On the agenda: Northbrook meeting — Data Center (Jan 10)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
Northbrook Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane
January 10, 2023, 6:00 P.M., TERRACE CONFERENCE ROOM
The Public Safety Committee of the Village of Northbrook Board of Trustees will hold a meeting on
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. in the Terrace Conference Room of the Village Hall, 1225
Cedar Lane, Northbrook, Illinois. The following will be discussed.
MEETING AGENDA
1. Call To Order
2. Hear From The Audience
3. Presentation and Review of Fire Department Organizational Assessment
 Staff Memo
 Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment (Nov. 2022)


Addendum One to the Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment
(Nov. 2022)

4. Adjourn
Dan Pepoon, Chairman
Public Safety Committee
Members:

Trustee Collison
Trustee Ebhomielen

Village of Northbrook
Cook County, Illinois
January 10, 2023

The Village of Northbrook is subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Individuals with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who require certain accommodations in
order to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting, or who have questions regarding the
accessibility of this meeting or the facilities, are requested to contact Debbie Ford (272-5050, extension
4014) promptly to allow the Village of Northbrook to make reasonable accommodations for those persons.
Hearing impaired individuals may call the TDD number, 564-8645, for more information.

Comprehensive Fire
Department Organizational
Assessment Study
Northbrook Fire Department
Village of Northbrook, Illinois

November 2022
Polaris Public Safety Solutions, LLC

Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 3
Purpose .......................................................................................................................... 4
Method of Study ............................................................................................................ 4
Fire Service National Standards and Benchmarks..................................................... 6
Insurance Services Office ............................................................................................... 6
National Fire Protection Association................................................................................ 8
Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal ............................................................................ 9
Center for Public Safety Excellence ................................................................................ 9
Standards of Cover ....................................................................................................... 11
EMS National Standards and Benchmarks ............................................................... 12
National Fire Protection Association.............................................................................. 12
National Institute of Standards and Technology Studies on Fire Service
Acceptable Standards and Benchmarks ............................................................. 13
Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments .................................................... 13
Report on EMS Field Experiments ................................................................................ 17
Village of Northbrook .................................................................................................. 23
Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District ................................................................. 24
Northbrook Fire Department ...................................................................................... 25
NFD Public Protection Classification ............................................................................. 26
Budget ........................................................................................................................... 27
Capital Assets ............................................................................................................... 28
Administrative Functional Responsibilities and Structure .............................................. 37
Northbrook Fire Department Services and Programs.............................................. 41
Fire Prevention Bureau ................................................................................................. 41
Fire/Rescue Services .................................................................................................... 45
Emergency Medical Services ........................................................................................ 46
Training Division ............................................................................................................ 48
Specialty Teams: Fire Investigations, Dive and Water Rescue, Hazardous Materials,
Technical Rescue .................................................................................................... 50
Emergency Management Program................................................................................ 53
Review of Current Communications.......................................................................... 58
Fire Department Staffing ............................................................................................ 61
Resource Deployment ................................................................................................ 64
All Hazards Risks and the Community ...................................................................... 69
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Critical Tasking and Alarm Assignments .................................................................. 83
Emergency Activities - National Fire Incident Reporting System ........................... 84
Emergency Response Data ........................................................................................ 85
Northbrook Fire Department Response Data ........................................................... 86
Identifying Emergency Service Trends ..................................................................... 87
Historic System Response Workload ........................................................................ 90
Historical System Distribution, Deployment and Concentration Performance ..... 92
Fire Station Distribution – GIS Time and Distance Analysis ................................... 95
Travel and Response Time National Standards and Best Practices ...................... 99
NFD Historic Travel and Response Time Assessment .......................................... 102
Overview: Fire Stations Area of Response - Travel and Response Time
Assessment .......................................................................................................... 103
Station #10 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement ....................... 103
Station #11 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement ....................... 105
Station #12 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement ....................... 106
Effective Response Force Overview........................................................................ 108
Unit Hour Utilization .................................................................................................. 111
Fire Prevention Bureau SWOT Analysis ................................................................. 117
Strengths ..................................................................................................................... 117
Weaknesses................................................................................................................ 117
Opportunities ............................................................................................................... 118
Threats ........................................................................................................................ 120
Ideal Station Locations ............................................................................................. 121
Appendix .................................................................................................................... 134
A. Acronym List
B. Tables of Figures
C. Table of Tables
D. Emergency Management Authorities Review
E. Apparatus Replacement Plan
F. 7G Side Letter Agreement
G. Summary of Recommendations

