In Fairfax County, 911 Dispatchers Track Real-Time Data

One of government’s core responsibilities is to help people in need. That’s why officials in Fairfax County, Virginia found a way to ensure that local emergency response never wavers.

It’s called RescueVision , and it’s an application that gives the Fire and Rescue Department’s 911 dispatch center real-time data on what’s happening where. The program relies on geospatial information systems (GIS) technology, which identifies relationships between and among computer-readable datasets and produces a comprehensive, interwoven picture. In other words, GIS offers complex insight that humans, by themselves, cannot.

The RescueVision dashboard offers contemporaneous data on six areas of 911 concern:

• How the county has distributed its emergency units
• Resource availability: How many of each resource type are available to respond
• Units out of service: What resources are unavailable for dispatch, how long they’ve been that way and why
• Transport location: How many emergency units are at medical facilities after transporting patients
• Mutual aid coverage: What areas of the county other jurisdictions are serving
• Discrepancies: What discrepancies exist between RescueVision and other fire and rescue systems

Multicolored maps provide coverage updates, graphs show key percentages (i.e., the percentage of response units in use) and a log tracks location and time details for each emergency unit — much like people track packages they order online.

The new system has notably improved the county’s ability to serve its residents and demonstrates the government’s belief in data-informed decision- making, county officials said.

“RescueVision shows how agile software development can come together with real-time data to provide actionable information right when it is needed,” said John Morrison, the county’s Data Analytics Strategy Manager. “We strive to be on the cutting edge of GIS technologies, and this is one of our many tools we use to ensure we’re providing the highest-quality coverage to our residents and visitors.”

This article appears in our guide, “Decision Intelligence: New Possibilities for Data-Based Decision-Making.” For more about how agencies are using data in practical ways, download it here:

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