Course Syllabus

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Syllabus

 Course: Political and Legal Foundations of Fire Protection

Course & Section: FES 3004

Credit Hours: 3

Session: Spring 2025

** On-line

** THERE WILL BE TIMES SCHEDULED FOR ONLINE MEETINGS.

Instructor: John K. Murphy

John K. Murphy, J.D. M. S., PA-C, EFO, is a practicing attorney since 2002, licensed in Washington State.  Before his work as an attorney, Mr. Murphy completed a 32-year career in the fire service, retiring as a Deputy Fire Chief for Eastside Fire & Rescue (Issaquah, WA) and Fire Chief of the City of Sammamish (WA). In his fire service career, he rose in the ranks from Firefighter/Paramedic to Chief Officer with extensive experience in Operational Command, Chief of Training, Health and Safety Officer, fire training curriculum development and implementation of training programs, organizational development, management, training executive level managers, and developing health and safety programs.

He has been instrumental in reorganizing small—to medium-sized businesses and public safety organizations. He has experience in organizational development and management and consults with and trains private and public entities in effective organizational management, strategic planning, personnel strategies, and goal-setting.

Mr. Murphy received a Juris Doctor from Seattle University School of Law, a Master of Science, and a Bachelor of Science in Health Education from Central Washington University. He graduated from the University of Utah’s School of Medicine’s Physician’s Assistant Program. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, a King County Bar Association member, and the U.S. District Court/Western Division. He served in the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman assigned to the US Marines and is a Vietnam Veteran. He is a Fire Commissioner for Fire District 38 (WA)

He is also a member of several fire service organizations promoting excellence in leadership, is the legal counsel for the International Association of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), a national instructor on fire service legal and health issues, a writer and podcast member for Fire Engineering Magazine on fire service legal issues and curator of the Fire Engineering Policy Bank. Mr. Murphy authored the book Legal, Political, and Regulatory Environment for Emergency Medical Services. He co-authored Cooling the Flames: Communication, Control, and De-escalation of Mentally Ill and Aggressive Patients.

Office Hours:   12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday Pacific Standard Time (PST)

**Course Website: http Links to an external site.:// Links to an external site.lss Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.at Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.ufl Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.eduLinks to an external site.

** Course Communications: There is a General Discussion tab that can be used, or send me an email through the course email. Urgent messages can be sent to my U of F email directly at  j.k.murphy911@dcp.ufl.edu

Recommended Text:

  • US Constitution
  • Recommended - Legal Aspects of Emergency Services, (2022); Gregory West, JD, EdD, Jones and Bartlett Learning, ISBN 9781284227970
  • Recommended - Legal Considerations for Fire & Emergency Services - 4th Edition (2022): Curt Varone ISBN 13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593705763
  • Recommended—Fire Protection Handbook, 20th Edition This is a great resource for your department.
  • Online Resources - Supplemental case law material for the most recent case law can be found online. If you use online material, please cite it appropriately. Wikipedia will not be allowed as a citation. 

**Additional Resources: Use resources on the course site under the Resource tab

**Course Description: This course examines the legal aspects of the fire service and the political and social impacts of legal issues affecting the fire service. This course includes reviewing the American legal system and in-depth coverage of legal and political issues involving employment and personnel matters, administrative and operational matters, planning and code enforcement, and legislative and political processes concerning the fire service.

**Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: None

Purpose of Course: This course provides an understanding of the legal and political system concerning the fire service.

 

Course Goals and Objectives: By the end of this course, students will:

  1. Identify potential legal and political issues in fire and emergency services.
  2. Describe legal lessons learned from recent cases and identify best practices in the fire service to avoid legal liability.
  3. Analyze and apply legal rules and political issues to manage risk.
  4. Formulate political and legal conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis.
  5. Locate and apply recent legal and legislative online resources.

** How This Course Relates to the Student Learning Outcomes in the Fire and Emergency Services program: As many aspects of Fire and Emergency Services are intertwined with the law, the student shall demonstrate knowledge and legal application of safety, health, and environmental regulations at state and federal levels. The student shall also demonstrate strong verbal and written communication skills for fire and emergency services leadership.

**Teaching Philosophy: I am looking for students to demonstrate a working knowledge of the subject. You'll need to be creative when you complete your assignments but keep a professional appearance in your work. Your work needs to be completed so that someone can pick up your document and understand what you are trying to convey. Most importantly, your work needs to be supported by research and cited properly in APA format.

