Health Governance in Bangladesh free essay sample

The main aim of this assignment is to uncover the dynamics of politics in the agenda setting of the health governance of Bangladesh through investigation of the role of deferent actors. In every policy process politics play an important role in idea generation, formulation and implementation. Policy reform in health sector is not different from other policy reforms. In the process of health policy making of any country, different actors try to bring the governance in their favor through playing significant role. This interaction of deferent actors in governance is known as politics of public policy. In the complex political process of health sector reform viability of special agenda, type of changes in policy reform, vision of national politics play an important role. In Bangladesh, health is one of the most important sectors since good health ensure more social and economic production and good quality of life. Beyond debate, priority of the health sector is forefront in the development discourse, even though, ‘health sector’ it is associated with multi sectoral factors and actors. We will write a custom essay sample on Health Governance in Bangladesh or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thus, making implementation of health sector policy requires interplay of actors and factors from different sectors and levels: local, national, regional and international. Health situation in Bangladesh Till today, health situation in Bangladesh is not quite satisfactory. Lack of broad national health policy or policy vacuum, lack of policy priority setting, discontinuity of policy, lack of policy ownership, lack of resource allocation and lack of proper uses of resources due to lack institutional arrangement and elite dominated health sector are the main characteristics of health sector in Bangladesh. These characteristics create hindrance in the process of achievement of national and international goals and ultimately health situation of common people remains vulnerable. Bangladesh, being a country with small land size of 144,000 sq. km, has the burden of a huge population of 140 million. Still, with low per capita income and low literacy. Though Bangladesh has one of the strongest networks for delivering countrywide health services among developing countries, still the quality of services are not up to the mark and the services are neither client focused nor need based. In the following tables we demonstrated the trends of basic health indicators of Bangladesh Indicators1970s (1978-80)1980s (1990)1990s (1996-972000s (2003)2007 Population growth rate2. 72. 101. 741. 54NA Infant mortality rate(per 1000)150116776652 Maternal mortality rate105. 74. 13NA Delivery care by trained2581218 Under 5 mortality rate(per 1000)2991101169465 Table 3. 1: Trends of Basic Health Indicators of Bangladesh Heath governance system The government driven healthcare service has a network in all over the country from the centre to the extreme periphery, having two wings, one concerned with Population and Family Planning and the other concerned with Health in total. The service network has three approaches with primary care at upazilla level; secondary care at district level; and tertiary care at divisional level. To administer administrative activities the country has six administrative divisions and 64 districts and furthermore the districts are divided into upazilas (476 in number) and upazilas into unions (4,770). It is estimated that each of the union consist of 25,000 people in most cases each of the unions are again divided into nine villages. The upazila health complexes (463) acts as the first referral centers for primary health care along with one district levels hospitals at all districts (64) and most of the specialized hospitals resides at tertiary levels, mostly in Dhaka – the capital of Bangladesh. There is a standard setup for health services in an upazilla consisting of one upazilla health complex, one union health family welfare center (UHFWC) at union level (4062) and community clinics at village levels for every 6000 populations. It is mentionable that the community clinics were established under the Health and Population Sector Program (HPSP) a donor driven mega program – were not functioning till now and being revitalized in recent periods (from the regime of interim caretaker government to present AL government) Apart from general health services other services i. e. minimal reproductive, maternal, and child health care services get provided by these centers for the local people free of cost. The ratio of physicians and registered nurses to population is 241 and 136 respectively per million people and the number of hospitals available for a million people is 10, while the availability of hospital beds is one for about 4000 people. Non government organizations (NGO) and private sectors also play an important role to provide health services for the country. Numbers of NGOs have targeted projects, program and facilities to provide antenatal care (ANC) and safe delivery care. Besides in urban areas the number of private service delivery centers and private physicians are also on the rise. Thought the private clinics get operated privately, most of the doctors working in public hospitals work there on part time basis. These clinics have high charges and operate on commercial basis and people living in highest quintiles prefers such clinics for good quality service, which sometimes is not available in public sectors, as per the wealthiest quintiles perception. Recent politics in policy making Like many other developing country the lifetime of a public policy in Bangladesh depends on the change of political power and health policy is no exception. Visions and directions of all health policies got changed with the change of ruling government. Likewise the NHP 2000 was also interrupted as the government changed. After that two attempts were made to revise the policy till 2008. This instigated disruption in policy implementation rather than bringing any positive change. Many arguments took place in favor of policy reversal by the policyactors but the decision remained absolutely political. The following subsection illustrates the policy vulnerability of NHP 2000 as reflected in its reversal and formulation of NHP 2006 and 2008 and the political dynamics behind it (BHW, 2010). The first and fully operational national health policy was initiated in 1988 during the autocratic regime. In 2000 the democratic government promulgated a national health policy with