We need to take full advantage of our data to tell a clear a compelling story of how emergency services are making a difference in the community. One of the surprising things I have learned is a need to step away from our internal measurements and jargon. Here are five examples that may do a better job of describing how we use our precious resources – people, apparatus and time – in serving our community.
1: DESCRIBE TOTAL UNIT RESPONSES AND NOT INCIDENTS
One of the surprising takeaways from the data-driven, real-time National Fire Reporting System (NFORS) analytic system is to change the way we describe emergency responses. As insiders, we know what a “third alarm” incident means. Describe incident responses in terms of unit responses. This graphic is from the 2017-2018 Orange County (Florida) Fire Rescue Annual Report:
2: DO NOT “QUALIFY” THE RESPONSES
It is understandable that we focus on traditional fire suppression activities. With fire companies spending 50% to 80% of their time handling non-suppression activities: EMS, investigate a hazardous situation, lift-assists, etc. we need to share that information with the community that pays for our services.
Some have shared a concern that being transparent means the department is more vulnerable to criticism and a possible loss of community support. What will they do if they learn that Engine 3 spends 70% of their time on EMS and lift-assist responses? Would they advocate replacing Engine 3 with an ambulance?
3: CLARIFY SERVICE BOTTLENECKS OR PROBLEMS
We get the implication if we say “One-third of Truck 28’s responses are for ‘medical locals’.” (The truck is taking in an EMS 1st responder call because the engine company is on another incident, probably EMS.) It is easier to share a table showing that 59.6% of the time greater than 75% of the ambulances are on assignment:
Table from Urban Fire Forum white paper: Fire Department Response Capability, Performance and System Resilience:
4: PROVIDE THE BIGGER PICTURE
Fire departments are complex municipal organizations with efforts in many areas beyond fire suppression and EMS. Be just as joyous and detailed about your other divisions. This accomplishment timeline from Orange County Fire Rescue is interesting:
5: WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM
Fairfax County (Virginia) Fire and Rescue added a Life-Years Added counter to their annual report. Associate Medical Director Dan Avstreih, MD, described how they use the counter:
Life-Years Added = Average life expectancy for a man (78) or woman (82) in the United States this year
-minus-
Patient’s age at time of discharge from the hospital alive and neurologically intact after suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac or respiratory arrest.
For example, a 50 year-old female that is resuscitated from cardiac arrest adds 32 (82-50) years to her life. For patients whose age already exceeds average life expectancy, one year is added to the counter.
For the FY2017-FY2018 Annual Report, they showed 1724 Life-Years Added.
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Compton, Dennis and Sanders, Russell (editors) (2018 September) Fire Department Response Capability, Performance and System Resilience. Urban Fire Forum White Paper. Accessed January 26, 2019, from https://i-psdi.org/assets/research/fire-department-response-capability-performance-and-system-resilience-2018.pdf
Orange County Fire Rescue (2018) 2017-2018 Annual Report. Winter Park, Fl: Orange County Government. Accessed January 26, 2019, from http://www.orangecountyfl.net/Portals/0/Library/Emergency-Safety/docs/OCFRD%20FY2017-2018.pdf
Fire and Rescue Department (2017) FY2017-FY2018 Annual Report. Fairfax, VA: County of Fairfax. Accessed January26, 2019 from https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fire-ems/sites/fire-ems/files/assets/documents/pdf/oi/2017anlrpt.pdf