Fire Dept. to Send Units First, Save the Questions for Later
A pilot program for Fire Department dispatchers in Queens was so successful in improving response times that it will be extended across the city next month, the department said on Tuesday.
Under the program, which started on Feb. 14, dispatchers were trained to spend less time on the phone confirming the location and nature of the emergency in order to expedite getting units to the scene.
The program requires dispatchers to continue to obtain information — including the cross street and a contact number from the person or persons calling in the emergency — while the fire units are en route, the department said in a statement. The responding units are then given radio updates in their trucks.
Under the previous system, the additional questions had to be asked before dispatchers could assign units to an emergency, the department said.
The program has been criticized by union officials, who have said that the department needed more trucks and personnel, not new rules for its dispatchers.
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