MPFD first to receive accreditation in South Carolina

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC - On August 24, 2001, the Mount Pleasant Fire Department became the first government agency in South Carolina to receive accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mayor Harry M. Hallman Jr. congratulated the Mount Pleasant Fire Department and retired Fire Chief Fred Tetor for bringing standardization to the forefront of a national debate on professional excellence and accountability. “We broke ground in South Carolina when Mount Pleasant became one of only 53 other fire agencies worldwide to have reached that level and the 51st agency in the United States. We expanded on that record, when we became one of 21 cities in the United States to have both fire and police departments accredited,” said Fire Chief Steve Mims.

CFAI Peer Team Leader Fire Chief Jack Krackreel recommended MPFD as a credible department for accreditation. “Over the past ten years, MPFD has implemented an amazing number of quality programs for the benefit of the community. It has done so with an extraordinary show of support from its municipal leaders who should be commended for their dedication to professional excellence,” said the Fulton County Fire Chief.

“Would you attend a college that wasn’t accredited? Would you go to a doctor that wasn’t licensed? Would you let an unlicensed contractor build your house?” asked Mims. “The same logic applies to emergency services that often deal with critical situation on a daily basis. This accreditation tells our residents that we have reached a new level of standardization in our field and that we are ready to apply these skills to the daily business of saving lives, educating the community and serving our residents.”

“Accreditation is becoming an important tool for professional groups that adopt industry-wide benchmarks for management and organization. As governments and fire services are more scrutinized, it becomes critical for fire and emergency agencies to answer to a well-defined, easily recognized set of standards. Our ability to measure performance will directly benefit our residents at all levels of service.”

“We sought accreditation for several reasons,” explained Mims. “We wanted to provide our residents with periodic evaluations to ensure our effectiveness and we wanted to raise the level of professionalism within the organization, and ultimately, within the profession.”

CFAI provide a self-assessment process for fire and emergency services agencies focusing on three areas. Agencies review their effectiveness, their goals, objectives and mission, and finally the reasons for their success. This process promotes excellence within the fire department, encourages quality improvement, provides a detailed evaluation of the services to the community and identifies areas of strength and weakness.

“This is not a static process,” said Mims. “We will have to submit an application for re-accreditation in five years and go through an onsite peer assessment process. The accreditation procedure took almost four years of preparation and prompted us to voluntarily look at all operational aspects of our agency with a very fine comb.”

In 1996, The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) created the CFAI after a decade of development on the part of fire service leaders and local government officials. CFAI is a non-profit organization providing a comprehensive system of fire and emergency services evaluation to help local governments determine their risks and fire safety needs. For additional information on the accreditation system, contact the Mount Pleasant Fire Department at (843) 884-0623.