An 11-month study conducted in Wisconsin a few years ago reveals significant insights into why the Police Priority Dispatch System™ (PPDS®) appears to take longer to use compared to the Fire Priority Dispatch System™ (FPDS®) and the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®).
The Universal Case Entry process, where basic ANI/ALI information is gathered and verified, is a critical phase that influences the overall processing time. For Police, this stage often requires additional time to clarify details, particularly when the nature of the complaint is in-progress, complex, or ambiguous.
The study examined and compared Police Department 1, Other area Police agencies, Fire, and EMS. ECHO-level calls were excluded due to the small sample size. ALPHA- and OMEGA-level calls were also excluded due to their low criticality and the longer amount of time spent—often considered a general occurrence in processing these calls.
In the graphic above, the data is very telling. The section called “Basic Information,” referred to here as Universal Case Entry, encompasses the information gathered in CAD prior to the launch of ProQA®. This information includes:
1. Address of the emergency—This may take extra time due to ALI clarification needs, such as apartment number, floor, or specific location within a building.
2. Phone number—Minimal time is needed, typically just verifying that the number provided on the screen is correct.
3. What is your name—Straightforward with minimal processing time.
4. Okay, tell me exactly what happened— This time varies due to the complexity of the complaint. Simple complaints like chest pain, a car on fire, or a traffic accident allow quick movement to the MPDS/FPDS/PPDS. However, when the complaint needs clarification, additional time can be added. For instance, if a caller states, “I have been robbed,” they rarely mean an actual robbery. The EPD may ask a clarifying question like, “Please tell me what you mean when you say you have been robbed.” It is likely their home has been broken into or their car stolen, neither of which constitutes a robbery unless a threat or use of force was involved. This clarification should be limited to two questions when possible and ProQA should be launched. This is also most likely a past event (see accompanying graphic).
As is glaringly apparent, for Police Department 1, from the time ProQA is launched—whether Police, Fire, or Medical in nature—the call processing time for Emergent/Urgent cases to the dispatch point in ProQA is very similar: Police 1:05/1:13, Fire 1:01/1:03, Medical 1:11/1:31. This is the true takeaway message from this article.
Also, as shown in the graphic, the lower the acuity of the call, the longer the EPD takes to clarify the call before launching ProQA as shown in the robbery example above. In contrast, the EFD and EMD are consistent in Universal Case Entry, averaging 1:08 for EFD and 1:04 for EMD. Why is there such a clear difference between EPD and EFD/EMD?
Fire and Medical services in the U.S. do not usually "stack" calls. They typically gather the necessary information, launch ProQA, determine the appropriate dispatch response, and forward it to the radio dispatcher for prompt allocation. In contrast, Police take longer to assess the need for immediate intervention rather than simply processing the calls like EMS and Fire. If ProQA was launched immediately after the "Tell me exactly what happened" prompt in the Universal Case Entry, the processing time for Police calls would be about the same or shorter than that for Fire and EMS, particularly for "Past" calls, which require fewer questions than those for both Fire and Medical.
Despite these variations, all entities—Police, Fire, and EMS—exhibit similar processing times once calls are initiated within the ProQA software section of CAD. For Police events that are "In Progress" or have "Just Occurred," the dispatch time is as immediate as it is for Fire and EMS. The inherent difference in Police calls is that once ProQA has been launched, EPDs must handle more intricate and often-changing information, such as suspect and vehicle descriptions. While this may extend the overall time required to process the call, the ProQA-based dispatch time itself remains quite short when necessary.
The study underscores that the longer overall processing time in the Police environment is primarily due to the complexity and need for detailed information during the initial stages of call handling—but occurring before ProQA is launched. Addressing these challenges could involve streamlining the information-gathering process or implementing more efficient clarification methods to reduce the time disparity between Police and other emergency services. In short, when you have a logical incident type (Chief Complaint) launch ProQA and process the call using what is widely considered the current standard of care and practice in emergency dispatching.