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Executive Summary
The Village of Northbrook retained Polaris Public Safety Solutions LLC (PolarisPSS) to
conduct a Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment of the
Northbrook Fire Department (NFD), including operations and staffing levels of the entire
Department with emphasis on ensuring that the Fire Department is meeting the
community fire, rescue, medical, fire prevention, and emergency management needs
and expectations.
PolarisPSS found the NFD to be a professional, highly skilled, and progressive
organization. The personnel with whom PolarisPSS interacted are genuinely interested
in serving the Village to the best of their abilities and demonstrated a goal of achieving
excellence in service delivery. The challenges for the NFD are not unique nor are they
insurmountable. In this report, PolarisPSS provides a series of findings and
recommendations that will enable the NFD to become more efficient and effective in the
execution of emergency and non-emergency responsibilities. Findings and
recommendations are based on nationally accepted industry standards.
PolarisPSS recommends that the NFD embark on a strategic planning process to
prioritize the short- and long-term resources required to execute the recommendations
contained within. In addition, the development of a Community Risk Reduction Plan
focused on populations of advanced age and identified high-risk target hazards is
recommended to both mitigate potential increases in emergency call volume and ensure
the Department maintains capability for all-hazard response.
The current three station configuration enables the Department to meet the national
standard of a 4-minute travel time for only 70% of the total response area, with travel
times for some geographic areas exceeding seven minutes. Therefore, PolarisPSS
recommends that the Village of Northbrook adopt a three-step plan to add a fourth fire
station and relocate two of the existing fire stations in order to increase the 4-minute
travel time coverage to 83% of the total response area and decrease response times by
2 minutes and 20 seconds for 90% of the total response area.
The sustainment of the many organizational strengths and best practices identified,
combined with new resource investments to address the study findings and
recommendations will position the NFD to continue delivering efficient and effective
services to those who live, work, and visit the Village of Northbrook and the Northbrook
Rural Fire Protection District.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Purpose
This study’s purpose is to conduct an efficiency and effectiveness analysis of the NFD’s
current resource deployment strategy. Predictive modeling with anticipated community
growth estimates are used to identify and forecast future demand for services. Study
findings informed recommendations to improve current-day service delivery and prepare
the Village of Northbrook to meet the prospective demands for services.

Method of Study
This comprehensive assessment contains two components: a quantitative Geographic
Information System (GIS)-based performance analysis with predictive modeling and a
functional analysis. The findings from both analysis components are used to develop
short- and long-term recommendations to improve service delivery and work toward full
compliance with industry standards.

Geographical Information-Based Performance Analysis
The GIS-based performance analysis focuses on assessing current fire station locations
and NFD’s operating model and strategy. NFD’s current deployment model and call
types are used to analyze general fire service delivery, response performance, and the
optimal number of stations, station locations, apparatus, and staffing. Predictive
modeling processes applied to expected community growth provides the anticipated
impact of such future growth.
A risk assessment to identify general service demand was conducted through analysis
of historical incident type, incident location, and incident frequency data. Service
demand was used to analyze the response system performance and evaluate the
NFD's effectiveness and efficiency in providing emergency services. Distribution of
resources (e.g., apparatus, staffing, supervisory, fire station), concentration of
resources, and reliability of resources were used to measure response system
performance. Information provided by the NFD about anticipated community
development within the next five and 10 years was used to create likely predicted
scenarios for service demand. Using service demands and analysis tools, likely
predicted scenarios for anticipated community development and population changes
were analyzed to establish predictions for future response system requirements and
performance benchmarks. The assessment includes a workload and unit hour utilization
analysis.

