A priority for the Davenport Fire Department was the physical safety of personnel. Safety practices and procedures were in place to address that priority. However, the only option in place to support the psychological and emotional health of firefighters was a City-wide employee assistance program that required firefighters to make the first contact and occurred outside of the department. Fire department chaplains have been used as an alternative service to assist firefighters with psychological and emotional issues within departments. The problem was that the Davenport Fire Department did not have a chaplain program. The purpose of this research was to develop an implementation program for the establishment of a program on the Davenport Fire Department to serve its members.

To achieve that purpose, a descriptive research methodology was utilized to answer five research questions: (a) what are the roles and responsibilities of a chaplain?, (b) what training is available for chaplains?, (c) what potential problems are associated with a chaplain program?, (d) how are chaplains utilized by other fire departments?, and (e) what benefits or problems of a chaplain program are identified by Davenport Fire members? The procedures to accomplish the goal of an implementation plan included interviews, a questionnaire sent to other fire departments to determine their experiences with chaplains, and a questionnaire to Davenport Fire personnel to ascertain their concerns regarding a chaplain. The research results revealed that fire service chaplain programs are well established, provide vital support for firefighters, and would be well-received by the Davenport Fire Department. However, they have also been challenged if not correctly structured and managed. These results led to nine (9) recommendations to assist DFD with the development of an implementation plan. Two (2) additional recommendations for additional research were made for others who desire to undertake establishment of a chaplain program.