Organizational Sources of Funds
The purpose of this paper is to have you summarize and analyze the information that we have examined.
Your paper should be 5-6 pages and should follow APA style guidelines in your writing. You should express your ideas in your own words (no direct quotations).
In your paper, be sure to answer the following questions (Write the questions as well with your answers)
- What kinds of considerations must be made in developing a fire or emergency services budget?
- What would be a typical budget process for a municipal fire or emergency services department?
- How do budget calendars work in the development of fire or emergency services budgets?
- What are the primary funding sources for public emergency services?
- What do you foresee as being some difficulties for the funding sources of your own department?
How do the readings relate to the budgets that you examined in Week 2?
Developing a budget is a crucial factor to consider in starting any organization. During the learning, we examined the budgetary considerations for fire and emergency departments which are significantly different from other businesses that focus on making a profit. This paper summarizes and analyzes the information examined during the learning process by discussing some factors associated with the budgeting process.
- What kinds of considerations must be made in developing a fire or emergency services budget?
In developing a fire or emergency services budget, various considerations are crucial to making. Firstly, the impacts of the services would have on the consumers. Emergency services are usually linked to providing transfer of patients within the hospital systems. In other words, the services are primarily directed to the healthcare industry, where the consumers include the patients and the physicians. The physicians rely on the private sector providing emergency services to transfer their patients within their system for diagnosis, treatment, and care. While the private firms provide both Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) transport services, they also provide their medics who would attend to the care, treatment, and transport of patients (FEMA, 2012). Suggestively, the goal of the medics is to achieve the best outcomes for the patients, and as such, the budget development for these services should ensure that hiring qualified medics is integrated in the budget to ensure quality patient care. In other words, affording qualified medics equates to making good offers to attract highly qualified personnel, who would attend professionally to the patients on board, hence building a strong brand image for the company.
The cost of equipment is another crucial factor of consideration. Technology is extensively advancing and the budget should consider the cost of the modern equipment that would efficiently support the company’s activities. Emergency services departments are positioned to deal with critical situations that demand urgency. Hence, the equipment should match the current technology and ensure high sufficiency and effectiveness in delivering outcomes patients (FEMA, 2012). Further, budgets are usually done once in a year in most cases, while the rest of the period entails utilizing the funds allocated for the department. In this regard, it is crucial to consider the current and future trends to ensure that the budget allows for unforeseen circumstances. Such include the increase in employee health insurance costs, which would extensively affect the budget and impose changes if not considered effectively.