1. CIMSeptember 10, 2018
COMMISSIONER’S INFORMATION MEMO FROM FIRE CHIEF KEVIN ROYSE
SALINA FIRE DEPARTMENT
FIREAND
EMS
Heartattacksareand
havebeentheleading
InFebruaryof2017,TheSalinaFireDepartmentbegantheinitialsteps
ofgatheringinformationanddesigncomponentsoffirestationalerting
causeoffirefighter
(oftenabbreviatedFSA).Duringtheyears20112014,thecommand
deathsforasmany
staffatthetimedecidedtherewasaneedforalertingandwenttoa
localvendorwhointurnͻƭŷƚƦĬǒźƌƷͼasimplerelaystationwithatwo
yearswehavebeen
tonedecodingsystem.Overthecourseoffouryears,manyheadaches
andheartaches,thesystemwasfinetunedtowhatitistoday.
documentinglineof
However,withƷƚķğǤƭbestpracticesandindustrystandards,our
dutydeaths.
systemisverymuchoutdated.Wecurrentlyonlyofferinstantaneous
lightingalongwithwideopenspeakervolumetojoltusoutofbedat
night.
Stationalerting,with
Lastyear,firefighterdeathsareata40yearlow.60firefighterslost
properdesignand
theirlivesinthelineofdutyandhalfofthemduetocardiacrelated
components,along
causes.Heartattacksareandhavebeentheleadingcauseoffirefighter
deathsforasmanyyearsasIcanremember.Ithasalwaysbeen
withahealthand
consideredͻƓƚƩƒğƌͼforabout100firefighterfatalitiesperyear.Iam
superhopefulthedeclineremainsandthatfuturestudieswillshow
safetyprogram,will
stationalertingasareasonfordecline.Notwithstandinggreater
helpreducethe
awareness,technologicaladvances,andmanyotherfactorsincluded.
chanceofacardiac
Manylessonswerelearnedthroughourjourneysince2011.Our
currentsystemisfartooantiquated.Itisveryloud,itisstartling,andit
relatedLODD
isnotscalable.Thealarmthatsendsusoutthedoorisoftenreferred
toasͻƷŷĻƷƚƓĻƭͼ͵Eachstationcurrentlyhasitsowntone.Fora
multipleunitresponse,sayaworkingstructurefire,thetonesgooff
threetimestogetaresourcefromthreestations.Thetwotonesper
stationgooffalongwithaͻǞğƩĬƌĻͼ͵Itcantakeupto30secondsto
dispatchtheunits.Asthetonescyclethroughthis,westillŷğǝĻƓƷ
September 10, 2018
COMMISSIONER’S INFORMATION MEMO FROM FIRE CHIEF KEVIN ROYSE
SALINA FIRE DEPARTMENT
heardtheaddressordisposition.Itcausesadelayinourresponsetimes.
Whentherelaysopenupatnight,thereisanaudibleaudiohammerinthespeakersandsimultaneously,
thelightscomeon.Itisaonetwopunchtothecrews.Thenewestsystemsoutthereoffercardiac
friendlyrampingupofthevolumeandlightingandathirdbenefitwhichweķƚƓƷofferhereisusingred
lightswhicheliminateͻƓźŭŷƷĬƌźƓķƓĻƭƭͼ͵TheͷƩğƒƦźƓŭaudioandͷƩğƒƦźƓŭlightingoftheLED
IlluminatedspeakerforbetterhealthandwellnesshaveLEDlightsthatareoptimizedtoaspecificred
lightfrequencywhichnegatesnightblindnessandcanevenprovidewayfindinglightingincaseoflocal
gridandgeneratorpowerfailures.
ScalabilityisanotherbigfactorinchoosingacompanythatdedicatesthemselvestoFSA.Virtuallyall
vendorstodayofferawiderangeofapplicationstosafelyallowfirefightersnavigatetheirwaytothe
unitsandtosecurethestationsatthesametime.Anotherpopularfeatureismessageboardsthatcan
beaddedthroughoutthestationswithalarminformation.
(ExampleofMessageBoard)
September 10, 2018
COMMISSIONER’S INFORMATION MEMO FROM FIRE CHIEF KEVIN ROYSE
SALINA FIRE DEPARTMENT
AdvantagesofanewFSAsystemincludethefollowing:
Dispatcherstresswasreducedtremendously.
DidnotrequireanotherͻƦźƦĻƌźƓĻͼintothecityserver.
Anywheretherewasaninternetconnection,theadministratorcanupdateormakechanges
Callprocessingtimewasdecreasedby27percent.
Themobileappworksflawlessly,withrealtimedispatchingofunits.
