Manage Fire Service Operations: Develop New Working Models For Solving Resource Allocation Problems

System Status Management (SSM) is the fluid deployment of ambulances based on the hour-of-the-day and day-of-the-week to match supply, defined as Unit Hours of Utilization (UHU), with expected demand, expressed as calls for service, in the attempt to provide a faster response by locating ambulances at “posts” nearer their next calls.

This book attempts to reframe key issues to allow administrators to develop new working models for solving resource allocation problems in the modern fire service.

While these authors are not recommending System Status Management concepts for fire apparatus, they do advocate a more dynamic perspective on resource assignment. From an examination of the impact that modern development and traffic patterns impose on the effectiveness of traditional first due areas to a recognition of the diverse interests that NFPA and ISO have on Standards of Cover planning, it becomes obvious that we can do better than the status quo. These pages review our literal route of response and the objectives that drive it before driving home a new view of risk management for accomplishing the effective assignment of resources and the automation of these systems that will support the decisions to achieve it.