Memo: DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE DISPATCH REQUIREMENTS

RE: DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE DISPATCH REQUIREMENTS

At our last meeting of the participants of the CRD Fire Call Relay Contract with Langford, a working group was formed to prepare a requirements document for future fire dispatch service delivery. The members of that group are:

• Kevan Brehart, Otter Point Fire
• Stephanie Dunlop, Metchosin Fire
• Tom Bremner, Salt Spring Fire
• Bob Beckett, Langford Fire
• Travis Whiting, CRD
• Geoff Spriggs, Langford Fire

To clarify the scope of the service, and to clearly identify performance measures and deliverables, the working group started by defining the process involved from the time a caller is connected to fire dispatch up until the incident has terminated. In order to distinguish between the current call relay service and a full dispatch service, the call was divided into these two components. Considerations were also made for those parts of the service that are part of both Call Relay and Full Service including: non-emergency call answer, local technology, redundancy, standards and ongoing service development.

Attached are two schedules that address these considerations:

• Schedule A: Technical and Service Requirements This document outlines the deliverables involved in providing dispatch service based on a Full Service Model. It provides clear language on what a local fire department can expect from a service provider.
• Schedule B: Oversight, Review and Financial Reporting This document describes how participating departments can measure the standards at which the service is being provided and also discuss changes required to meet a local department’s needs.

Still to be completed are the final sections on governance and financial structure, which we continue to develop. We are circulating these two schedules to all the participating fire departments within the current contract to ensure we are working in a direction consistent with your needs.

I would ask that each of you review the documents and provide any feedback to myself by December 2nd. At that time, we will combine the requirements documents with the final two sections (governance and financial structure) for discussion by the group and consideration of next steps. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Thank you,

Travis Whiting Senior Manager, Protective Services