five goals and objectives, in October 2001 after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led coalition government came to power. This new government deviated from NHP 2000 and got engaged in redrafting a new health policy, without rejecting the existing one in its entirety. This NHP 2000 was to some extent rejected when two of its essential components related to structural transformation were made dysfunctional. The issues were i) unification of health and FP wings ii) the issue of community clinic. Key policy actors (both politicians and bureaucrats) had staid uncertainties about the outcome of these two major reforms and believed that these two issues introduction had been politically motivated by Awami League (AL), which finally resulted in non-implementation. The following segments give an outline of how two major reforms proposed by the policy faced rejection. Integration or unification of health and FP wings the ornerstone of the NHP 2000 – was formally approved earlier through the HPSS and HPSP (1998-2003), did not experience smooth implementation even during the AL arena. This unification was intended to provide health and FP services in a package for improved service efficiency by minimizing duplication and overlapping of service delivery, which did not take place due to bureaucracy. During the era of 2001-2006, reversal of NHP 2000 became the interior of a whirlpool of conflicts, delays, and difference among policy players, including the bureaucrats, politicians, medical professionals and donors. At the early stage of BNP regime, the system of government held substantial power over the execution of NHP 2000. And the final decision on reversing unification was taken by the Health Secretary and the Prime Minister. The new senior level bureaucrats during this period contrasted the amalgamation and community clinics. The bureaucrats believed that incorporation would marginalize the FP section of the health sector, when it was decisive to uphold the responsibilities and sovereignty of the FP workers. The ruling BNP leaders were rigid to renounce the NHP 2000 since it was formulated by the previous AL government. And political leaders played a fundamental part in the policy implications during 2001-2006. It has been observed that the harmonization between the medical professionals and political leaders led to dealings with the bureaucrats and other forces and exercise more power (BHW 2010). The partial refusal of NHP 2000 can be accredited to the customs of confrontational politics and prejudice that permeates every level of the polity, rather than ideological dissimilarity often political parties. There was little ideological difference between the BNP and AL governments, as demonstrated in similar policy proposals of the two respective health policy documents. Interest group policy issues According to the views presented by the study respondents, numerous problems were highlighted by different levels of organizations and individuals. More than 160 organizations and individuals have submitted written demand to the Program Support Office (PSO), HNPSP, MoHFW more prior to the preparation of the final draft. All of these demands reflected personal or professional interests. The written comments covered about 70 issues and a significant number of NGO participation was seen. All the policy issues were not dominant. Weight of the problems and proper evidence and strategy to highlight the problems play important role to catch attention of the policy makers. Among the policy issues, following were more dominant compared to others. State policy in health governance State actors and non-state actors play their role in the policy process. During the time of agenda setting interest groups try to influence the policy makers to consider their preferable issues. Like other policy process, different actors and factors impacted the generation of ideas in health policy. Till today, health situation of Bangladesh is not satisfactory in term of ‘equity and justice’. In the literature of policy ownership, source of ideas/visions is treated as one of the major indicator to measure the ownership of policy (Osman, 2006). In public policy process ‘agenda setting’ is a stage where owner of ideas/vision and promoter of the ideas adopt different strategy to draw the attention of the policy makers. In public policy making ‘ownership’ can be measured with participation of different actors in policy process. In this connection role of the different actors were investigated in this study. According to Jhon Kingdon’s Garbage Can Model, an issue becomes agenda with three confluence â€Å"streams†. Different actors play their role from their own perspective in these steams. In this study it was found that three steams emerged at the same time and opened a window. In problem stream evidence production and dissemination were highly supportive for highlighting the problems of community health issues as policy agenda. In proposal stream national and international policy coherences, international and national good practices and positive attitude of donors were among other factors that supported the community clinic issues as policy proposal. Also, political support of the ruling party (AL) was also positive to highlight the community clinic and community health issues. These problems were highlighted in different documents of governments, NGOs and donors. Moreover, these problems were recognized by bureaucrats, politicians, media people, donors and NGOs. Apart from evidences, ordinary people through experiences and observations also recognized these problems. Thus, all stakeholders had good faith about these evidences. It can be said that three confluence streams emerged and opened a policy window to take a decision for establishing community clinic for solving the community health problems in Bangladesh. In every stream, different actors and factors played vital role to highlight the issue. Evidence is crucial to guide improvements in health systems and develop new initiatives. In this connection state actors and non-sate actors create evidence for highlighting the importance of a policy problem or issues. In this study effort has been made to analyze the system of evidence creation and evidence dissemination. From the systems perspective, it is important to understand how research and knowledge from various sources are produced and synthesized. In addition, effort has also been made to investigate how the research findings were highlighted to strengthen the demand of good health services for community people. These evidences