Functional Analysis
The functional analysis focuses on strategic processes that affect fire service
operations. These areas include Department administration, facilities, apparatus and
fleet management, fire prevention, training, and emergency management. Data utilized
for analysis includes document review, interviews with Department staff members,
facility and apparatus inspections, and research on industry best practices and
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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

standards. Benchmarking standards for review and comparison include data from the
Insurance Services Office (ISO), NFPA, and CPSE, and research conducted by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Fire Service National Standards and Benchmarks
This section provides an overview of the fire service national standards and
benchmarking comparisons used in this study.

Insurance Services Office
The Insurance Services Office is primarily concerned with property risk. The ISO’s Fire
Suppression Rating Schedule’s (FSRS) purpose is to review and categorize a
community’s ability to fight fires. ISO measures major elements of a community’s fire
suppression system such as personnel training, staffing levels of engine and ladder
companies, water supply and distribution systems, receiving and dispatching fire
alarms, firefighting equipment, required fire flow, and fire company locations.
The ISO grade is broken down into three elements:




Fire department accounts for 50% of the total classification
Water supply accounts for 40% of the total classification
Emergency communications accounts for 10% of the total classification

By analyzing the data and using criteria outlined in a rating schedule, ISO produces a
final classification number for a community. Each of the 43,000 plus communities
evaluated by ISO across the United States is graded from 1 to 10, with one being the
best. An ISO rating is one factor used by insurance companies to establish their
company-specific homeowner insurance rates within a community.1 Generally, lower
scores yield lower rates. In 2017, ISO conducted a Public Protection Classification
(PPC) survey within the Village of Northbrook. ISO’s final analysis placed the Village
into a Class 1 category; NFD became one of 29 public entities in Illinois and one of 459
public entities countrywide with a Class One rating.

1

Commercial property insurance rates are calculated differently than homeowner insurance rates and
generally fall within a class rating or specific rating methodology. The specific rating methodology is
comprised of four elements: construction, occupancy, protection, and exposure. A community’s ISO rating
is one of the factors considered by insurance companies when assessing “protection”.

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Figure 1: Number of Illinois Fire Departments within ISO Classifications

Figure 2: Number of Countrywide Fire Departments within ISO Classifications

Once widely used by fire departments to evaluate system performance, the FSRS’s use
is somewhat limited in that it only evaluates fire protection and not Emergency Medical
Services (EMS). The FSRS does not consider efficiency.2 Although not widely used,
ISO ratings are still appropriate to consider as part of a comprehensive system
performance review and are useful in combination with other assessments.
2

The number of resources deployed in comparison to the number of actual calls.

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National Fire Protection Association
The mission of the National Fire Protection Association3 is to reduce the worldwide
burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating
consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. As the world's
leading advocate of fire prevention and an authoritative source on public safety, NFPA
develops, publishes, and disseminates more than 300 consensus codes and standards
intended to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other risks.4 These codes and
standards are developed by technical committees comprised of over 6,000 volunteers,
and are adopted and enforced throughout the world. Therefore, applicable NFPA
standards and codes are applied in this study.
NFPA consensus standards establish widely accepted standards of care and
requirements for certain practices. Standards are an attempt by an industry or
profession to self-regulate by establishing minimal operating, performance, and/or
safety standards, which establish a recognized standard of care. Committees composed
of industry representatives, fire service representatives, and other affected parties, who
seek consensus in their final rule, write these standards. The outcome is a “minimum”
that everyone can agree on, rather than an “optimum” that is the best case.
The NFPA has many standards that affect fire departments. Compliance with these
standards helps fire departments protect fire and rescue personnel from unnecessary
workplace hazards. In most cases, compliance with NFPA standards is voluntary.
However, the Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IL-OSHA) has
incorporated wording from NFPA standards into its regulations. IL-OSHA regulations in
29 CFR Part 1910 apply to all municipal fire departments and fire protection districts in
the State of Illinois. IL-OSHA enforces these regulations.
Regardless of whether compliance with an NFPA standard is voluntary or mandatory,
fire and rescue departments must consider the impact of “voluntary” standards on
private litigation. In some states, a fire department may be liable for the negligent
3

