Dallas Staffing Study

[Spencer534]

I am interested in a 1984 and 2000 staffing study done by McMannis Associates for the Dallas Fire Department. In it there are statistics which show the increased efficiency of having 4 personnel instead of 3. I've looked online and searched here, however cannot find the document, only references to it.

Any help would be appreciated.

[ladder72]

Contact the IAFF. They will gladly get you the study.

There is also a little known one for small/medium departments prepared by a chief for a National Fire Executive program. Ask the National Fire Academy for the "Westerville Study".

Good Luck!

[cozmosis]

There is also a little known one for small/medium departments prepared by a chief for a National Fire Executive program. Ask the National Fire Academy for the "Westerville Study".

I searched the LRC's card catalog for Westerville Study and found reports on smoke detector programs, officer succession, fire officer education, a safety city site, flood threats and department training. However, I didn't find any report on 3 FF vs 4 FF staffing. Can you point me in a better direction?

[FFFRED]

Contact the library at the National Fire Accademy:

Centaur Associates (conducted for FEMA), “Report on the Survey of Fire Suppression Crew
Size Practices,” June 30, 1982; pp. 18-20

American Insurance Association, “Fire Department Manning,” Special Interest Bulletin No.
319, December 1975.

International Association of Fire Fighters, “Analysis of Fire Fighter Injuries and Minimum
Staffing Per Piece of Apparatus in Cities With Populations of 150,000 or More,” December
1991.

McManis Associates and John T. O’Hagan and Associates, “Dallas Fire Department Staffing
Level Study,” June 1984; pp. I-2 & II-1 through II-7.

Also contact the FDNY Mand Library on Randals Island if the NFA doesn't have the following report and ask how you can obtain a copy of the "Dunn-Hart Engine Company staffing report/memo"

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Story was on here not that long ago about the current study happening at MFRI or NFA doing a replication of these studies.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/stor...17&catid=189...link is dead

ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA)- Firefighters crawling inside a burning building to put out a fire. But this is a test. If this had been an actual emergency your local fire department may not have four firefighters on board each fire truck as they did on Thursday at the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service Training Academy. At times there may be only two or three firefighters on an engine in the Washington area.

Like heads of every government agency, fire chiefs are fighting for every dollar and position they can to keep their firefighters and the public safe. What they lack is the ability to clearly show how the staffing of fire engines and ladder trucks impacts the ability of people to survive a fire and how quickly a fire can be extinguished.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is leading a team of fire service organizations in trying to arm fire chiefs for the next budget battle. Firefighters from Fairfax County and Montgomery County are spending weeks basically fighting the same fire over and over. Data is being recorded to show how long it takes and how effective fire crews are using a variety of staffing levels to extinguish the fire.

NIST plans to have a report available in the fall. Fire chiefs are calling this a landmark study. It may also give the public a tool to better understand what effect the number of people on duty in the local firehouse has on their safety.

[MikeWard]

More details on current study:

http://www.firegeezer.com/2008/04/22...ta-collection/

Joining the IAFF and IAFC in this effort, are three national groups and one technical sponsor: the Center for Public Safety Excellence http://www.publicsafetyexcellence.org/ , the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Department of Fire Protection Engineering http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Fire/What/index.html , National Institute of Standards and Testing http://www.fire.nist.gov/ , and Firehouse Software http://www.firehousesoftware.com/ .

From May through the end of 2008 FireReporting.org will be obtaining data from 400 fire departments, including the 53 largest fire departments. The letters of invitation will be going out next month. The data obtained will be used to document experience with time-on-task skills and outcomes.

While the data is obtained, crews from Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia, will be participating in experiments to determine time-on-task requirements and comparing different staffing schemes with outcomes. There are 50 fire suppression and 30 ems time-on-task experiments. We are coming a full circle, as these experiments are similar to the LAFD fireground task studies using three to six firefighter engine companies in 1979.