revealed that maternal health situation and services have not reached to the satisfaction level. Situation of child health is still in an alarming condition for attaining national and international goals. Till now population problem is a big challenge for development of Bangladesh but evidence showed that there are human resource gaps in community level to offer proper services to the community people. Cost of health services, absenteeism and distribution of health service providers in the community level were dominant factors which played vital role to highlight the community health situation as a problem. It was found that about 160 organizations and individuals took part in the agenda setting process of the health policy. Among the participants, NGOs presence was significant considering their number. A one may wonder why a significant number of NGOs took part in the agenda setting process. The answer is a large number of NGOs are working in health sectors of Bangladesh whose mission is to highlight the common peoples’ rights and external support for doing policy advocacy. Majority of the participants’ expressed their personal, organizational or professional interest.. Health professionals from government side played significant role while creating evidences. In the absence of wide ranging government sponsored research these professional remained engaged in writing articles in journals and news papers. Due to contracting system of evidence creation, bureaucrats were guided or assisted y a number of consultants and their influences are decreasing nowadays. Apart from the findings of the present study many previous studies showed that during unification of two wings of MoHFW (family planning and health) IMED created evidence to analyze the context. Research findings showed that bureaucrats who were influential during the period of 1996-2001 did not able to exert influence after 2000. It is mentioned that successive health secretaries were either explicitly against or remained passive over the unification process and community clinic program, resulting weak bureaucratic leadership within the ministry. Among the professionals who are involved with party politics, DAB (Doctors Association Bangladesh, aligned with the BNP) and SCP (Shawdhinata Chikitshak Parishad, aligned with the Awami League) played influential roles in agenda setting health issues. In this study it is found that these members who are affiliated with SCP remained vocal from the very beginning of the policy process when Health Advisor of immediate past caretaker government (2008-09) initiated the process of health policy formulation. Historical evidences showed that DAB had great influence in the agenda setting during the draft preparation in 2006. In case of NHP 2010, SCP played an important role in community related agenda setting since they are well connected with the Prime Minister and Health Minister. Medical professionals, particularly physicians, were in favor of the implementation of major reforms under the NHP 2000. Previous researchers found that support of the professionals for the two major elements of the NHP 2000 was reflected in the policy document prepared by the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) (BHW, 2010). Donors provide financial supports during evidence creation. While offering financial support, donors imposed some conditions including methodology finalization and indicators setting which ultimately, influenced the process of making evidence based policy. In addition, donors suggested government to include NGOs in this process on the ground of GO-NGO collaboration or public-private partnerships. In the community health related evidence creation USAID, UNICEF and WHO played leading role since 2000. Thus, it can be said that donors had great influence in evidence creations about community health issues. Of course, this is not new in the health sector of Bangladesh. In case of evidence creation for Sector Wide Approach introduction donor community provide guidance and financial supports for evidence creation. When compared to equivalent government operations, NGO services generally run more efficiently and cheaply keeping closer ties with communities. For this reason, donors often favor them as entry points to accessing communities in Bangladesh, especially since the 1980s. In other words, NGOs become powerful and influential, especially because of their external sources of financial support, cooperation, and advocacy. In this regards, NGOs are considered as spokesman of donors. Civil society/NGOs are potential actors to highlight health rights and social welfare goals through mobilization of citizen demand. Through different activities NGOs emphasized on the decentralization as a means of localizing policy-making, bringing decision- making closer to disadvantaged groups, and encouraging local participation. Also NGOs are playing roles of academics and professionals by monitoring and analyzing contextual factors. In this study we found that NGOs remained more or less equivalent in the creation of evidences. Bangladesh health watch was in the leading position to provide evidence for policy making Present Government and Health Strategy: According to the majority portion of respondent, the present government consists with a number of health professionals and they were very much enthusiastic to promote the health facilities issues for ensuring the health rights of community people of Bangladesh. Also as a political party AL has commitment to the people to provide health services for the betterment of common people. Election Manifesto of AL in Election 2008 highlighted the health issues in the following way – â€Å"In order to ensure health facilities to every citizen of the country, the health policy of the erstwhile Awami League government will be reevaluated and adjusted according to the demands of the time. In the light of this policy, 18000 community clinics, established during Awami League rule, will be commissioned. † [Source: Election Manifesto of AL in Election 2008] Conclusion It can be said that proper evidence for highlighting the problem, stakeholders support in the solutions and strong political support highlighted the community health issues as issues to be considered in government actions. In evidence creation and conducting advocacy, NGOs who backed by the donors remained vocal. Top level bureaucrats also played their role with the help of consultants who were generally recommended by the donors. Finally, recognition of ruling political party played an important role in this regard.

