Faster, Smarter, Safer: Colorado Springs Fire Department's Tiered Respond Method

Due to the rapid growth of the city, the increasing utilization of 911 for non-critical calls, and the resulting climb in call volume, it was apparent that an innovative approach to response was needed. The impacts listed above combined to strain our system and put increasing stress on our personnel, our response time expectations, and our most critical resources to include our apparatus. It was imperative that we develop a system that would allow our staff and units to respond more effectively and efficiently to incidents, while still providing the utmost care to the community. With 70% of our call volume being medical in nature and experiencing decreasing response times in all areas, creative solutions were sought out, developed, and implemented.
The Tiered Respond Program, with support from Operational Community Medicine units and the Division of Community and Public Health multi-faceted response units, has freed up apparatus to respond to higher acuity calls in the city. These units are staffed with compassionate paramedics, EMTs, and civilians who respond in light vehicles and help people receive the right care, at the right time, in the right setting, with the right resources by providing specifically focused care and integrated navigation.
The resulting impact of this improved response model is that our critical resources, are now more available than ever to respond quickly to both complex medicals, and other non-medical high priority incidents to include structure fires, wildland fires, high-angle rescues, and technical rescues, to name a few. Thousands of hours have been freed up which equates to more training and recovery time for our staff, and improved response times to our citizens. As well, the decreased need to respond transport units on every call, has improved the availability of these units when they are truly needed. The overall and positive impact of these efforts provides our community the comfort in knowing whatever emergency they are experiencing, big or small, the CSFD will be there to help in whatever way they can.