EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

The Hinsdale Fire Department is a full time department that consists of twenty-one full time members, one paid on call member, and covers a community of approximately eighteen thousand people. The department has been in existence for over one hundred years. During that time period, the department has witnessed a tremendous growth in the number of personnel, emergency calls, and types of service provided to the community. That growth has impacted the service provided by dictating the kind of equipment necessary to effectively deliver the different types of emergency care. Some examples are advanced life support ambulances, hazardous material engine, and a ladder truck response. This research project will center on one of these pieces of equipment, the ladder truck, and, specifically, the manning standards for emergency response of that vehicle. The Hinsdale Fire Department took delivery of their first ladder truck in 1979 as a result of changes in the makeup of the community. Over the previous twenty years, these changes included the construction of an eighteen story high rise, additional nursing home facilities, and other large life loss potential occupancies