The NFPA was formed in 1896 by a group of insurance firm representatives with the stated purpose of
standardizing the new and burgeoning market of fire sprinkler systems. The scope of the NFPA's
influence grew from sprinklers to include building electrical systems which was another new and fastgrowing technology, and then all aspects of building design and construction.
NFPA’s original membership consisted of and was limited to insurance underwriting firms. NFPA did not
allow representation from the industries it sought to regulate. This changed in 1904 to allow other
industries and individuals to participate actively in the development of the standards promulgated by the
NFPA. In 1905, the New York City Fire Department became the first fire department to be represented in
the NFPA. Today, the NFPA includes representatives from many fire departments, insurance companies,
manufacturing associations, unions, trade organizations, and community residents.
4

NFPA

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performance of its duties. Even in states that protect rescue workers under an immunity
statute, most state laws do not protect fire or rescue departments for grossly negligent
or willful and wanton acts. Essentially, negligence involves the violation of a standard of
care that results in injury or loss to some other individual or organization.
In establishing the standard of care for fire and rescue operations, the courts frequently
look to the “voluntary” standards issued by NFPA and other organizations. Although
“voluntary” in name, these standards can be utilized as evidence of an existing standard
of care for which fire or rescue departments may be responsible to comply. Accordingly,
fire and rescue departments should pay close attention to applicable standards.

Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, Division of Personnel Standards
and Education
The Division of Personnel Standards and Education (DPSE) is responsible for
promoting, encouraging and assisting local governments to improve levels of education
and training standards for local firefighters. DPSE is responsible for standardizing and
enhancing levels of education and training for Illinois firefighters and professionals, with
the highest priorities placed on safety and career advancement. DPSE is the certifying
agency for all fire departments in the State of Illinois.

Center for Public Safety Excellence
The Center for Public Safety Excellence, or the “Accreditation Model”, is outcome-based
performance supported by best practices.
In 1996, The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the International
City/County Management Association (ICMA) executed the Master Trust Agreement,
establishing the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) to promote
agency self-assessment to facilitate an agency achieving accreditation and to pursue
scientific research and education in the fields of fire and emergency medical services.
The goal of the CFAI is to assist fire and emergency medical service agencies
throughout the world in achieving excellence through accreditation and continuous
quality improvement.
The comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model enables organizations to
examine past, current, and future service levels and internal performance and compare
them to industry best practices. This process leads to service delivery improvements.
The CPSE accreditation program, administered by the CFAI, allows fire and emergency
medical service agencies to compare their performance to industry best practices in
order to:



Determine community risk and safety needs and develop community-specific
standards of cover (SOC).
Evaluate fire department performance.

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

Establish a method for achieving continuous organizational improvement.

