The Legal Impact of NFPA 1500 on the Fire Service

Research Paper:

The assignment is to compile data and write a research paper entitled “The Legal Impact of

(NFPA Standard/ Court Case) on the Fire Service.” The student will choose one of

the following NFPA Standards or Court Cases and then research the standard and discuss the legal impact(s) the NFPA Standard has relative to the fire service. The student must cite, document, and discuss the impact of one court case or NFPA Standard. Any of the following topics may be chosen.

Research Paper Topics:

• NFPA 1500: Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program
• NFPA 1001: Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications
• NFPA 1002: Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/ Operator Professional Qualifications
• NFPA 1021: Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications
• NFPA 1041: Standard for Fire Service Instructor Professional Qualifications
• NFPA 1561: Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System
• NFPA 1581: Standard on Fire Department Infection Control Program
• NFPA 1582: Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire

Departments

• NFPA 1583: Standard on Health-Related Fitness Programs for Firefighters
• People v. Rios
• Christian Reed Smith v. State of Idaho
• Kristy R. Garrison v. Texas
• Coren Hage v. State of Minn
• Michigan v. Tyler
• State of Idaho v. Bryan Bunting
• City of Quincy v. Weinberg
• Trianon Park Condominium Association Inc. v. City of Hialeah

Standards for acceptability:

1. The paper must be a minimum of no fewer than two pages of content.

2. The cover sheet, references page, illustrations, tables, charts, or any other media Do

NOT count towards the two page minimum.

3. The student should focus on the completeness of the project rather than a word

count or number of pages; however, there must be at least two pages.

Overall specifications for the paper:

1. The paper MUST be formatted using American Psychological Association (APA) format,

utilizing the most current publication of the APA 6th ed.

2. 1” margins with standard 12-point Times New Roman black font

3. Your cover sheet must be formatted according to APA6, including:

A. Title of the Research Paper

B. Student’s Name

C. Date

D. Complete Course Identification Number(FIRT-1353.W01)

E. Instructor’s Name

F. Do not use graphics or images on the cover sheet

4.References

1.  A “References” page will contain all sources utilized to form the paper. A minimum of three credible, reliable sources must be used. Sources used may be printed material (books or texts), web sources, or a combination of both. 
2. Standard APA format will be utilized for this part.
3. If the student decides to use illustrations within the paper, the illustrations will be included and cited as required by APA. Illustrations will NOT count towards the four page minimum.

5. If the student decides to use illustrations within the paper, the illustrations will be included

and cited as required by APA. Illustrations will NOT count towards the two page minimum.

Due dates

1. Topic selection submitted on or before the Friday of week two
2. Outline submitted on or before the Friday of week four
3. Introduction submitted on or before the Friday of week six
4. Completed work to be submitted on or before the Friday of week seven

These will be submitted for an all or nothing grade. (100 or zero) to be averaged in with your chapter discussions.

Research Paper Rubric	A	B	C	D
Overall Impression	Author directly addresses the main question or issue, and adds new insight to the subject not provided in readings or class discussions. Author has retained nearly all of the knowledge presented in class.  Author is able to synthesize this knowledge in new ways and relate to material not covered in the course.	Author competently addresses the main question or issue, but does not add much new insight into the subject.   It is clear that the author has learned a great deal in class and is able to communicate this knowledge to others.	Author attempts to address the main question or issue, but fails.   Author has retained some information from the course, but does not fully understand its meaning or context and cannot clearly convey it to others.	Essay does NOT address main question or issue It is obvious that author has notretained any informationfrom the course.
Argument	Essay contains a clearargument—i.e., lets the reader know exactly what the author is trying tocommunicate.	An argument is present, butthe reader must reconstruct it from the text.	Author attempts, but fails, to make an argument—i.e., starts with a rhetorical question/statement or anecdote that is never put into context.	No attempt is made to articulate an argument.
Evidence	Provides compelling and accurate evidence that convinces readers to accept the main argument.   The importance/relevance of all pieces of evidence is clearly stated.  There are no gaps inreasoning—i.e. The reader does not need to assume anything or do additional research to accept the main argument.	Provides necessary evidence to convince the reader of most aspects of the main argument but not all.   The importance/ relevance of some evidence presented may not be totallyclear.  Reader must make a few mental leaps or do some additional research to fully accept all aspects of the main argument.	Not enough evidence is provided to support the author’s argument, or evidence is incomplete, incorrect, or oversimplified.  Information from readings is not effectively used.	Either no evidence is provided, or there are numerous factual mistakes, omissions or oversimplifications.   There is little or no mention of information readings.
Sources	Evidence is used from a wide range of sources, including course readings.  Author also consults books, websites, journal articles, etc. not explicitly discussed in class.	Evidence is used from many sources, but the author relies heavily on a more limited set of sources. Some effort is made to go beyond material presented in class whenrequired, but not much.	Uses only a few of the sources provided in class. Does not go beyond what has been provided by the class when required to do additional research.	Does not use sources.
Citations	All evidence is properly cited in footnotes or endnotes.	All evidence is cited in footnotes or endnotes, but there are some minor problems with completeness or format of some citations	Some pieces are unreferenced or inaccurately referenced, and there are problems with completeness and format of citations.	No attempt is made to cite evidence.
Organization	Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion.  Introduction lays out the main argument and gives an outline of what the reader can expect in the essay. The conclusion brings everything together, acknowledges potential shortcomings of the paper, and gives the reader a sense of what further work might be done to advance the subject matter described in the paper.	Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion. Introduction lays out the mainargument but gives the reader little idea of what to expect in the essay.   The conclusion nicely summarizes the main argument and evidence, but does not move beyond what has already been presented in the paper.	Essay contains an intro, main body, and conclusion.  The introduction gives the reader an idea of what to expect in the paper, but does not effectively lay out the main argument.  It may begin with a set of rhetorical questions, or an anecdote that is never fullyexplained. The conclusion does little more than restate the problematic introduction.	Essay has no clearorganizational pattern.
Clarity and Style	All sentences are grammatically correct and clearly written. No words are misused or unnecessarily fancy.   Technical terms are always explained. All information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has beenspell-checked AND proofread (ideally by you and somebody else), and contains no errors.	All sentences are grammatically correct and clearly written. An occasional word is misused or unnecessarily fancy.  Technical terms are usually, butnot always, explained. All information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread, and containsno more than a few minorerrors, which do not adverselyaffect the reader’s ability to understand the essay.	A few sentences are grammatically incorrect or not clearly written.   Several words are misused.  Technical terms are rarelyexplained. Not all information is accurate and up-to-date. Paper has been spell-checked AND proofread, but still contains several errors. Reader’s ability to understand the essay may be compromised by these errors.	Paper is full of grammatical errors and bad writing. Several words are misused.  Technical terms are rarely explained. Not all information is accurate and up-to-date.   Paper has not been spell-checked or proofread, and contains numerous errors.   Reader has a difficulttime understandingessay because of errors.