Free Essays on FCC Restrictions On Media Ownership

FCC Restrictions on Media Ownership Introduction Without a doubt, the most dominant influence in today’s American society must be the media. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of Americans have at least one television in their households and sixty-seven percent (67%) have two or more televisions . Radio stations broadcast frequencies that are picked up in our homes, our cars, at work, and even while exercising with a walk-man strapped to our waists. Newspapers and magazines catch our eyes in every aisle of every store offering eye-candy to persons of every sort with their fifty-point bold typed headlines and glossy full colored photos. And when all this fails to satisfy our hunger and curiosity for input, we can always turn to that boundless system of world wide web connections we affectionately call the internet, where with one fail swoop of the mouse we can instantly access topics of interest ranging from which movies Saddam Hussein keeps in his vast DVD collection to the most current death tolls of the S.A.R.S. epidemic. The Issue â€Å"Well, so what,† some might say, â€Å"what’s the problem with letting the media spoon feed us what we want?† Put simply, the media is our most relied upon porthole to the world that surrounds us. It is what we rely on to gather facts and information, which affects our own daily decision making activities. It is the media coverage of the candidates that we use to shape our decisions on who will get our vote for our children’s school board or who we elect to be the next President of our nation. The media’s inherent ability to influence the minds of its subscribers should not, and accordingly has not, been taken for granted†¦enter the FCC. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international co... Free Essays on FCC Restrictions On Media Ownership Free Essays on FCC Restrictions On Media Ownership FCC Restrictions on Media Ownership Introduction Without a doubt, the most dominant influence in today’s American society must be the media. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of Americans have at least one television in their households and sixty-seven percent (67%) have two or more televisions . Radio stations broadcast frequencies that are picked up in our homes, our cars, at work, and even while exercising with a walk-man strapped to our waists. Newspapers and magazines catch our eyes in every aisle of every store offering eye-candy to persons of every sort with their fifty-point bold typed headlines and glossy full colored photos. And when all this fails to satisfy our hunger and curiosity for input, we can always turn to that boundless system of world wide web connections we affectionately call the internet, where with one fail swoop of the mouse we can instantly access topics of interest ranging from which movies Saddam Hussein keeps in his vast DVD collection to the most current death tolls of the S.A.R.S. epidemic. The Issue â€Å"Well, so what,† some might say, â€Å"what’s the problem with letting the media spoon feed us what we want?† Put simply, the media is our most relied upon porthole to the world that surrounds us. It is what we rely on to gather facts and information, which affects our own daily decision making activities. It is the media coverage of the candidates that we use to shape our decisions on who will get our vote for our children’s school board or who we elect to be the next President of our nation. The media’s inherent ability to influence the minds of its subscribers should not, and accordingly has not, been taken for granted†¦enter the FCC. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international co...