Particularly for emergency medical services, local officials need criteria to assess
professional performance and efficiency. The CFAI accreditation process provides a
well-defined, internationally recognized benchmark system to measure the quality of fire
and emergency medical services. The CFAI model includes detailed processes for
conducting a community risk assessment, developing SOC, establishing a communitydriven strategic plan, and self-assessing all segments of the fire department.5
CPSE has established benchmarks regarding staffing and deployment. CPSE sets
standards for agencies desiring accreditation through the CFAI. CFAI uses standards
set forth in its Community Risk Assessment Manual: Standards of Cover, sixth edition,
to provide staffing and deployment guidance to agencies desiring accreditation through
core competencies. Table 1 illustrates CFAI minimum emergency incident staffing
recommendations.
Table 1: Staffing Recommendations Based on Risk6,7
Incident Type
Structure Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Rescue
Hazardous Materials

High

Moderate

Low

Risk8

Risk9

Risk10

29
12
15
39

16
4
8
20

6
2
3
3

The cornerstone of the CPSE is the role of self-assessment. This self-conducted
performance evaluation results in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of fire

5

Quality Improvement for the Fire and Emergency Services, 10th ed. (2009). Center for Public Safety
Excellence.
6
Fire Service Deployment: Assessing Community Vulnerability. Urban Fire Forum and Metropolitan Fire
Chiefs. Retrieved on June 10, 2022 from UrbanFireVulnerability.Page 7.pdf
7
Minimum Fire Training Guide, 2021. Illinois Fire Service Institute
8
High risk incidents involving fires in larger commercial properties with sustained attack (fire flows more
than 1,000 gallons per minute), multiple patient medical incidents, major releases of hazardous materials,
high-risk rescues, and wildland fires with extreme weather or fire behavior.
9
Moderate risk incidents involving fires in single-family dwellings and equivalently sized commercial office
properties (fire flow between 250 gallons per minute to 1,000 gallons per minute), life-threatening medical
emergencies, hazardous materials emergencies requiring specialized skills and equipment, rescues
involving specialized skills and equipment, and larger wildland fires.
10
Minor incidents involving small fires (fire flow less than 250 gallons per minute), single patient non-lifethreatening medical incidents, minor rescues, small fuel spills, and small wildland fires without unusual
weather or fire behavior.

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service agencies if the findings from performing the self-assessment are applied to
planning and implementation activities.

Standards of Cover
One of the major issues the fire service has struggled with in the past decade is defining
the standards of cover. This concept has evolved in concert with other components of
the CPSE accreditation model because it is essential to determine whether a fire
agency is prepared to provide a level of service commensurate with its responsibilities
and risks.
CFAI defines the SOC as being those “adopted written policies and procedures that
determine the distribution, concentration, and reliability of fixed and mobile response
forces for fire, emergency medical services, hazardous materials, and other forces of
technical response”. In other words, SOC is the delivery of resources within a timeframe
a majority of time that is useful or effective to the residents of a defined area. The
ultimate outcome of a SOC analysis is to have measurable standards of effective
response to predictable emergencies.
Level of service (LOS) and SOC form the basis of service to the community and
response to emergencies. These are often-overlooked details in the process of
evaluation, a process that must start with the community looking at itself.
CFAI defines LOS as “the resources needed to meet the stated service level
objectives”. LOS is defined only in terms of what is provided and not in terms of
effectiveness or quality. LOS is the community’s plan to deploy resources to deliver a
range of solutions or services. For example, a community/fire department may choose
to deliver Advanced Life Support (ALS) over Basic Life Support (BLS); they may choose
to have four firefighters per engine rather than three; they may send one engine to a car
fire. However, LOS does not measure effectiveness; effectiveness is the concept of
SOC.

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EMS National Standards and Benchmarks
National Fire Protection Association
The EMS component of the emergency services delivery system is more heavily
regulated than fire suppression and rescue. In addition to NFPA 1710, NFPA 450
Guidelines for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Systems, (2017 edition),
provides a framework for designing and/or evaluating a comprehensive EMS system
that includes guidelines, resources, and recommendations.
Many of the EMS performance standards and benchmarks established by national
organizations are directly related to the provision of care to patients with specific injuries
or reported symptomatology. The detailed assessment of the NFD’s alignment with
these standards exceeds the scope of this study. Fire-based EMS is addressed in the
CFAI accreditation model. Therefore, NFPA 1710 and NFPA 450 and CFAI are the
three EMS standards used for this study.

