1. Houston Fire Department CFAI Accredited Agency fire based EMS average and fractile response time reporting

2. Fire Based EMS

3. Police, Fire, Medical Resource Deployment Fire Stations Personnel
Units
Core Service
Safety
Intervention
Continuity of Patient Care
Response
Efficient
Effective
Timely
Police • Fire • Medical
Chief Garrison, Chief West

4. Response Time Reporting

5. Components of Response Times
Call Processing Time- Measured between acknowledgement of the call at the HEC and the time the fire station is notified of the emergency.
Turnout Time- Measured from the time the fire station is notified until the first unit is en route.
Travel Time- Measured from the time the first unit leaves the fire station (en route) and arrives at the scene of the emergency.
All three components of the response time are combined to make up the Total Response Time.
One measure of our performance

6. Response Time Reporting Formats
Average- Historically this method has been used by the fire service to report response times.
Fractile- Response times are reported at 90% fractile. This number will be higher than an average response time.

7. What is Fractile Response Time reporting?
A requirement by CFAI* to maintain agency accredited status.
A term used to measure fractions of data, when added together, create a whole.
*Commission on Fire Accreditation International – A Division of the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
*If time permits, we’ll go over a little about the Accreditation process at the end.
Definition  Patrick Plummer

8. Example of Average vs. Fractile
HFD Response Times (mm:ss)
Dec 2011
Average Time
1st Arriving Unit
90 % Fractile Time
80% Fractile Time 1st Arriving Unit
Call Proc Time
1:36
2:05
1:49
Turnout Time
0:54
1:34
1:16
Travel Time
4:34
7:15
5:58
Total Resp Time
7:04
10:54
9:03

9. Average vs. Fractile
7:04
Average
10:54
90% Fractile

10. Average vs. Fractile
7:04
Average
10:54
90% Fractile

11. 2011 HFD Total Response Times (Includes response times to both Fire & EMS events)
time represented in mm:ss

12. 2011 Total Response Times Fire Events

13. 2011 Total Response Times EMS Events

14. 2011 HFD Response Time Improvements (Includes response times to both Fire & EMS events)

15. 2011 HFD Response Time Improvements (Includes response times to both Fire & EMS events)

16. additional information: CFAI Accreditation

17. What is CFAI Accreditation?
a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model that enables fire and emergency service organizations to:
examine past, current, and future service levels and performance and compare them to industry best practices.
improve service delivery by helping fire departments:
determine community risk and safety needs.
evaluate the performance of the department.
establish a method for achieving continuous organizational improvement.

18. What are the requirements for Accreditation?
Complete a rigorous self-assessment
Address 253 performance indicators ranging from operations to health and safety to facility maintenance
Develop a Strategic Plan
Forecasting how the department plans to meet its goals for the future
Develop a Standard of Cover
Indicating the department has assessed fire and non- fire community risks and developed baseline and benchmark service level objectives to meet those risks.
Service level performance is documented and validated for at least three years prior.

19. CFAI Accreditation
HFD began the self-assessment process in and received its first Accreditation in March 2001.
In March 2006, HFD was re-Accredited.
In March 2011, HFD was re-Accredited again.

20. What does being an Accredited Agency mean?
The fire protection agency has identified community risk and safety needs.
Emergency service performance has been evaluated and meets the need of the community.
A method for achieving continuous organizational improvement has been established.

21. The CFAI self-assessment process promotes excellence and encourages quality improvement by enabling fire and EMS agencies to:
Assure colleagues and the public that they have definite missions and objectives that are appropriate for the jurisdictions they serve
Provide a detailed evaluation of the services they provide to the community
Identify areas of strength and weakness within the department
Create methods or systems for addressing deficiencies while building organizational success
Encourage professional growth for both the department and its personnel
Provide a forum for the communication of organizational priorities
Foster national recognition by colleagues and the public
Create a mechanism for developing strategic and program action plans

22. How Houston compares to other national fire departments:
Houston is the largest accredited municipal fire department in the world.
The United States has 2,162 paid career fire departments.
93 of those departments are accredited.
Three of those departments serve populations over 1 million:
Houston Fire Department
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
Orange County Fire Authority

23. How Houston compares to other large accredited fire departments:
Square
Miles
Population
served
Fire Stations
Uniformed
Personnel
Operating Budget
Calgary Fire Department
305
1.3 million 38
1,350
153 million (FY09)
Houston Fire Department
601
2.1 million 92
3,851
419 million
(FY12)
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
1,883
1.7 million 65
2,100
404 million
(FY10)
Orange County Fire Authority*
553
1.4 million 61
(10 reserve)
1,091
(390 reserve)
405 million
* Paid/Reserve combination department

24. For more information about CFAI Accreditation:
excellence.org/agency- accreditation/about- accreditation-cfai.aspx
HFD Staff Services Division: