MacDill receives accreditation

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melissa Paradise
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs photojournalist
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Under the guidelines of the Center for Public Safety Excellence Incorporated., MacDill fire and emergency service department became the seventh department in the U.S. Air Force, 150th in the country, to gain international accreditation with the Commission of Fire Accreditation International on Aug. 15, 2013.

To become accredited a self-assessment and evaluation model is provided, which allows organizations to examine past, current and future service levels, internal performance and a comparison of the industry's best practices. Overall, the fire department had to pass inspection in 10 categories with 44 different criteria and 253 performance indicators. Successfully passing the inspections demonstrates their ability to follow, understand and practice proper procedures.

"MacDill fire and emergency service department entered the accreditation process in June 2010. This 3-year process consisted of collecting, analyzing and presenting fact-based data from the department, emergency incident responses and the community we serve," said Matthew Amann, 6th Civil Engineer Squadron assistant fire chief.

The process is completely voluntary. MacDill is the third base in the Air Mobility Command to receive its accreditation; however, by 2016 AMC's strategic objective is to become the first U.S. Air Force Major Command to have all 16 base agencies accredited.
"The City of Tampa fire department assisted in the mutual aid portion," stated Amann. "They provided us assistance in category 10, which is an external system relationship, meaning we have an effective relationship with them for joint response purposes."

The CFAI accreditation goal is to ensure that fire and emergency service professionals are highly qualified and dedicated chief fire officers, trainers, administrators and academic professionals. Achieving the accreditation demonstrated the agency's commitment to provide the highest quality of service to the community.