Computer-Aided Dispatch for Fire, Police, EMS Operating in Minneapolis
BY LOWELL LUDFORD
The Minneapolis Fire Department has become part of a centralized multiagency computer-aided dispatching system (CAD) after more than two years of research and planning.
“Managing adoption of the new communications system presented a number of administrative, technical and personnel challenges,” said Fire Chief Clarence L. Nimmerfroh.
The $1.2 million CAD system was selected for use with the 911 public emergency telephone number that the Minnesota State Legislature mandated for the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area in 1982. Countywide 911 planning is required and Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis and two dozen suburbs, decided to provide for centralized fire, police and EMS radio dispatching.
“The initial decision was made for us,” Nimmerfroh explained. “Our job became one of planning to take advantage of the new system and managing its implementation in the absence of fire service standards and guidelines for CAD.”
Implementation meant moving from a separate Minneapolis fire dispatching alarm office in the old city hall building to a large, combined fire-police-EMS computer-aided communication center elsewhere in the same building. Virtually everyone in the 530-man fire department would be affected, especially communications personnel.
How system works
The basic CAD system involves half a dozen telecommunicators who answer emergency telephone calls for fire, police or medical aid. The telecommunicators use a cathode ray tube (CRT) keyboard to record the address, nature of the call and other pertinent information. They transfer this information in a split second to the CRT console of a separate fire, police or EMS dispatcher who assigns the proper response for his or her agency.
The two on-duty Minneapolis fire dispatchers are told immediately on their computer screens which of the preselected fire units for the location are available and no longer have to spend time looking this up on a running card. The dispatchers notify fire units by phone line at their station or by radio on the street in a total alarm processing time of less than one minute.
Designed to meet numerous security and fail-safe requirements, including complete backup, the entire CAD system also has broad capabilities in terms of memory, printouts, rapid-transfer of information, use of multiple radio frequencies and telephone lines. The system includes a separate emergency operations console for disaster situations, special events such as parades, and for training of personnel.
Future capabilities
The Minneapolis chief said his department plans to take advantage of the CAD system’s many other capabilities which were not included at the start largely because of technical and economic factors. For example, he hopes automatic telephone number and location features can be phased in when 911 use begins in 1982. This could reduce total alarm processing time by up to 15 seconds.
As funding becomes available, the new system can be used by fire dispatchers to trigger station alarms and teleprint alarm information to stations in three seconds. This would further reduce alarm processing time and also give engine and ladder company captains pertinent facts to review on paper during fire runs.
Looking to longer range plans, the CAD system is capable of processing all fire, police and EMS calls throughout Hennepin County, including Minneapolis.
“Long before CAD became a reality, we began the research phase of fire department planning for the total system” Nimmerfroh recalled.
Alarm areas redefined
More than 200,000 man hours were spent realigning the city’s box alarm areas and subdividing them into smaller fire response zones compatible with the 1000 United States census tracts, which are four to six-block units on which the computer programming is based.
Each zone also was classified as low hazard, standard hazard, high hazard or maximum hazard. Computer programmed fire unit response is based on the degree of hazard and route of travel.
Research included a visit to California cities with CAD units and evaluation of the outdated Minneapolis police department computer system. In addition, the fire department radio communications system, including transmitter locations, was reviewed for dead spots and other problems that were scheduled for correction.
Ad hoc group formed
During the research phase, it became evident that the police also wanted CAD and this led to formation of an ad hoc group of fire and police officials, as well as representatives from the city coordinator’s office, the city management information systems (computer) office and from Hennepin County Medical Center, which has primary responsibility for EMS in the city and county.
The ad hoc group eventually hired a consultant to help draft a request for proposal of a CAD. Several proposals were drafted, and the fire department detailed its needs and asked a consultant to enhance them.
Six vendors responded to the final published request, most of them at least five times thicker than the request document outlining needs for a combined CAD system.
“In retrospect,” Nimmerfroh said, “our ad hoc group may have spent too much time drafting its proposal request, since numerous changes were made later in detailed planning with Arthur D. Little Systems, which was the vendor we selected.”
Planning committee
The ad hoc group became a planning committee after bid selection and devoted its attention to technical, structural and personnel planning. It was assisted by the vendor, which devised alternative plans for specific concerns of the committee.
