Orange County Fire Rescue

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Orange County Fire Rescue Consolidation
Commission Presentation Fire Communications
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Presentation Outline

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

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OCFRD Organizational Chart
4
Fire Communications
5
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

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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

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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

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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

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Fire Dispatch Coverage
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Standards

• National and State Standards
• Must answer 911 in less than 10 seconds
• FSS 365.171, State 911 Plan
• Must dispatch emergency calls lt 60 seconds
• ISO, NFPA

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Statistics

• Daily Call Volume 280 alarms
• Busy Day of Week Friday
• Busy Hour of Day 500 - 559 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

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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 lt 10 seconds
• 8,707 emergency calls were dispatched
• Busy Hour
• Saturday, August 20, 600-659 p.m., 36 calls in
  one hour
• Busy Day
• Monday, August 15th, 322 calls in 24 hour period

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911 Centers/Dispatch Centers in Orange County

• 911 Centers
• 1 Apopka (Apopka PD/FD, Eatonville PD, Maitland
  PD)
• 2 Winter Garden PD
• 3 Ocoee PD
• 4 Winter Park FD/PD
• 5 UCF PD
• Orlando PD
• Orlando FD
• 8 Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (PD/FD)
• 9 Reedy Creek
• 10 Florida Highway Patrol
• Private Ambulance Dispatch Centers
• Rural Metro
• Health Central Paramedics

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911 Centers in Orange County
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Typical 911 Call Flow
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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

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Wireless Call RoutingAuto Accident,
Aloma/Semoran, 911 Call to Winter Park, then to
OCFRD
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Wireless Call Routing
Auto Accident Colonial/Semoran 911 Call to
Orlando PD, Transfer to Orlando FD Transfer to
OCFRD
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Emergency Call Flow

• OCFRD 911 Operator
• Primary TAC1 Dispatcher
• Tactical Radio Operator

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Technology

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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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Contract City Dispatch
Station Proximity Ocoee Winter Garden OCFRD
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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

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Challenges

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

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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

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Questions ?