Usedfordailymessagessuchasstaffing,roadclosings,weatheralerts,etc.
VoiceAlertisaspeakingdispatchinformationforeachcall.Thespeechisgeneratedinafractionofa
secondandsenttoindividualstationsimmediately,freeingupcontentionforasingledispatcheraudio
channel.Thedispatcherisrelievedofatimeconsumingtask,freeingvaluabletimeforothercritical
tasksorcalls.
Ourcurrentmethodofdispatchingthefiredepartmentisoutdatedanddangerouslyreliesonhuman
influence.DispatcherAtakesthe911call,enterstheinformationintothecomputerandwhenitistime
tosendamedicunit,dispatcherAsaysͻǞĻaresendingthemedicsnow,pleasestayontheƌźƓĻͶ͵͵ͼ
DispatcherBmusthearthis,gototheirterminal,pullupthecall,readthedispositioninthenarrative
column,pressthealarmbutton,andwaitforthetonestogooff,thengivethedisposition.Ithasalways
servedasarecipefordisaster.Thisnewsystemwillbemuchautomated,usingCADinterfacewithour
stationalertingsoftwareandaseamlessdispatchoftherightunitstotherightlocationatthefastest
amountoftime.
Thatwasabigissueasseenintheeyesofafirefighter.Thebigonethatcityadministratorswill
appreciateisthelackofaneedofapipelineintoourserver.AdministratorsandCTcoordinatorsalike
cringeattheideaoflettinginanothersourceintoourfirewall.Thisistheonlyalertingcompanythat
doesnotrequireadedicatedpipelineintoourserver.Allapplicationswillberanoverbasicinternet
connections.Allalertingandradiocommunicationswillbeoverourcitynetworkwithradiobackupfor
redundancy.
CźƩƭƷwĻƭƦƚƓķĻƩ.ĻƓĻŅźƷƭ:
ΘPreparedness.Increasesituationalawarenessandmentalpreparednessbyusingclear,
consistentstationalertingvocals.(Thesamevoice,atthesamepaceandthesamevolume)Thishelps
September 10, 2018
COMMISSIONER’S INFORMATION MEMO FROM FIRE CHIEF KEVIN ROYSE
SALINA FIRE DEPARTMENT
firstresponderunitsremaincalm.Wehaveseentheeffectsofapanickedvoice,oftencreatingmore
panicandelevatedemotions.IĭğƓƷemphasisthistoomuch.Aconsistent,clear,concise,succinct
dispatchingwillstartallemergenciesintherightdirectionasitrelatestorespondermentalstate.
ΘAlongthesamelineaspreparedness,therearemessagesignsthatreduceresponsetimesatthe
station,becauseassoonasaunitiscommittedatdispatch,źƷƭbroadcastonthesesignsusuallyonly1/3
ofasecond(300milliseconds)lateralmostimmediatesituationalawarenesssorespondersareup
andmovingandstaffisalreadyturningoutandegressinglongbeforetheaudio/spokenformofthe
alertcanfinish.Thishelpsusrespondmorequicklyandefficiently.Whichisnumberoneonourmission
statement.
ΘWellness.Reducescardiacstress,anxiety,opticalshockandsleepdeprivation.Theramped
tonesandzonedalertingonlynotifyrequiredstationsand/orindividualunits.
5źƭƦğƷĭŷĻƩ.ĻƓĻŅźƷƭ:
ΘSpeed.Deliversautomaticdispatchalertssimultaneouslytooneormultiplestationsinlessthan
asecond.Thishelpstoreduceand/oreliminatedispatcherͻƚƓŷƚƌķͼtime.
ΘWellness.Dispatches(tones)alerttofirestationsautomatically,therebyreducingdispatcher
stressandworkload.Thisfreesupdispatcherstocommunicatewithcallersandmanagethedispatch
processmoresuccessfully.
ΘHighreliability.Stationalertingoffersdispatchersaredundantsystemtocommunicatealertsif
thecomputeraideddispatch(CAD)systemfails.
ΘSituationalawareness.Thesystemreviewsthesuccessofalertsastheyaresent.Italso
monitorsthestatusofthesysteminrealtime.
TheSalinaFireDepartmentwillcontinuetoseekandutilizeindustrybestpractices,alongwithadvanced
technologiesinordertoincreaseefficiencyofoperations,increasequalityofservice,aswellasprovide
foremployeehealthandsafety.
MONDAY’S MEETING
Enclosed are other items on the agenda. If any Commissioner has questions or cannot attend
the meeting, please contact me.
Michael D. Schrage, Interim City Manager