Measuring Fire Dispatch Performance Jim Long, Northwest Fire District Debbie Gilligan, FirstWatch Inc
Who are We? Jim Long Northwest Fire District Communications Coordinator Public Safety since 1981 Debbie Gilligan FirstWatch, Inc Regional Manager Public Safety since 1985
Performance Measures Lord Kelvin was quoted as saying When you cannot measure what you are speaking about, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind, it may be the beginning of Knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to a stage of science, whatever the matter may be. (CFAI, 1999,pp. 11-12)
Where Do We Begin? Identify your team / empower your experts Define & understand your goals What can be accomplished with the resources and tools you have today? Evaluate how well you are doing Allow for periodic/incremental changes or improvements Measure, Refine, Adjust & Adapt
Why Measure? Comparison Accreditation Adjustment of Strategy or Tactics Discover Patterns/Trends Alert to Developing Situation (Real Time) Public Scrutiny Return on Investment
Standards of Cover Accredited/Re- Accredited This Year Central Yavapai Fire District Glendale Fire Dept Mesa Fire Dept Northwest Fire District
What s Worth Measuring? Elapsed Times? Percentage Performance of an Action? (Or Not) Frequency of an Event Distribution of an Event Type or Class Success or Failure Clinical Outcomes?
Incident Times Cascade of Events Event Event Begins Discovery Event Discovery Notification 911 System Notification Alarm Transfer Time Alarm Answering Time Alarm Processing Time Dispatch Crew or Station Notify Enroute Crew Enroute Wheels Rolling Onscene Arrival at Patient Or At Scene Clear Unit Available or End of Incident (NFPA 1221) (NFPA 1710) (NFPA 1710) Discovery Notification Alarm Handling Turnout Travel On Incident Normalcy Soft Time Soft Time Time Mobilization or Lag Time Total Response Time Time Time Time Unit Response Time Total Resource (Apparatus) Time Incident Control Time Normalcy or Recovery Begins Pre 911 System Soft Time Total 911 Incident Time Time
NFPA 1221 Call Answering 3.3.1* Alarm. A signal or message from a person or device indicating the existence of a fire, medical emergency, or other situation that requires action by an emergency response agency. 7.4.1* Ninety-five percent of alarms received on emergency lines shall be answered within 15 seconds, and 99 percent of alarms shall be answered within 40 seconds. (For documentation requirements, see 12.5.2.) 7.4.1.1 Compliance with 7.4.1 shall be evaluated monthly using data from the previous month. From NFPA 1221-2010
NFPA 1221 Call Processing 7.4.2* Ninety-percent of emergency call processing and dispatching shall be completed within 60 seconds, and 99 percent of call processing and dispatching shall be completed within 90 seconds. (For documentation requirements, see 12.5.2.) 7.4.2.1 Compliance with 7.4.2 shall be evaluated monthly using data from the previous month. From NFPA 1221-2010
Monthly Report Example
Public/Provider Input
NFPA 1221 Comparison 2010 Edition Answer 15 Sec 90% 40 Sec 99% Process 60 Sec 90% 90 Sec 99% 2013 Edition (proposed) Answer- 15 Sec 90% 40 Sec 99% Process 60 Sec 80% 106 Sec 95% Exceptions: Language TTY/TDD Criminal Info
1221 - What Didn t make it in 2013 A.7.4.2.1 The AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) of the responding agency can allow certain types ofemergency calls to be excluded from the requirements of 7.4.2 that require extra call interrogation time. All emergency calls of these types will be identified and reviewed by the AHJ on a monthly basis. Such calls could include but are not limited to: (3) Dispatch equipment malfunction (4) Unusually high call volume due to unpredictable scenarios (weather events, earthquakes, etc.) Exclusions should be reviewed and trends identified that need to be addressed for possible operational or technical solutions.
Percentile VS Average - Response Time The Philadelphia Fire Department prides itself on an average response time of 4.5 minutes for Fire Engines and 6.5 minutes for Medic Units.
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Average Response Time 0:00:10 0:00:50 0:01:30 0:02:10 0:02:50 Frequency Distribution Average 0:03:30 0:04:10 0:04:50 0:05:30 0:06:10 0:06:50 0:07:30 Call Time Count 0:08:10 0:08:50 0:09:30 0:10:10 0:10:50 0:11:30 0:12:10 0:12:50
Percentile Response Time 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 0:00:10 0:01:00 0:01:50 0:02:40 0:03:30 0:04:20 0:05:10 Percent Calls 0:06:00 0:06:50 0:07:40 0:08:30 0:09:20 0:10:10 0:11:00 0:11:50 0:12:40 Percent Calls
Defining Performance Times Clock Start.a controversial topic (Smoke & Mirrors) Time First Received at 9-1-1 PSAP Time First Received by Responding Agency (Secondary PSAP) Time Certain Info Obtained Time Dispatched Time Unit En Route Clock Stop (Pretty Definitive) Unit Staged Unit on Scene Crew at Patient
Where Do We Get Call Process time? Dispatch Time Answer Time Answer = When the last Ring is picked up. Ani/Ali to CAD Dump First Keystroke Manual Entry Dispatch = The time the ERF (Emergency Response Facility) ERU (Emergency Response Units)are Notified Tones (Start or Finish of) Pagers, Radio Transmission
Formulas =PERCENTILE Uses a RANGE you want a percentile OF (Talley up the numbers of occurrences Parameters = tells EXCEL there s a Formula Coming FORMULA TYPE (PERCENTLE) (paren to enclose parameters) Range (Top cell, to bottom cell like A1:A200), next Parameter Percent Value (.1 = 10%,.25=25%, etc)
Live Performance Data Demo How to Look at Data in Excel
Analyitics Packages
Monitoring VS. Measuring What data sources are available to monitor Which data source contains that data that matters? If one data source is good, is two better? D A T A S O U R C E S T O M O N I T O R R E A S O N S T O M O N I T O R Phone Data CAD Data ProQA Data EPCR/RMS Data Clinical Y Y Y Billing Data Dispatch Y Y Y Y Y Financial Y Y Y Operational y Y Y Y Risk Mgmt Y Y Y Y
Real Time Monitoring First Watch Live Presentation Live Fire Data
Excel or Reporting Output
Dispatch Stuff Worth Measuring? Example data source: FEMA
More Fire Dispatch Measures Example data source: FEMA
Even More Stuff Worth Measuring Example data source: FEMA
More for Mayor and Council Example data source: FEMA
Contacts Jim Long Communications Coordinator Northwest Fire District jlong@northwestfire.org 520-887-1010 Debbie Gilligan Regional Manager FirstWatch, Inc dgilligan@firstwatch.net 951-970-1026