Orange County Fire Rescue

Consolidation Commission Presentation

Fire Communications

Presentation Outline

• Organizational Structure• 911 Center Functions• Statistics & Standards• Communications Center Budget• Technology• 911 Call Flow• Challenges

OCFRD Organizational Chart

Karinn e DonisExecutive Assistant

C h a rle s G . M idd le tonD iv is io n C h ie f

L o g is tics

T a m m y W u n d e rlyB a tta lio n C h ie f

L ife S a fe tyE d uca tion

B a rry H . L u keD iv is io n C h ie fC o m m u n ica tio ns

M a tt M cG rewA /D iv is ion C h ie fA d m in is tra tion

Jam es F itzgeraldDeputy Chie f

B ill G o d freyD iv is io n C h ie f

T ra in in g &In fo rm a tion T ech no lo gy

P re sto n C o okM a na g er

O ffice o f E m e rge n cyM a na ge m e nt

T . J . L yonD iv is io n C h ie f

O p e ra tio ns

C arl P laug h erF ire Ch ief

Fire Communications

Adm inistrativ eAssistant

Battalio nChie f

T elecom m unication sProgram

Coord inato r

Business UnitSystem s Analyst(CAD/RM S/AVL)

Adm inistrativ eD ispatc h

Superviso r

D ispatcher I(35 )

D ispatcher I I(12 )

D ispatch S uperviso r(4) Shifts

B arry LukeD ivision C hief

Dispatch Center Facts

• Consolidation of Fire District Dispatch Centers in 1981• 52 Authorized Dispatcher positions• 4 Squads rotate through 12 Hour Shifts• Each squad has 13 assigned dispatchers• 14 Dispatch Consoles• 5.1 million dollar budget

– Includes Dispatch Center and Telecommunications functions– Personnel Services– Operating Costs– Technology

Technology Investment

• Computer Aided Dispatch 2.4m

• RMS Automation 1.7m

• Mobile Data System 1.0m

• Automatic Vehicle Location 1.0m

• 800 Mhz Radio System 3.0m

• Fire Station Alerting System 1.0m

• Enhanced 911 System 1.0m

Dispatch Center Functions

• Dispatch Center Operations – 911 Operator/Call Take– Primary Dispatch– Tactical Radio– Supervision– MEDCOM– State Warning Point

• Dispatch Center Support– New Employee & In-Service Training– Technology Support– Quality Assurance

OCFRD Dispatch Coverage

• Orange County Fire Rescue– Unincorporated area dispatch

• OCFRD Fire Service & Dispatch– Oakland, Edgewood, Bell Isle,

Lake Nona, Eatonville

• Municipal Dispatch Contracts– Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden

Fire Dispatch Coverage

Standards

• National and State Standards– Must answer 911 in less than 10 seconds

• FSS 365.171, State 911 Plan

– Must dispatch emergency calls < 60 seconds• ISO, NFPA

Statistics

• Daily Call Volume 280 alarms– Busy Day of Week Friday– Busy Hour of Day 5:00 - 5:59 p.m.– Busy Minute of Day 3 simultaneous calls

• Statistics– 5.4 seconds - average 911 answer time– 46 seconds - average call process time

• From time phone is answered to dispatch of units

Statistics

• August 2005 – 27,742 total phone calls

• 8,278 calls on 911• 5.4 second average answer time on 911• 96.2% of all calls were answered in < 10 seconds

– 8,707 emergency calls were dispatched• Busy Hour:

– Saturday, August 20, 6:00-6:59 p.m., 36 calls in one hour

• Busy Day:– Monday, August 15th, 322 calls in 24 hour period

911 Centers/Dispatch Centers in Orange County

911 Centers:1 Apopka (Apopka PD/FD, Eatonville PD, Maitland PD)2 Winter Garden PD3 Ocoee PD4 Winter Park FD/PD5 UCF PD6 Orlando PD7 Orlando FD8 Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (PD/FD)9 Reedy Creek10 Florida Highway Patrol

Private Ambulance Dispatch Centers11 Rural Metro12 Health Central Paramedics

911 Centers in Orange County

Typical 911 Call Flow

Wireless Issues

• 45% of all emergency calls to 911 are from wireless phones

• Wireless calls “route” based on the closest, or closest available, cell tower

• Wireless calls may route to the correct 911 Center or to a more distant 911 Center

Wireless Call RoutingAuto Accident, Aloma/Semoran, 911 Call to Winter Park, then to OCFRD

Wireless Call Routing

Auto Accident

Colonial/Semoran

911 Call to Orlando PD,

Transfer to Orlando FD

Transfer to OCFRD

Emergency Call Flow

• OCFRD 911 Operator

• Primary “TAC1” Dispatcher

• Tactical Radio Operator

Technology

• CAD• MDT• AVL• Digital Mapping• 800 Mhz Radio System• Fire Station Alerting System• FireFighter Location Technology• Enhanced Mapping

Automatic Aid/Mutual Aid

• Automatic Aid– Formal agreement between agencies– Involves approved geographic areas– Involves designated equipment/apparatus– A request for assistance is “pre-approved”– Dispatch occurs quickly

• Mutual Aid– Emergency Backup between agencies– Used in Catastrophic or highly unusual events– Requires approval before units are assigned

Automatic Aid

• Occurs about 20 times a day between OCFRD and other agencies– OFD called OCFRD 111 times in August– OCFRD called OFD 39 times in August

• 2 to 3 minute delay in unit response– Due to time lost in calling the other agency by phone

• Sometimes an engine or rescue that is physically closer will not be dispatched, because a more distant unit can reach the scene first.

Automatic Aid• Dispatch Process Example:

– Auto Accident on Michigan Avenue at Mills– OCFRD CAD recommends an OFD Engine 5– OCFRD Dispatcher dials OFD Dispatch Center and asks if Engine 5 is

available– If OFD Engine 5 is available, OCFRD dispatcher relays all information

• type of call, location, cross streets, radio channel

– OFD call taker then enters emergency request into their CAD system– OFD dispatcher then alerts OFD Engine 5 to respond

Contract Dispatch Agencies• Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden have multi-year

dispatch agreements with OCFRD• Their units operate on OCFRD radio channels and

in OCFRD CAD system• Response in and around the cities is “instant” with

no delay• Agencies get the benefit of OCFRD technology

backbone

Contract City Dispatch

Station Proximity

Ocoee

Winter Garden

OCFRD

Challenges

• 60 Second Emergency Call Process Time– Callers not familiar with the area

• Students• Commuters• Visitors (365,000 average daily visitor population)

– Callers who are confused or hysterical • Elderly & Small Children

– Technology Limitations• Cell Phone Callers• Voice Over IP (VoIP) Callers• Switchboard Callers

Challenges

• Dispatch System Efficiency Issues– Coordination/Rapid Dispatch with outside agencies– Recruitment & Selection of qualified employees

Summary

• OCFRD currently operates a consolidated center

• Expensive technology is shared among multiple agencies

• OCFRD dispatchers are highly trained and focus on Fire and EMS

• OCFRD runs an efficient Communications Center– Congressional 911 Award this year

– Performance Measurements

– Quality Assurance Program

– Customer Service feedback from cities

Questions ?