BUSTED

Top 10 NFIRS Myths

Kansas Fire Incident

Reporting System

"We only need to

submit fire calls."

#10.

"We only need to submit fire calls."

The Kansas Fire Service averages 4% of total callloads as working fires.

Would you make accurate decisions affecting PublicSafety with 4% of the picture?

Instead of just fires....

Approach NFIRS with an "all-in" mentality.

Report everything you can to NFIRS. When you needaccurate numbers all your information will be in oneplace.

"Only mandatory

fields matter."

#9.

"Only system mandatory fields matter."

Many important fields are not mandatory simplybecause of the system's validation design. Example: Apartment isn't mandatory because youwon't always be at an apartment. However, when youare at an apartment, that information is important tothe address.

Instead of minimum effort....

Focus more on good reporting and less onmandatory fields.You'll get out of NFIRS what you put into it. Minimumin? Minimum answers coming out.

"We can't get the

information."

#8.

"We can't get enough information."

It can be tough getting enough information from thepeople on the call to complete a report.

Implementing a good field notes form can literally fix the problem overnight, so long as personnel are using it.

Click here for a great example of a Field Notes Form.

"Nobody cares if we

don't submit."

#7.

"Nobody cares if we don't submit."

Failing to report doesn't just affect your department. Each department is a piece of the puzzle that details the needs and services of the Fire Service. If there are too many pieces missing nobody will be able to tell what the picture is supposed to be.

It can also impact the amount of funding your area receives.

"...but we didn't have any calls!"

Save the headache of letters and phone calls and get familiar with the No Activity report.  Submitted monthly, it tells the system that you didn't have any calls.

Each state may do No Activity differently so check in with your State Program Manager.

"Reports can't be

updated later."

#6.

"Reports can't be updated later."

Consider NFIRS reports as "living documents" thatyou can update at any time.

You don't want to keep "undetermined" in a field if you have the exact information.  It looks bad and itdoesn't help the system. Do you want to go to courtwith outdated info?

"Reporting doesn't

help my department."

#5.

"Reporting don't help my department."

You can use NFIRS to determine call volume, peak times, when you should schedule training, what kind of training to give, if trucks are in the right stations, Standards of Cover, trends, trouble areas, funding proposals, grant proposals, city/county reports to superiors, prevention measures, equipment needs, comparisons, coverage, performance review, community impact...  

The list goes on.

"I still don't think it's worth it."

Fire departments who don't participate in NFIRS canbe ineligible to receive grant funding.You can affect how much funding your city gets, yourcounty gets, your state, and yes even how muchfunding the Federal government believes that firedepartments need.You'll also miss out on points for your ISO rating.

"We can't afford the

software."

#4.

"We can't afford software."

If you don't have software for completing reportsthere is a perfectly capable, free software offeredby the USFA.

The software offers a downloaded version and an online version.  Contact your State Program Manager to get you set up with a login and password.

Want to see what the softwarelooks like?

Click here to see a manual for the Data Entry Tool. Note: this isspecific to Kansas but will still give you a good overview if you'refrom a different state.

"We shouldn't worry

about old reports."

#3.

"This report is too old to submit."

Oops! You found a report that wasn't submitted.Send it in, despite the date.If you want to establish trends you need severalyears of data. 5 years is good.  20 is better.  There'sno such thing as an "old" report to a system like this.

"My department is

too small to matter."

#2.

"We are too small to matter in NFIRS."

Are you too small to need equipment? Are you toosmall to need personnel? Why would you be toosmall for representation?Think of all the small departments you know.  If you all decided that you're too small to matter now we're talking about a growing black hole of information.

"A few bad reports

are fine."

#1.

"A few bad reports are fine."

Imagine 1 in 10 reports are incorrect in your department per year. If 10% of reports were incorrect at the state level it could be 20,000+.  At the national level?  Roughly 2,000,000.

That doesn't seem so fine.

                           Ignore the myths.                      Focus on good reporting.

Your department will reap the benefits of good data. You'll have strong statistics for proposals and some serious insight into your department, all while supporting the Fire Service everywhere.  

and I would love to hear from you!

Sara WoodKansas NFIRS Program Managersara.wood@ksfm.ks.gov

HELLOMY NAME IS

Sara...