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National Institute of Standards and Technology Studies on Fire
Service Acceptable Standards and Benchmarks
The United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and
Technology conducted research on service expectations placed on the fire service,
including EMS, response to natural disaster, hazardous materials incidents, and acts of
terrorism. Balancing service expectations, finite resources, and fiscal responsibility has
become a greater challenge for local policymakers.11 Therefore, it is prudent to evaluate
all available information regarding staffing and deployment of resources while
maintaining the highest level of safety for firefighters and the public alike. PolarisPSS
consultants analyzed two NIST studies to provide the Village of Northbrook with the
quantitative scientific data for response force deployment when developing and
finalizing fire and emergency medical response policies and operating guidelines for
their organizations. This section provides an overview of this research.

Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments12
This report is the first to quantify the effects of crew sizes and arrival times on the fire
services’ lifesaving and firefighting operations for residential fires. The study found that
fire risks grow exponentially and that each minute of delay is critical to the safety of the
occupants and firefighters, and is directly related to property damage. These
experiments directly addressed 22 fireground activities that routinely occur on the scene
of a typical residential fire.
Table 2: 22 Fireground Activities
22 Fireground Activities
Stop @ hydrant, wrap hose
Position Engine 1
Conduct size-up
Engage pump
Position attack line
Establish 2 in/2 out
Supply attack engine
Establish RIT
Gain/force entry
Advance attack line
Advance back-up line-front door

Advance back-up line stairwell
Conduct primary search
Ground ladders placed
Horizontal ventilation
Horizontal ventilation (2nd story)
Control utilities (int.)
Control utilities (ext.)
Conduct secondary search
Check for fire extension (walls)
Check for fire extension (ceiling)
Mechanical ventilation

11

Averill, J. , Moore-Merrell, L. , Barowy, A. , Santos, R. , Peacock, R. , Notarianni, K. and Wissoker, D.
(2010), Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments, Technical Note (NIST TN). National Institute
of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. Retrieved on May 25, 2022 from
https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=904607
12
Ibid

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Scope of Report
The scope of this NIST study was limited to understanding specific variables of
response and staffing configuration to “low hazard” residential structure fires as defined
by NFPA Standard 1710. The experiments utilized a residential structure of 2,000
square feet, two story, single family dwelling with no basement and no exposures.
For the purpose of analysis and evaluation of the study, the data reflected the apparatus
response and staffing distribution of three engines, one truck, and one battalion chief
with an aide. In an effort to simulate real-time response, arrival times of companies were
staggered at 1- and 2-minute intervals,13 close and far,14 respectively, were
incorporated into each experiment segment.
Study limitations include that the study did not expand to include medium- and highhazard occupancies, commercial, or multifamily structures. Additionally, special
responses such as hazardous materials, technical rescue, natural disasters, or
response to emergency medical requests were not addressed. A separate emergency
medical experiment/study was conducted; an overview of this study will be presented
later in this section.
Primary Findings
Of the 22 firefighting tasks measured, results indicated that overall scene time, time to
water application, and rescue effectiveness had the most impact on overall firefighting
operation success.
Overall Scene Time
Four- and five-person crews were able to complete the 22 essential firefighting and
rescue tasks in a residential setting 30% faster than two-person crews and 25% faster
than three-person crews. Figure 3 shows how overall scene time, the time that it takes
the firefighters to complete all 22 tasks, is affected by the number of responders
assigned to a crew.

13

One-minute and 2-minute arrival stagger times were determined from analysis of deployment data from
more than 300 U.S. fire departments responding to a survey conducted by the IAFC and the International
Association of Firefighters (IAFF).
14
Close stagger was defined as a one minute difference in the arrival of each responding company. Far
stagger was defined as a two minute time difference in the arrival of each responding company.