Nimmerfroh explained, for example, that the fire department worked hard to provide for upper and lower work areas on the fire dispatcher CRT display screens. Among other things, this unique feature allows Minneapolis fire dispatchers to instantly verify which fire companies are assigned to a run.
Some CAD systems have large, lighted overhead city map boards showing the status of all fire units, but Nimmerfroh said his department didn’t think the benefit of this feature was worth the cost.
Technical planning involved room selection, console layout, and radio and telephone system coordination. Some of these became unanticipated difficulties that led to scheduling delays. Heavy building construction in downtown Minneapolis, for instance, affected telephone company priorities for a time.
As a result of radio planning, the CAD system has cross-channel repeating that allows for mixing of various fire, police and EMS frequencies, as well as the ability to include public works frequencies, such as the street and water departments. In a disaster, one dispatcher can communicate with all or selected units.
Structural planning included communications center layout, with decisions on how much space for police, fire, EMS, telephone system and miscellaneous needs. At one point, a necessary change in plans resulted in five times as much communications center space for telephone equipment than originally expected!
Personnel planning involved designing an organization structure for the CAD center, reassigning fire and police dispatching personnel to the combined operation and training all CAD personnel to function in their new jobs.
Control of CAD center
The CAD center is governed by a user board consisting of the fire chief, police chief, city coordinator and the Hennepin County administrator. The board sets policy and meets as needed. An operating committee of representatives of the user board implements policy and is responsible for general CAD center operations.
Reporting to the operating committee, which includes members of the former planning committee, are a director of the center and an assistant director. Below them is a shift supervisor for each shift. Under each shift supervisor are two fire dispatchers, three police dispatchers and six telecommunicators.
The telecommunicators are former police and fire dispatchers. The fire dispatchers had to learn police procedures and the police dispatchers were taught fire alarm procedures. Both received computer keyboard training. New shift hours, days off and holiday schedules had to be arranged because the previous working conditions for fire and police dispatchers were completely different.
Basic financing for the CAD center came from a federal Law Enforcement Assistance Act grant, requested by the police department, that provided 90 percent of the funds for police-associated activities. The city paid the remaining 10 percent, and also paid 100 percent of the fire-related portion. Hennepin County paid all of the EMS costs.
The city and county will pay future operation and maintenance costs of the CAD center, with the county’s pro-rated share increasing as suburban police and fire dispatching services merge into the new system.
“This means the Minneapolis Fire Department no longer will have a budget item for radio communications and dispatching,” Nimmerfroh pointed out. “The CAD center will be administered through a separate department budget by the city coordinator’s office.”
Fire and police changeover to the new system occurred last Dec. 4, which started a 30-day acceptance test period. Upon acceptance, the director and assistant director of the center were to be hired. Plans called for them to prepare published procedures and standards governing the CAD center and its operations.
Integration of Hennepin County EMS dispatching was scheduled for late this year.
Initial operation of the CAD system was remarkably free of technical problems, according to Nimmerfroh. “But the technical delays we encountered during planning and installation reduced the amount of time available to properly train and schedule dispatchers as we neared Dec. 4. This resulted in short term start-up difficulties due to operator inexperience, but overall the relocated dispatchers adjusted reasonably well to the CAD environment.”
Benefits of CAD
Nimmerfroh said early experience seems to confirm reports from other cities with CAD systems that indicate a more efficient and reliable operation with savings in personnel costs and reduced fire dispatcher workload.
“Already, CAD has speeded up joint fire, police and ambulance response to such emergencies as personal injury accidents,” he explained, noting that improved communication between fire and police departments also is expected.
Looking back, Nimmerfroh observed that moving to a sophisticated, combined CAD system requires extensive research and planning with adequate fire department staff assigned to the project.
“We found that we would have benefited by doing our basic planning before, rather than after, receiving grant money, which is tied to deadlines. This would have reduced some of the inevitable delays that create complicat ions late in the game,” he said.
“We also were fortunate that a basic spirit of cooperation developed early in the planning and prevailed throughout the project,” Nimmerfroh stated. “This carried us over the hurdles, and from a management view, it emphasized the need to assign the proper people to such projects.
