Customer Reviews

Fire Service Personnel Management with MyFireKit (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I was required to read/study Fire Service Personnel Management for a promotional exam. I found it inadequate for several reasons. First, it does not represent the large plurality of Civil Service departments. Second, it is not well written nor well edited; numerous mispellings, misused words, merged and run-on sentences, and confusing and obtuse constructions. I sincerely hope there are better texts for this subject and I will be urging my department to seek one.

BB, LP/Operator

I bought this book as a text book for a college course. I was extremely dissappointed because the style in which Mr. Edwards writes is an excellent example of what a text book should not be. I wondered if I had bought the clif note version. I felt this book was written like a cookbook. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted to throw the recipe away. I felt that Mr. Edwards book was an excellent example of "easy way out" management. He limited the examples in the text to only the those he used, and left an impression that all of his decisions were correct. I would like to ask Mr. Edwards if he felt he was successful in running the PG County Fire Dept. using the discussed methods. I would also ask if he felt the Dept. was in better shape after his tenure as Chief. If you are interested in learning to manage fire service personnel you may want to read this book, because of the limited information on the topic. But if you set it down after the first ten pages dont be suprised, I have seen toast that wasnt as dry as this book.

This book is not for firefighter's or fire officer's. This title is very misleading. A more appropriate title would be, Human Resource Managers Manual. This book was put on my departments Lt. and Capt. promotional test strictly by its deceiving title. I asked our Chief to read it and he agreed that it is horrible. I will never read another book or article by Steven T. Edwards.

This book deals with many of the issues faced by the modern fire department officer. There is much information that is NOT related to fighting fires and saving lives. This is a book that will address the bulk of what most modern fire officers in larger departments are faced with. Discipline, personnel respect, interactions, letters, union relations, labor-management interactions, motivation, etc. THESE are the majority of work I do now as a Station Captain. Fighting fires and running medical calls is a small part of my day. Writing emails, making calls, talking to personnel, etc is the stuff that will get you into trouble if you don't do them correctly.

Required reading for a promotional exam and was extremely dissapointed. This book is poorly written and is difficult to understand the main theme/points the author is trying to convey.

Mr. Edwards creates a lot of drummed up academia buzz words that offer little real world application.

If your looking to become the Fire Chief this book is for you. There is very little good for line officers.

I purchased this book for a fire science class in college. Its was not a good read. The information seems to be old and does not give accurate reference to current fire department practices. I had been in the fire service for a long time and would not recommend this book. Maybe the next edition will contain more updated information and case studies. It's 2009, wake up and smell the coffee.

As part of a commmittee including active fire chiefs, we reviwed this book for use in the Southern Illnois University program for Fire Service Management. We found the breadth of subjects covered to be excellent. We also found that the "real world" type problems presented at the end of each chapter were excellent opportunities for class discussions and/or essay tests. The book was compared against a general local government HR text and found to be superior for a fire service setting.

Fire Service Personnel Management is a timely an effective tool in dealing with personnel issues in the 21st century. Specific fire service scenarios throughtout the book highlight the challenges associated with a changing fire service. The book exposes the manager to the reality of a new workforce comprised of more and more minorities and females. It concisely explains the legal issues that a supervisor needs to be familiar with as well as guidelines for the selection of recruits and developing promotable employees. The chapter on labor relations and collective bargaining provides unique insights into collaborating with labor to achieve the goals of both Union and Management. Every manager will glean new techniques in effectively dealing with labor issues. My only regret is that this book was not available when I was studying for promotions as it is an extremely user friendly and comprehensive resource. I use it now in my capacity as Deputy Chief to doublecheck myself when handling any personnel matter.

This was recommended to me by a friend, Tim in DC, and it has offered a lot of intelligent, well writen insights into what a good manager in the fire service should know or be aware of. The author cites both case laws and personal experience in bringing issues that a supervisor should be apprised of. I would highly recommend this not only for the upwardly mobile fire service professional, but would recommend it be made a part of a good officer development curriculum.