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Figure 3: Overall Time to Complete 22 Fireground Tasks15

The overall scene time measure is critical to the fire crew’s ability to complete their work
safely and return to the station in order to be available for the next fire call. Furthermore,
the study found that when firefighter crews complete several of the tasks
simultaneously, rather than consecutively, they are able to complete all tasks and are
less fatigued. It is important to note that previous studies have documented significant
benefits for five-person crews for medium- and high-hazard structures, particularly in
urban settings,16 unlike the low-hazard residential fire scenario examined in this study.
Time to Water Application
In this study the term megawatt (MW) is used to measure the amount of energy that is
released by fire. This unit of measurement is a key predictor of the hazard of a fire,
directly related to the rate at which heat and toxic gases build up in a compartment or
the rate at which they are driven into more remote spaces. Heat release rates on the
order of 1 MW to 3 MW are typical in a room that has flashed over or from a single large
object such as a bed or sofa. Fire risks grow exponentially. Each minute of delay is
critical to the safety of occupants and firefighters and is directly related to property
damage.
Results show that five-person crews were able to apply water to the fire 22% faster than
two-person crews. Four-person crews were able to apply water to the fire 16% faster
than two-person crews, and 6% faster than three-person crews. What this means for
firefighter safety is that two-person crews arriving later to the scene faced a fire about
2.1 MW in size.
15
16

Ibid
Dallas, TX Fire Department Study, 1969; Dallas, TX Fire Department Study 1984

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On the other end of the spectrum, five-person crews arriving earlier to the scene faced a
fire about half as big at 1.1 MW. For context, an example of a 1 MW fire is a fullyinvolved upholstered chair burning at its peak. A 2 MW fire, however, would be sufficient
to produce near-flashover conditions in the 12 foot by 16 foot room of fire origin used in
the experiments. Facing a fire of twice the intensity greatly increases the danger to both
firefighters and civilians and increases the likelihood that the fire will spread beyond the
room of origin.
Rescue Effectiveness
To estimate how various crew sizes would affect the exposure of occupants to toxic
gases, slow-, medium-, and fast-growth rate fires were simulated using NIST's Fire
Dynamic Simulator software. The simulation assumed an occupant unable to escape on
his own from an upstairs bedroom with the bedroom door open. Occupant exposures
were calculated both when firefighters arrive earlier to the scene, representing crews
from fire stations nearby the burning structure, and those arriving later, representing
crews arriving from more distant locations.
Figure 4: Size of Fire at Time of Suppression17

Crew Size and Arrival Timeframe

Size of Fire at Time of Suppression
TWO, EARLY ARRIVAL

1.5

TWO, LATE ARRIVAL

2.1

THREE, EARLY ARRIVAL

1.3

THREE, LATE ARRIVAL

1.8

FOUR, EARLY ARRIVAL

1.3

FOUR, LATE ARRIVAL

1.7

FIVE, EARLY ARRIVAL

1.1

FIVE, LATE ARRIVAL

1.6
0

0.5

1
1.5
Megawatts

2

2.5

The simulations showed that for a medium-growth fire, two-person crews would not be
expected to complete essential tasks in time to rescue occupants from exposure to toxic
gases that would incapacitate sensitive populations such as children and the elderly.
Two-person crews arriving later would also likely find a significant portion of the general
public incapacitated by the time of rescue. The simulations for early arriving five-, four-,
17

Produced by NIST Fire Dynamic Simulator Software

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and three-person crews show that the crews would likely be able to locate and rescue
an occupant before sensitive populations would be incapacitated.
Summary
The NIST study applies specifically to firefighting crew sizes in a low-hazard residential
setting and not to larger, more hazardous structures, outdoor, or transportation fires.
These NIST studies also held apparatus response to a constant complement of
firefighting vehicles. Decisions about crew size and the number of apparatus to deploy
in a specific community depend on multiple variables inclusive of population density, the
distribution of structures, age and type of construction, the size of the fire station’s first
due response coverage area, and the resources available to that jurisdiction.

