Fire Service Deployment: Assessing Community Vulnerability - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Fire Service Deployment: Assessing Community Vulnerability

FireCARES ProjectSlide2

Fire Department Core Values

Protect lives, property, and the environment through

preparedness, prevention, public education,

and

emergency response with an emphasis on quality services, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety.Slide3

Matching Resources to Risk

If fire department resources (both mobile and personnel) are deployed to match the risk levels inherent to hazards in the community, it has been scientifically demonstrated that the community will be

far less vulnerable

to negative outcomes in…

firefighter injury and death civilian injury and death property loss Slide4

Fire Department Expectations

Service expectations have steadily increased Emergency Medical Services (EMS)Response to natural disastersHazardous materials incidentsTechnical rescue Acts of terrorismSlide5

Fire Department Challenges

budget crisesrising call volumepersonnel and equipment shortagessecurity issuesexpectation to do more with lessSlide6

Challenges are Driving Dangerous Decisions

Forcing decisions to cut fire department resources faster than we can evaluate their impactCuts can leave a community without sufficient resources to respond safely and effectivelySlide7

Plan to the Budget or

Budget to the PlanFire chiefs faced with policies created by municipal officials With finite budgetary resources Without a solid technical foundation for evaluating the impact of staffing and deployment decisions on the safety of the public and firefightersSlide8

The Need for Hazard Risk Assessment

Traditional focus of risk assessmentidentification of fire hazards and planning an appropriate suppression response force Today, hazard risk assessment goes well beyond the fire problem to medical and other emergencies.

Fire chiefs must assess;

A wide array of hazards

The risk level associated with an adverse event involving those hazards The necessary resources for response to such an event Slide9

The Need for Hazard Risk Assessment

The resources (personnel and equipment) needed for the response must consider the outcomesFirefighter injury and deathCivilian injury and deathProperty loss (and the environment)Slide10

Matching Resources to Risk

Following a community hazard/risk assessment, Chiefs must prepare a plan for timely and

sufficient coverage

of all hazards and the adverse risk events that occur….

Standard of Response Coverage. (Standards of Cover) Standards of response coverage is defined as the written policies and procedures that establish the distribution and concentration

of fixed and mobile resources of an organizationSlide11

Standards of Cover

Resource distribution is associated with geography of the community travel time to emergenciesDistribution is typically measured by the percent of the jurisdiction covered by the first-due units.

Concentration

is also about geography

arranging of multiple resources, spacing them so that an initial "effective response force" can arrive on scene within time frames establishedSlide12

Matching Resources to Risk

Response time goals for first-due units (distribution) and …Response time goals for the total effective on-scene emergency response force (concentration) … …Drive fire department objectives like fire station location, apparatus deployed and

staffing levels

. Slide13

Explaining to Decision Makers

If response times and force assembly times are low, …it is an indicator that sufficient resources have been deployed and outcomes from risk events are more likely to be positive. Conversely, if response times and force assembly times are

high

,

it is an indicator of insufficient resources and outcomes from risk events are more likely to be negative.Slide14

Fire Department Performance

Resource Availability/Reliability is the degree to which the resources are ready and available to respond.Department Capability is the ability of the resources deployed to manage an incident.

Operational Effectiveness

is the product of availability and capability. It is the outcome achieved by the deployed resources

or a measure of the ability to match resources deployed to the risk level to which they are respondingSlide15

Fire Service Leaders Faced with Decisions

When evaluating current capability or measuring impact of a change in the level of resources deployed, department leaders (and community officials) must decide:

What resources to commit to

risk management

(prevention/pre-planning/preparation); What resources to commit to response/mitigationThe acceptable level of risk.Slide16

Fire Service Leaders Faced with Decisions

Decisions must be based on understanding of relationship between community hazards and associated

risk

,

basic emergency response infrastructure, including fire department response capability outcomes of emergency incidents Considering these three elements AND

the

tools available

to decision makers, a basic community vulnerability formula Slide17

Vulnerability Formula

Risk LevelToo few resources (-)= (-) Outcome Risk LevelAppropriate Resources (+)= (+) Outcome

 Slide18

Matching Resources to Risk

If fire department resources (both mobile and personnel) are deployed to match the risk levels inherent to hazards in the community, it has been scientifically demonstrated that the community will be

far less vulnerable

to negative outcomes in…

firefighter injury and death civilian injury and death property loss Slide19

FireCARES

FireCARES = Community Assessment Response Evaluation System Same Study Team as NIST StudiesDHS/AFG GrantDOD – ROGUE project Slide20

Questions?

http://firecares.iaff.org

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