Automated FD Dispatching

[cpg178]

I also take issue with your assertion that dispatchers "add no value" to dispatching calls.

Does your dispatch system know the difference between a trash can fire and a high rise fire? Does your system have the the capacity to know the difference between a CVA and a car fire?

Are calls just spit out as first in first out?

You really need to sit down and maybe do some research and listen to some audio recordings of how these systems work, before you go on spout on your long and baseless rant. Comparing Emergency 911 services to a for profit business? What do people from another country have to do with a 911 dispatch center?
Do you know how many dispatch centers are understaffed right now, with 3-4 people on a shift handling phones, radios, and the computer for Fire, EMS AND PD? Not having to sit and wait while a minutes worth of tones go off, is a minute that can be spent typing info into the computer, talking to field units, or giving emergency medical directions to someone via the 911 line.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

I also take issue with your assertion that dispatchers "add no value" to dispatching calls.

Does your dispatch system know the difference between a trash can fire and a high rise fire? Does your system have the the capacity to know the difference between a CVA and a car fire?

Are calls just spit out as first in first out?

The automated dispatch systems simply parse information directly from CAD, which is input by the call-taker (a human). If the call-taker puts the wrong nature code in, then of course the automated dispatch system would dispatch the wrong information. But, the exact same thing would happen if there was a human dispatching the call.

I truly don't think you have a concept of how the USDD/Locution/Purvis systems work.

 

[KE4ZNR]

I also take issue with your assertion that dispatchers "add no value" to dispatching calls.

Does your dispatch system know the difference between a trash can fire and a high rise fire?

yes because HUMANS still answer the 911 calls and ENTER THE CALL INFO INTO THE SYSTEM. Do you not understand that Humans still enter all of the call info into CAD which is only then automated dispatched out?
A HUMAN decides what is a trash can fire and what is a high rise fire.
You have obviously never spent a day in a 911 center.

Does your system have the the capacity to know the difference between a CVA and a car fire?

Are calls just spit out as first in first out?

Calls are entered in by HUMANS who decided what the call type will be that will be then automated dispatched out.
Again how do you not understand this simple process?
Do you really think that a computer does everything from answering the initial call to driving a FD truck to the scene and handing out first aid?

 

[radiodog2009]

What does any of this have to do with a dispatch center? Jobs aren't being removed or replaced. Again, provide data that dispatchers are being replaced with automation. Common sense should tell you it's up to you support a claim you make.

I specifically said, "There's little to no value-add with a person sending tones and an address."

It sounds like you've never heard or experienced automated dispatches before. You seem to think there are no human dispatchers. Listen to a MARCS system, for example, and you'll see how it works. Here's a link to one of them that works very well:

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A human answers the call and when ready sends the dispatch. While the automated system is dispatching, the human dispatcher can still be on the phone providing assistance, answering another call, or even respond to other agencies. If anything, it improves their productivity.

All the things I enumerated for you were not accomplished overnight, but they were accomplished as the tech revolution continues move in what some people think is forward.
If not overnight, over time the things I explained for you will happen. Companies become more greedy every day and will ultimately find a way to fire more employees for the sake of automation.

10-7.

 

[belvdr]

All the things I enumerated for you were not accomplished overnight, but they were accomplished as the tech revolution continues move in what some people think is forward.
If not overnight, over time the things I explained for you will happen. Companies become more greedy every day and will ultimately find a way to fire more employees for the sake of automation.

10-7.

Oh ok. lol

 

[radiodog2009]

The automated dispatch systems simply parse information directly from CAD, which is input by the call-taker (a human). If the call-taker puts the wrong nature code in, then of course the automated dispatch system would dispatch the wrong information. But, the exact same thing would happen if there was a human dispatching the call.

I truly don't think you have a concept of how the USDD/Locution/Purvis systems work.

My experience with auto dispatch covered about twenty minutes listening of Dallas Fire. I turned it on and in a matter of seconds, I heard eight dispatches go out back-to-back. Some were fire calls but the majority were medical emergencies. At the time, I wondered how these calls were prioritized.

 

[KE4ZNR]

All the things I enumerated for you were not accomplished overnight, but they were accomplished as the tech revolution continues move in what some people think is forward.
If not overnight, over time the things I explained for you will happen. Companies become more greedy every day and will ultimately find a way to fire more employees for the sake of automation.

10-7.

We are not talking about COMPANIES. We are talking about (in most cases) a government 911 call center. 2 entirely different institutions run entirely differently. I would recommend trying to schedule a visit to your local 911 center (most give tours) as it will open your eyes to a world in which you have been oblivious to.
My 911 Center is still hiring BTW but you have to be open to learning from others.

 

[KE4ZNR]

My experience with auto dispatch covered about twenty minutes listening of Dallas Fire. I turned it on and in a matter of seconds, I heard eight dispatches go out back-to-back. Some were fire calls but the majority were medical emergencies. At the time, I wondered how these calls were prioritized.

So your only "experience" is what you have heard over a scanner. No wonder you don't understand how a 911 Call Center operates. Seriously: try to schedule a tour at your local 911 center then come back and discuss automated dispatching with us in the profession. Your view will have changed dramatically I can guarantee it.

 

[belvdr]

My experience with auto dispatch covered about twenty minutes listening of Dallas Fire. I turned it on and in a matter of seconds, I heard eight dispatches go out back-to-back. Some were fire calls but the majority were medical emergencies. At the time, I wondered how these calls were prioritized.

Wait, I thought you went 10-7.

Follow @KE4ZNR's advice and see if you can take a tour. If there are multiple centers, especially one that uses automated voice and one that doesn't, schedule both. I've never been in one myself, but have been on the responder side. There were dispatchers that we had trouble understanding. With automated voice, it's a very known quantity.

Also, realize "auto dispatch" still involves humans. Your insistence of this being a doomsday scenario, while simultaneously not having deeper knowledge is interesting, at best. Imagine if we didn't let technology bring us forward. We'd still be digging everything with shovels (no backhoe, no bulldozer, etc) and we wouldn't have some of the surgeries we can perform today. Civilization will evolve with the changes.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

My experience with auto dispatch covered about twenty minutes listening of Dallas Fire. I turned it on and in a matter of seconds, I heard eight dispatches go out back-to-back. Some were fire calls but the majority were medical emergencies. At the time, I wondered how these calls were prioritized.

Speaking specifically about USDD, the system can simultaneously dispatch 20 firehouses to 20 different incidents all at the same time, as the IP addresses to each firehouse are unique. What you hear on the scanner is simply the order in which they were entered (which could be separated by milliseconds), but the stations are notified more quickly through VOIP and/or the MDC's if they're not in quarters.