Discussion Questions law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion Questions law - Assignment Example Litigation is also cost prohibitive due to the legal fees and case filing fees involved. Due to the unpredictable time frame involved in trying such cases, additional emotional and financial damage is inflicted upon the person who filed the case. That is why ADR has become a logical alternative for some people who do not want to deal with the hassles of litigation. ADR offers an alternative solution to filing a case in a shorter amount of time because the negotiations involve and informal and less adversarial setting than litigation. Both parties can compromise on an issue with the aid of an expert in the decision making process. This is something that judges approve of as sometimes their knowledge of certain business related cases can be limited. Examples of ADR or arbitration that can happen to a person in his personal or professional life include restructuring of debt payments (personal) and an administrative case filed before a person in his place of office that needs to be resol ved by the owners of the company or its in-house legal department. 2. Substansive law is the written law that defines the crimes and punishments in criminal law, or civil rights under civil law. It is a codified legislated statute that is enacted through public initiative. An example of this law would be the law covering the intentional killing of a person. This should not be confused with Procedural law which is the law that enforces the said rights and duties through rules determined in civil or criminal proceedings. A clear example of a procedural law is when a decision is made to arrest a person. The grounds covering his arrest fall under procedural law. These are totally different from criminal law which, simply put, is the system of law that punishes people who commit crimes such as felonies and misdemeanors. Civil law on the other hand, deals with private relations between community members. Civil law looks to gain compensation for damages received

Final Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Final - Assignment Example Those formulations are then adopted through the congressional process and then to the bureaucratic process. This part is done by the executive agencies. In this case, the policy implementation could include adopting regulations and rules, providing products and services, adjudication of disputes, public education campaigns and many others. Various actors and observers evaluate the effects of policies. In this case, they evaluate whether the policy is solving the problem at hand by accomplishing their goals. Evaluation compares the costs and benefits of policies. Congress uses its oversight powers to seek answers on the progress of the policy project. 2. A balanced budget is the one where the government raises enough money to fund the budget. In this case, the total revenues are equal to the total expenditures. In this case, there is neither a budget surplus nor a budget deficit that exists. As such, the budget accounts are in balance. However, a balanced budget generally refers the one that has no budget deficit, but a budget surplus may exist. A balance budget does not require the government to source for revenue from external sources. In addition, the government does not need to seek a supplementary budget from the legislative body to finance stalled projects as a result of financial deficiency. There are several factors that can cause budget surplus. One of them is increased taxation rate on some product. In this case, the government may increase the tax to achieve another objective rather that collecting revenue; may be to discourage consumption of a certain product. Another factor is improved economic growth or devaluation of currency in trading partners. The government has a large number of departments, parastatals, and agencies among other area that it operates. Provision of services such as medical, education and security are in the responsibilities of the government. In this

First interstate fire Essay Example for Free

First interstate fire Essay The first interstate fire was a fire that took Los Angeles by surprise. It was in the late evening at May 4, 1988 when it all started until it was extinguished early next morning. (LAFIRE. COM) It was a blaze on the 62-storey building at the first interstate Bank building in 707-west wilshire boulevard in Los Angles. This was a very historical fire since it was the worst fire on a high-rise building ever seen in Los Angeles and even the whole of America but was miraculously put out. The reason why the fire was said to be the worst was first the location of the building it was a high rise building located right in the middle of the city making it hard to control it and also hard for firefighters to evacuate civilians in the area since there were a lot of buildings around it and that meant more and more civilians to be evacuated from the vicinity this need a lot of resources. (LAFIRE. COM) Second was that the building was just huge it was a 62 storey building built in the year 1974 its height to the roof was two hundred and sixty two meters and was a square building tapering two meters as it rose. Its four faces were covered with dark glass and mullions this was certainly an uphill task and not a walk in the park for the firefighters. (Ryszard M. 600) Thirdly it had spread over four floors and damaging a fifth floor resulting to huge property loss it was estimated at over 200 million dollars at that time making it one of the most expensive fires ever in history and the most damaging fire in the city of Los Angeles. Fourthly it was a fire that almost would have become a towering inferno† as the fire fighters would say and it needed a lot of experience since there was only one way to handle it and it was manual. The Fire The fire is said to have started in the late evening of March 4 1988. It is also said that it all started in an open plan office on the 12th floor towards the southeast ground. It is also said it originated in a modular office with a lot of furniture numerous personal computers and areas or rather â€Å"terminals† used by security trading workers. Though not certain investigators said the cause was an electrical fault but how it got ignited is a big mystery till this very day. (LAFIRE. COM) The fire spread throughout the entire space in the 12th floor destroying it completely leaving only the passenger elevator lobby, which had automatic closing fire doors. The fire then spread through the floors above the 12th floor, mainly by use of the outer walls of the structure through the broken windows the flames also spread behind the spandrel panels that were at the end of the floor blocks. The windows on the successive floors experienced heavy exposure from the flames making the fire extend to the 16th floor from the 12th floor. The rescue workers estimated