**Instructional Methods: The course is designed for individual and group interactivity. It is important to post and respond to discussion questions in the course within the time frame allotted. This provides a learning environment by networking with other students in the course. The assignments are individual-based to allow you to do a variety of activities, which, in many cases, are similar to what you will be doing in your role as a leader in the emergency services profession.  

Course Policies:

Attendance Policy: The course is designed in module format. You should check the site at least once a week. You must complete the assignments, including discussion questions, within the period designated in the module. There will be meetings set up throughout the course if necessary. Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found in the online catalog at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/ Links to an external site.regulations/info/attendance.aspx.

**Quiz/Exam Policy: There is a final project for this course. There are no exams or quizzes.

Make-up Policy: To receive credit, you must contact me if you are going to be late on any assignment.

**Assignment Policy: All assignments have a due date. Please be sure to check the date and time it is due in each module.

**Course Technology: Class meetings will require a web camera and mic/audio. If you are not able to use a web camera, you will need to at least provide audio/mic. You can also call in on a phone.

** UF’s honesty policy  

UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge, which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code.  On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code has been updated in 2018 and specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions. Furthermore, you are obliged to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor for this class. Please click on the link below for the most recent version. 

http://regulations.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/4.040_18_revised2.pdfLinks to an external site.

UF Policies:

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office (http Links to an external site.:// Links to an external site.www Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.ds Links to an external site.o Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.ufl Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.edu Links to an external site./ Links to an external site.drc Links to an external site./ Links to an external site.).

 

The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

 

University Policy on Academic Misconduct: Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at http Links to an external site.:// Links to an external site.www Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.dso Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.ufl Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.edu Links to an external site./ Links to an external site.students Links to an external site.. Links to an external site.php Links to an external site..

 

**Netiquette: Communication Courtesy: All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats. [Describe what is expected and what will occur as a result of improper behavior] http://teach.ufl.edu/docs/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdfLinks to an external site.

Getting Help:

For issues with technical difficulties for E-learning in Sakai, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit http://www.distance.ufl.edu/student-complaints Links to an external site.to submit a complaint.

 

Tentative course schedule:

Week 1

Introduction – online post Read Syllabus and review course content Nature of Law Assign Module One – Discussion 

Week 2

Types of Law Module One Discussion and Assignment

Week 3

Institutions of Law Assign Module Two – Discussion and Assignment

Week 4

Civil Trials Module Two discussion and assignment

Week 5

Criminal Trials Assign Module Three discussion and assignment

Week 6

Warrants and Alternatives to Trials Module Three discussion and assignment

Week 7

Constitutional Law--Employment and Personnel Issues Assign Module Four discussion and assignment

Week 8

Federal Law--Employment and Personnel Issues Module Four discussion and assignment

Week 9

State Law--Employment and Personnel Issues Assign Module Five discussion and assignment

Week 10

Local Law--Employment and Personnel Issues Module Five discussion and assignment

Week 11

Operational and Managerial Issues Assign Module Six discussion and assignment due

Week 12

The Fire Official as Rule-Maker and Enforcer Module Six discussion and assignment

Week 13

Politics in Action Assign Module Seven discussion and assignment

Week 14

Politics and Budgeting Module Seven discussion and assignment

Week 15

Final Project

Grading Policies:

The grade is based on a point system. You divide the total number of earned points into the total amount of points available to determine your grade. A grading rubric for the final project is under the Resource Tab on the course.

Assignment

Points or percentage

Grading Discussion Participation – 15 points each discussion

105 points

Homework Assignments – points each assignment

105 points

Final Project - comprehensive and applied

100 points

Total Grade

310 points

 See https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx Links to an external site.regarding current UF grading policies.

Grading Scale

A   = 93.0 to 100%

A-  = 90.0 to 92.9   

B+ = 87.0 to 89.9

B   = 83.0 to 86.9

B-  = 80.0 to 82.9  

C+ = 77.0 to 79.9   

C   = 73.0 to 76.9    

C-  = 70.0 to 72.9

D+ = 67.0 to 69.9

D   = 63.0 to 66.9

D-  = 60.0 to 62.9

 F   = below 60  

 

Evaluation process:

Students are expected to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course based on 10 criteria. These evaluations are conducted online at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three

Weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open.

Summary results of these assessments are available to students at

https://evaluations.ufl.edu Links to an external site..

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due