Moody firefighters earn national accreditation

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ceaira Tinsley
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
Moody Air Force Base Ga. --  Moody firefighters rank No. 6 Air Force wide after earning the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) accreditation in Dallas Aug. 14.

The CFAI accreditation measures the quality of an agency's fire and emergency services. To receive a CFAI accreditation, a fire or rescue agency must create an accreditation model that includes different performance evaluations such as training and competency, goals and objectives, and essential resources.

"This (accreditation) says that we meet national standards; not (Department of Defense), not Air Force, but national fire protection standards," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Micheal Howell, 23d Civil Engineer Squadron deputy fire chief. "So when we walk into a door and say we need to do a process a certain way it's because we have been trained how the country says we should do it."

Moody firefighters started using a computerized system implemented over two years allowing them to quantify all of their activity to earn this accreditation. This system plots graphs, giving them visual models to help track every emergency from start to finish, improve response times, implement risk management and determine where money can be saved.

The system shows what 23d CES does as an Air Force unit and how they get the Air Force more bang for their buck, said Howell. Now that this system is set up, it is easier to identify problems, and Moody firefighters are a much better department because of it.

One challenge to getting this system to work was simply realizing that checking yes on a task does not cut it anymore, said Howell. The 23d CES was forced to dig deep to prove they could complete the task of delivering services that save lives, planes and buildings.

Furthermore, Moody Firefighters is one of 21 DoD wide in fire and rescue agencies and the CFAI accreditation is slowly becoming the norm.

"It's fairly new to (DoD). The Air Force is really pushing toward this as being the standard," said Tech. Sgt. John Miele, 23d CES assistant chief of health and safety. "Our new (Unit Effectiveness Inspection) is built off this same process, just the Air Force's version of it. We've taken the initiative and said we know where the Air Force is going, and got ahead of that process and already accomplished it."

To keep their distinction as a CFAI accredited department, in five years Moody firefighters must complete a reassessment to ensure they are still in compliance with the standards of the CFAI.

"It's a continuing process. We get reevaluated every five years and go through basically the same inspection over again," said Miele. "It's just revalidating that the same information or improvements that we've made are still in compliance with the national standard."

As a result of earning this accreditation, Moody firefighters attended a two-day board review where they were formally awarded the accreditation. There were 50 other fire stations, military and civilian, also assessed during this review of the various qualifications.

Members of the 23d CES consider this a win for all Moody team members, the Air Force and the DoD as a whole.