPARTURE
Date Name Time
Flight
info Date Time
Flight
Info
1-
Mar Evans, J. 4:00
PM Am #3903 6-Mar 4:25 PM Am #4295
2-
Mar Booth D. 2:50
PM
Delta
#4637 6-Mar 11:05 AM
Delta
#5088
2-
Mar Goughnour M. 2:32
PM
NW
#2790 6-Mar 2:57 PM
NW
#2754
2-
Mar Uzeloc K. 2:32
PM
NW
#2790 6-Mar 9:03 AM
NW
#3049
The assessors were picked up at the Eastern Iowa Airport and given a tour of the city on
the afternoon and early evening of March 2nd. They were met and welcomed by the
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command staff and Local 610 President at The Brown Bottle restaurant later that evening.
On Monday morning, the assessment team officially started their work by explaining to
the mayor and others assembled their peer assessment roles, activities, and projected
schedule.
MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2008
Dwaine Booth James Evans Martin Goughnour Ken Uzeloc
9:00 Criterion 5A
Fire Suppression
9:30 BC Brown
(x5262)
Category 1
10:00 Fire Chief (x5256)
Deputy Chief (x5261)
10:30
11:00 Category 2 Criterion 5I
Aviation Rescue and
Fire Chief (x5256) Firefighting Services
11:30
Deputy Chief (x5261) BC Brown (x5262)
1:00 Criterion 5B & 5D
Fire Prevention
Category 1 Fire Investigation
1:30 City Manager
(x5013) Fire Marshal (x5257)
Category 4
2:00 Fire Chief (x5256) PI 5G.4
Deputy Chief (x5261)
Comm Dispatch Sup.
2:30 Category 3 Nancy Sereduck
(x5275)
Fire Chief (x5256)
3:00 Deputy Chief (x5261)
PCD Director (x5232)
3:30 PI 5F.1
Lt. Goolsby
4:00 (x5266)
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TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008
Dwaine Booth James Evans Martin Goughnour Ken Uzeloc
Category 1 Category 6
9:00 Mayor Bailey
(321-1385) Admin & Support
Category 4 PI 5B.2 BC Humston
9:30 Finance Director Fire Inspector Smith (x5262)
(x5053) (x5491)
Category 7
10:00 Finance Director
Risk Manager
Category 7
10:30 Personnel Director
(x5026)
PI 5G.4
11:00
Steve Spenler
JCAS Director
11:30 (356-6013)
1:00 Communications Communications Communications
Center Tour Center Tour Center Tour
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00 PI 5G.5
Deputy Chief (x5261)
Category 4
3:30 Deputy Chief (x5261)
BC Humston (x5262)
Criterion 5H
4:00 Domestic Preparedness
Planning & Response
4:30 Deputy Chief (x5261)
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2008
Dwaine Booth James Evans Martin Goughnour Ken Uzeloc
Criterion 5E Category 6
9:00 Technical Rescue BC Smith
(x5262)
Category 10 Capt. Blank
9:30 Fire Chief (x5256) (x5415)
Deputy Chief (x5261)
Category 8
10:00
BC Smith
Category 10 (x5262)
10:30
Fire Chief (x5256)
Deputy Chief (x5261)
11:00
11:30
Criterion 5C Category 6
1:00
Public Education Equip. Sup. (x5197)
Lt. Hansen Equip. Repair (x5193)
1:30 (x5265)
2:00
2:30
Category 9
3:00 Deputy Chief (x5261)
Admin Sec'y (x5260)
3:30
Duties and Responsibilities of the Assessment Team
• Review documentation and exhibits
• Conduct interviews
• Observe activities demonstrating compliance
• Verify and validate
• Affix scores where appropriate
• Write a draft report
• Participate in de-briefing
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Accreditation Report Executive Summary
“The Iowa City Fire Department’s accreditation self-study reflected a genuine appraisal
of current performance and improvement needs. This study represents a very time-
consuming, detailed analysis of the department and their personnel are to be commended
for their efforts.
• The Iowa City Fire Department has demonstrated that all core competencies
have been met and received a credible rating.
• The Iowa City Fire Department has demonstrated that all applicable criteria
have been met and received a credible rating.
• The Peer Assessment Team recommends Accredited Agency Status for the
Iowa City Fire Department from the Commission on Fire Accreditation
International.”
On August 13, 2008, the 11 member CFAI board met in Denver, CO, to consider the
team’s recommendation. The vote was unanimous to confer accreditation. As of March,
2008, there are but 128 accredited fire departments worldwide, 12 are from within the
eight state Missouri Valley Division of the IAFC.
F. Comments from Fire Chief Andrew J. Rocca
I recall back in 1997, when a department meeting was conducted regarding the
Commission on Fire Accreditation International process, a common question was raised.
What will accreditation do for the department? At that time the question wasn’t easy to
answer, and it occurred to me, the department needed to conduct an organizational self-
assessment and based on that assessment, a strategic plan could be written.
The CFAI process was established for the fire service by the International Fire Chiefs
Association and the International City Managers Association with tried and tested results.
I was convinced this process could be the key to setting the department on a systematic
journey of continual improvement. Even if the Iowa City Fire Department was never
accredited, by following the process, the department would continue to improve its
programs, practices, and procedures.
It’s hard to believe that more than ten years later, the Iowa City Fire Department is
scheduled to receive accredited agency status from the CFAI. This is a real testimony of
what the men and women of the organization can accomplish when we put our hearts and
minds to it. Even more important, is the lasting impact that continuous quality
improvement will have on the future of this organization for many, many years to come.
11/2008