the flames were lapping about 30 feet upwards on the faces at the buildings, thus the curtain walls, windows, spandrels and mullions were damaged if not completely destroyed. The building lacked the so called â€Å"eyebrows† on the exterior walls to prevent the fire from lapping vertically making the firefighters worried that the fire would spread to even more floors. (Ryszard M. 600) The minor routes in which the fire extended were poke through penetrations for communications and electricity, HVAC shafts and also heat conduction through floor slabs. As a matter of fact there was a minor fire at the 27th floor started by fire products escaping through HVAC shaft from the 12th floor but it died out due to lack of enough oxygen. (LAFIRE. COM) This fire spread at a rate of about 45 minutes per floor and it burned intensely for about 90 minutes at a time this meant there were always two floors burning seriously at any given time of the fire. Initial Stages of the Fire The fires initial stages were realized at around 10:22pm in the evening when the buildings two pumps were turned of by the contractor who was making the sprinkler system, a few minutes later they heard shattering of glass and saw a light smoke at the ceiling at the 5th floor they sounded the alarms manually but it was later turned off by security personnel in the ground floor. Minutes later a smoke detector in the floor of origin sounded but was reset again and minutes later other alarms sounded but security personnel shut them off, this continued until the fire then became huge, that was about 15 minutes later. This delay is said to have caused the spreading of the fire on the 12th and 13th floor. The calls about the fire were actually made by people outside the building. (Arthur E. 543) The fire departments start of operations The fire department got three calls at around 10. 37 pm from people who were said outside the first interstate bank building and they reported seeing a fire on the upper floors. The department released a category â€Å"B† assignment group which included task forces 9, and 10, squad 4, Battalion 1 and Engine 3 all of them totaling about 30 fire fighters and rescue personnel. Meanwhile the first reporting of the fire from inside the interstate building was called in at about 10:41 just when the first fire companies were arriving at the scene of the incident. Upon arriving at the scene the first Battalion chief called immediately for five task forces, five engine companies and another five battalion chiefs totaling about 200 rescue workers and firefighters within the first five minutes, two firefighting helicopters from the fire department were also sent in to help. (Arthur E. 543) They set up a â€Å"high rise incident command system† a system in which companies were given a plan on who to attack the fire, assemble the logistics and help in other support functions. The fire fighters were not to use the elevators thus they climbed using the stairs to the area affected by the fire. The first companies to access the fire floor found that smoke was entering all four stairways through gaps around the exit doors. They had to connect their hand lines to the stair pipe risers of the building and the launched their first attack at around 11:10. Since the fire was so large they had to attack from all four stairways but still the fire crews had much difficulty advancing through the doors in to the floor as heat and smoke pushed in to the stair shaft as soon as they opened the doors and it rose rapidly to the upper floors of the interstate building. (LAFIRE. COM) The first six companies that arrived at the scene of the fire did this attack. This attack was slowed down at first due to the low pressure of water in the first minutes; this was until the buildings fire pumps were started. They also supplied water with three fire department pumps through exterior hose connections. On the 10th floor they put up a staging area and also started lobby control at the ground floor. The base of operation was about a block south of the building and it was established by the first battalion chief at the scene, it was the place where the incident commander operated from all through the incident. The operations chief operated in the â€Å"staging area† located in the 10th floor close enough to have direct contact with the officers on each floor he would also be directing the interior suppression efforts. (Cliff B. 75) The command positions were led at first by captains and Battalion chiefs but were later were later given to those in higher ranks but the remained only now working under other officers in the same locations they had headed. The deputy chief of Los Angeles City fire department Chief Donald F Anthony was the incident commander once he arrived. A chief Engineer and General Manager were also present in order to help in the strategic planning for the incident. Even with this it was clear from the outside and also from the inside that the fire was spreading upward and fast; thus the need to expand operations as â€Å"the companies successfully launched attacks from all four stair ways on to the four floors engulfed by the fire and had to fight their way into the floors with hand lines. (LAFIRE. COM) The Conditions in the stair shafts worsened since more doors were opened and heat and smoke filled went up the shafts at the same time water was pouring down. Their tactic was to push the fire from the center to the perimeters of each floor. The operations chief had to communicate with command officer’s assigned floors giving them direction with tactics and also sending assignments of new companies or recycled ones to specific targets of operation. Many companies undertook three to four different assignments at a time since conditions were changing during the incident therefore getting very short breaks even for the changing of air cylinders. They used mostly runners to communicate with officers in the upper floors since radio waves affected the building steel frame. The landline phones were dead due to the fire and even the emergency phone system in the building was not useful. But the staging area and command past communicated through a window they broke and a battalion chief stood there with a radio to provide line-of-sight. (LAFIRE. COM) The strategy was to stop upward progress by being aggressive on the 14th and 15th floors while putting up hose lines in order to wait for the fire to reach the 16th floor. These strategies needed extreme efforts by the hand line crews on the heavily involved stories. They used around 20 hand lines in the attack and it was an effort of around 32 companies working on the five floors. (Cliff B. 75) Logistical Considerations. The logistics were staggering . The 10th floor was where personnel and equipment were located. Crews only came down to the staging area to change their air cylinders while waiting and getting a short rest before reassignment to another floor. They