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 :
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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