Dr. Hanifen serves as a Shift Commander at a medium-sized suburban fire department in the northern part of the Cincinnati area. He is the Chairperson and operations manager for a County Technical Rescue Team. From a state and national perspective, he serves as a Taskforce Leader for one of FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Teams, which responds to presidential declared disasters. From an incident command perspective, Randall serves as the Deputy Planning Section Chief for a Type 3 Incident Management Team.
From an Academic standpoint, Randall has a Bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration, a Master’s Degree in Executive Fire Service Leadership, and a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration with a specialization in homeland security. He is the associate author of Disaster Planning and Control, (Penwell 2009). which provides first responder's guidance through all types of disasters.
Terror events: We should take advantage of globalization and look beyond our national borders to learn from first responder services in other countries.
While it may seem that all we need to do is map out the station location and measure the percentage of the city that the station 4 and 8 minute zones would cover, there are many more issues that are intertwined with the number and location of stations. Some of the issues that are intertwined are budget, staffing, apparatus, and hazard analysis.
Having related experience and a training background is key to teaching. A company officer requires experience and training before becoming an educator.
Leadership looks like a great place to be in, you are always making changes and getting recognition. This is what appears to the novice who wants to be a leader, but in reality, this position is often lonely and filled with negativity and confrontation.
Disasters occur quickly and significantly alter local emergency services’ planning, response and recovery actions. Is your local EDM organization ready?