attacked with full air cylinders and came down only when they ran out of air. They operated for about 20 minutes a cycle, which was the same amount at time it took to rest and refill air cylinders. (LAFIRE. COM) Since they did not use elevators each piece of equipment was carried manually up the stairways including the over 600 air cylinders used. The crews entering the building carried hose nozzles and many other tools themselves to the tenth floor. (Cliff B. 75) An operation called the stairwell support consisting of nine companies moved equipment from the street level via an underground tunnel to the lobby from a parking lot across the street and then up again to the staging area for over two hours. The crews working in the lower floors including the 10th worked in harsh conditions since smoke filled them and they had to break windows for ventilation. Water poured down through the stairs and the ceilings and electric power even in the emergency lights in the stairs were lost. Not even flashlights helped since their batteries died a testament on how long the operation took. (Arthur E. 543) Search and Rescue missions The building had around 50 people working on the floors above the 12th floor, where the fire started, most of whom were cleaning and maintenance workers. The rest were sprinkle fitters and a couple tenants who were working late. They only became aware when smoke entered their area of work. Five of the civilians went to the rooftop floors and were rescued by fire department choppers. Most used the elevator and stairways successfully but there was one group that got trapped in the 12th floor and had to crawl to the exit stairway meeting up with the firefighters coming up. (Arthur E. 543) All civilians left apart from three people, two on the 37th floor and one on the 50th floor they were located by the windows using helicopters but were only rescued shortly after the fire was put off at around 2:19 am. of the two in the 37th floor one had fainted therefore had to be carried down using the stairs to ground level. (Arthur E. 543) Damage and property loss incurred The floors below had severe water damage due to the water flowing down while those above were distorted badly by the heat and smoke since during the incident there was no efforts preserve of property because firefighters only wanted to stop progress of the fire. (LAFIRE. COM) The building remained closed for many months for inspection and clean up using up a large force of clean up contractors. Property loss in overall was estimated to about 200 million dollars not counting the many months of business interruption. Structural damage was very low on the main structural members as a matter of fact only minor damage to a secondary beam and a few floor pans was noted. (Ryszard M. 600) Valuable Lessons †¢ First lessons learned were the need for automatic sprinklers in controlling or preventing fires in such kind of high-rise buildings. There was a law enacted in Los Angeles asking that all such buildings should have a sprinkler system in all their floors with installed smoke detectors. †¢ The second was the need for firefighters to maintain high physical fitness like in that case fire fighters had to carry everything up the stairs and every thing was completely manual even sending of messages. †¢ Need for efficient communication systems (LAFIRE. COM) †¢ Personnel in buildings should be trained at the appropriate actions when alarm is sounded. The actions of the personnel of the building were wanting and one of them died while attempting to find out was sounded the alarms. †¢ Need for use of fire resisting construction in this case it was good and thus prevented any major damage to the structural integrity of the building. (Columbia University. 1234) †¢ There is also need for protected elevators for firefighters use what if the firefighters had to combat a fire in the 40th storey it would have been very hard to carry equipments. Columbia University. 1234) †¢ Fire protection systems also need to be checked and tested regularly in order to ensure they work properly and will not waste us in times of need. Conclusion Every body has a role to play from the builder to the tenant to ensure that such disasters do not occur and if they do that they are easily dealt with stressing a need for good planning. Work cited Arthur E. Cote: Organizing for Fire And Rescue Services: Jones and Bartlett Publishers (2003) P260-278 Cliff Barnett: Fire Safety in Tall Buildings: McGraw-Hill Inc. , New York, 1992. P73-82 Columbia University: Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals Avery Library, (1975) Ryszard M. Kowalczyk, I. D. : Bennett’s Structural Systems for Tall Buildings: McGraw Hill Inc. , New York, 1995 LAFIRE. COM: First Interstate Bank Fire: Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive, May 4, 1988: Accessed on 26th April 2008 from http://www. lafire. com/famous_fires/880504_1stInterstateFire/050488_InterstateFire. htm

Little to None :: essays research papers

The job of the Chief Executive of the United States is to represent the people. The President is responsible for doing what is in the best interest for the citizens of the United States using facts, advice, and evidence and not through his/her own personal religious beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  United States is the most religiously diverse country in the world, and it remains this way because its constitution has promised its citizens a freedom in which there is a separation between church and state. Since the President is the one person that represents all people in America, he/she should not be allowed to control our country based on his own faith and beliefs. The president’s job is to make decisions that will speak for the majority of the people, no matter what race or religious background they may be. The President has an obligation to take the advice and information he gets from advisors and other high officials, and use that knowledge in order to plan what is best for the country as a whole, even if it conflicts with personal religious beliefs. When religious beliefs are used to make policy decisions, one is imposing their religious belief upon others who might not agree, and ultimately is a violation of the first amendment that sets the sep aration of church and state.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is one exception in which the President may use his own personal beliefs. When there is no information leaning towards the right thing to do, or the pros and cons of a certain situation are balanced, the President should be able to use his own morals and personal belief to make a final decision. This is not something that should happen on a regular basis, but when there is no other sources leading one to the right direction, the only choice left is to use one’s own morals, values, and beliefs to determine what direction might be best for the country as a whole.

