Fourth time the Department has been accredited since 1997
NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The City of Naperville is proud to announce that the Naperville Fire Department has been recommended for accreditation by the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). The recommendation came following a week-long accreditation site review conducted by a team of fire service professionals from throughout the United States and Canada.
This is the fourth time since 1997 that the Naperville Fire Department has achieved this honor. Fire accreditation through the CPSE is an international accreditation which is reviewed by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. The recommendation will be reviewed at the Commission board meeting held at the Fire Rescue International Conference this August in Denver, Colorado. Accreditation is valid for a five-year time period.
To be recommended for accreditation, a fire department must complete a self assessment of the department. The assessment encompasses 10 major categories which are further divided into 43 criteria with more than 258 performance indicators, ranging from response time benchmarking, training, resource deployment, public education and more. Along with this assessment, the department must also compile a strategic plan and a risk hazard assessment. Naperville spent the past year preparing for accreditation by incorporating these requirements into day-to-day operations.
“As a fire chief, integrating fire accreditation into every aspect of the Fire Department functions is something that I have always wanted the opportunity to implement,” Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said. “In doing so, the department is now poised to professionally move ahead with the appropriate organizational tools that will validate, support and measure service delivery to constantly assess our efforts in being the most responsive to the community we serve.”
There are 25,946 established and listed fire departments in the U.S. Among those, only 143 public, non-military fire departments hold the distinction of being accredited, placing the Naperville Fire Department among the 1/2 percent of all fire departments that have been able to achieve this accomplishment.
“We as a department can document and say a great deal about our service, but the reason we stand out above the rest is the fact that we can prove what we say and we have the courage, willingness and ability to have our department validated and reviewed by an outside source in virtually all that we do,” Puknaitis said. “I am thankful to be able to lead a department and report to a City Council and City management that support this process and the dedication that is needed to succeed.”
The CPSE site review team provided the Naperville Fire Department with a formal report on their findings. The team concluded that the department does not require any major operational or resource changes and was complimentary as to the means at which the City and the Fire Department have worked to keep cost controls in place and minimize budget expenditures without decreasing service levels.
For more information on the Naperville Fire Department, visit www.naperville.il.us/fire.aspx.