Response Time
GRAPEVINE FIRE DEPARTMENT Annual Report 2016
Response time of emergency units is a measure of three individual components of the response sequence and can reveal a great deal of valuable information relating to service delivery. The primary components of response time are:
�
�
�
Call Processing: The time required for the dispatcher to receive the 9-1-1 call, gather and enter the information into the computer aided dispatch( CAD) system, selecting appropriate units and then beginning the process of alerting the units that will respond(“ dispatch time”).
Turn Out or“ Reaction” Time: The time required for the responding personnel to receive the dispatch information, get to the vehicles, dress in PPE as appropriate, mount the vehicles and leave the fire station. Turn out time is measured from“ dispatch time” to“ enroute” time.
Travel Time: The time required to actually drive the vehicle to the incident location. This is measured from“ enroute” time to“ arrival” time. This time is affected by factors such as distance from the fire station to the location, traffic conditions, road conditions, route taken during the response, and weather conditions, to name a few.
The individual calling for emergency services is sensitive to the total response time matrix. They call and then count the minutes till help arrives. We report the response time of fire units including only the turn-out and travel time, i. e., dispatch time to arrival time, because that is the only portion of the response matrix that we( fire department) can affect.
First arriving unit on the scene is an important and the most frequently reported response time statistic. However, it is not the total or even most important measure of service delivery. When only one unit is all that is responding, first arriving is critical.
Second arriving unit is important because it frequently represents when a fire company can actually begin attacking a fire or rendering certain other types of aid. The requirement mandated by the State of Texas in Texas Administrative Code Rule 435.17, which we call“ Two-in, Twoout,” requires that a minimum of four firefighters be on the scene of a fire in a structure before anyone can enter the structure to begin extinguishment of the fire. As a result, a fire company staffed by three firefighters( our present staffing) that arrives at the location to find a house with active fire burning in say five minutes, cannot begin to go inside the building to fight the fire until another unit with two or more people arrives. If this is nine minutes, then the first crew is on scene for four minutes but unable to fight the fire from the inside. Time temperature curves demonstrate fire intensity doubles every 90 seconds. In other words, in four minutes a fire will intensify and grow by 525 %. Given that, the response time of second arriving companies is a critical measure in these instances.
Average Response Time( min: sec) 2014-2015 2015-2016 First Responding Unit 4:50 5:00 Second Responding Unit 6:17 6:20
Annual Report 2016 Page 14 of 18