Why Reducing Fire Department Response Time Is Important
Having the Fire Department arrive on the scene of a fire quickly is a critical component in mitigating the impact that a fire may have on a building. This video, produced by the Underwriters Laboratories clearly demonstrates the need for reduced fire department response time. Within the video we can see a comparison of the rate of fire growth in a modern construction scenario versus legacy construction and materials.
OPEN ACCESS™
In order to help reduce fire department response time, FMC partners with OPEN ACCESS™. OPEN ACCESS™ is a high-speed gateway that allows for the direct and immediate alarm delivery from third party Signals Receiving Centres (SRC) to emergency response dispatch centres. This technology has been independently proven to save an average of 114.7 seconds on emergency response times thus reducing potential property damage and loss of life.
Fire Departments
Today’s Fire Departments are always striving to reduce their response time and there are many measurements in place to track their time performance and effectiveness. Technologies like OPEN ACCESS™ can play an important role in improving response times.
A Fire Department’s response time is made up of three components:
- Dispatch time: The time it takes from when a 9-1-1 call is received until units are notified.
- Turnout time: The time elapsed from when units are notified until they are responding.
- Travel time: The time from when units respond until they arrive on the incident scene.
Specifically, OPEN ACCESS™ technology has its largest impact on dispatch time.
Dispatch Time
As mentioned earlier, the use of OPEN ACCESS™ technology can greatly reduce a Fire Department’s dispatch time. This revolutionary technology re-transmits alarms from a third-party SRCs to the appropriate Fire Department Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
By delivering pre-verified data to the fire department’s CAD system, OPEN ACCESS™ not only eliminates address and information intake, it also reduces the potential for human error in the dispatching process.
Learn More
Fire Monitoring of Canada has been a leader in the fire monitoring and security monitoring industry for over 30 years. Trust the experts and give your property the protection it deserves. Call us at 1 866 789 FIRE (3473), email fminfo@fire-monitoring.com, or fill out the contact form below for more information.