Buckeye Fire Medical Rescue Department has received Accredited Agency status through the Commission of Fire Accreditation International. It's the 15th department in the state to receive this level of certification.
“It brings a lot of credibility into what we’re doing, the level of service we provide,” said Fire Chief Jake Rhoades. “We get comments and compliments every day from our citizens for the service that we provide, but this kind of puts it to another level.”
To receive accreditation, a department must go through a self-assessment which includes the evaluation of 260 performance indicators. CFAI then sends a peer team of fire officers nationwide for a site visit during which they fact check the self-assessment.
"The peer team provides valuable feedback, and a third-party perspective outlined in their final report," according to the department’s press release. "The self-assessment and accreditation process provides a platform for continuous quality improvement which leads to increased efficiencies, improved organizational accountability and the enhancement of overall service delivery to their community."
BFMRD's report came back with 14 recommendations, some of which are being addressed in the department's strategic plan, according to the press release. Now that the department is accredited, it is required to submit an annual report and will go through the full evaluation process every five years. This is important for a city like Buckeye, Rhoades said, that experiences such rapid growth.
“Most cities will do a five-year strategic plan. Ours does a three-year plan because we’re growing so rapidly,” he said. “The other part that’s really good about it is that we don’t operate in a silo as a fire department. We have everybody from economic development, development services, community services, you name it. We’re working together because I need to know what they’re doing and they need to know what I’m planning so we can kind of grow in lock step with one another.”
The end result is added credibility and an international stamp of approval that creates ongoing accountability and pushes the department to always be better, Rhoades said. He expressed gratitude and pride for his staff who made the accreditation possible.
“I could not be more proud of the men and women of our department—from the firefighters to the chief officers, everyone had something to do with it,” he said. “They’ve been a part of this by their professionalism, their demeanor, going with the flow and knowing this is the goal and it’s the next step in our journey to grow our department, add stations and deliver better service to the community.”