Release of rare, awe-inspiring John Denver song coincides

Release of rare, awe-inspiring John Denver song coincides with his 70th birthday (1 888 PressRelease) In honor of the 70th birthday of the late and legendary singer/ songwriter John Denver on Dec. 31, acclaimed Indie recording artist Luanne Hunt releases what may have been his greatest musical work, â€Å"The Wandering Soul (Love is the Answer). † Denver did not record the tune. Hunt brings forth an emotional production, passionately delivering the song's timely and awe-inspiring message. Denver, CO – Coinciding with what would have been legendary singer/songwriter John Denver's 70th birthday on Dec. , chart-topping Indie recording artist Luanne Hunt releases his rare and powerful composition, â€Å"The Wandering Soul (Love Is the Answer). † Denver, who died in a plane crash in 1997 off the California coast, delivered perhaps his most profound message through the inspiring and timely ballad. The â€Å"Rocky Mountain High† singer stated In his autobiography that he wrote the tune In Santa Fe, N. M. around 1994. â€Å"l went off on a hike, and midway to where I was headed, the song I was trying to write (â€Å"The Wandering Soul†) Just came to me, fell from the sky,† Denver said In his book, â€Å"Take Me Home.Hunt says she recorded â€Å"The Wandering Soul (Love is the Answer)† to not only showcase what may have been Denver's finest work, but also to help others find healing, wholeness and a deeper meaning on their Journeys. â€Å"The first time I heard ‘The Wandering Soul (Love is the Answerl' I broke down and cried for a very long time,† said Hunt, who resides in Southern California and records on the Star Creek Entertainment label. â€Å"l knew I had to record It and felt certain It was meant for something much greater than I could even fathom. John's song definitely has been life-changing for me.Hunt's own musical Journey has been one of profound personal, creative and spiritual transformation. By focusing on her artistic vision, she found the strength to overcome devastating emotional wounds and follow her authentic path as a singer/ songwriter. Over the years, the Pennsylvania native has bullt an Impressive list of accomplishments and a worldwide fan base with her contemporary folk songs. Her 1 OF2 200/ CD â€Å"Breaking I nrougn† proaucea two nit singles on u s. ana European cnarts The enchanting â€Å"Solace In The Wind† reached No. 1 on the European Country MusicAssociation's chart (Belgium) in July 2010. The song also landed on the 2009 Grammy ballot in two categories: Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance. In December 2011, Hunt's holiday tune â€Å"Christmas Without You† went to No. 1 on the European Country Music Association charts in France, Denmark and Austria. It also was the second most played song in Europe during that month. â€Å"The Wandering Soul (Love is the Answer)† is being utilized to raise funds for Forest Way Productions, a 501c3 charity dedicated to providing retreat opportunities conducive to spiritual growth.It also promotes creative projects designed to support a unified vision of spirituality in the world. â€Å"l am deeply moved by ‘The Wandering Soul (Love is the Answer),'† said Matthew Flickstein, founder of Forest Way Productions and Telly Award-winning documentary filmmaker of â€Å"With One Voice. † â€Å"The lyrics are exquisite and Luanne's voice and presence profoundly touch my heart. I can see how her voice and music can open people's eyes to the Divine and lovingly transform their hearts.