Report on EMS Field Experiments18
The fire service has become the first line medical responder for all types of medical
emergencies throughout the majority of the United States. Increased demands for
service, including the rising number of emergency medical responses, point to the
significance of broadening the focus from suppression activities to include personnel
configurations, crew size, and apparatus response for emergency medical intervention.
Scope of Report
The EMS portion of the Firefighter Safety and Deployment of Resources Study was
designed solely to assess the personnel number and configuration aspect of an EMS
incident for responder safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. The study does not address
the efficacy of any patient care intervention. However, this study does quantify first
responder crew size and the number and placement of ALS trained personnel
resources on time-to-task measures for EMS interventions. Upon recommendation of
technical experts, the study’s investigators selected trauma and cardiac scenarios for
the experiments as these incidents are resource intensive and likely reveal relevant
differences in regard to the research questions. The applicability of the conclusions from
this report to a large-scale hazardous or multiple-casualty incident has not been
assessed and should not be extrapolated from this report.
Primary Findings
The objective of the experiments was to determine how first responder crew size, ALS
provider placement, and the number of ALS providers is associated with the
effectiveness of patient care. EMS crew effectiveness was measured by task
intervention times in three scenarios, including patient access and removal, trauma, and
cardiac arrest. The results were evaluated from the perspective of firefighter and
18

Moore-Merrell, L., Santos, R., Wissoker, D., Benedict, R., Taylor, N., Goldstein, R., Brice, J., Mears,
G., Averill, J., and Notariann, K. (2010). Report on EMS Field Experiments. National Institute of Standards
and Technology. Gaithersburg, MD. Retrieved on May 25, 2022 from NIST Deployment Report on EMS
Field Experiments (iafc.org)

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paramedic safety and scene efficiency rather than as a series of distinct tasks. More
than 100 full-scale EMS experiments were conducted for this study.
Hundreds of firefighters and paramedics are injured annually on EMS responses. Most
injuries occur during tasks that require lifting or abnormal movement by rescuers. Such
tasks include lifting heavy objects (e.g., human bodies − both conscious and
unconscious), manipulating injured body parts, and carrying heavy equipment. Several
tasks included in the experiments fall into this category, including splinting extremities,
spinal immobilization/back boarding, and patient packaging. Similar to the lifting or
heavy workload tasks, larger crews were able to complete the labor intensive tasks
using multiple crew members on a single task to assure the use of safe procedures that
reduce the likelihood of injury or exposure.
A number of tasks are also labor intensive. These tasks can be completed more
efficiently when handled by multiple responders. Several tasks in the experiments fall in
this category. These include checking vital signs, splinting extremities, intubation with
spinal restriction, establishing access, spinal immobilization, and patient packaging.
During the experiments, larger crews completed these tasks more efficiently by
distributing the workload among more people, thereby reducing the likelihood of injury.
Finally, there are opportunities on an EMS scene to reduce scene time by completing
tasks simultaneously rather than sequentially, thus increasing operational efficiency. For
the experiments, crews were required to complete all tasks in each scenario regardless
of their crew size or configuration. Therefore, patterns in task start times and overall
scene times reveal operational efficiencies. When enough hands are available at the
scene to complete tasks simultaneously, this leads to overall time reductions relative to
smaller crews that are forced to complete tasks sequentially.
Patient Access and Removal
Patient access is an important component of the time sequence. It is defined as the time
segment between apparatus/vehicle arrival on the scene and the responder’s first
contact with the patient. With regard to accessing the patient, crews with three or four
first responders reached the patient around half a minute faster than smaller crews with
two first responders. With regard to completing patient removal, larger first responder
crews in conjunction with a two-person ambulance were more time efficient. The
removal tasks require heavy lifting and are labor intensive. The tasks also involve
descending stairs while carrying a patient, carrying all equipment down stairs, and
getting patient and equipment out multiple doors, onto a stretcher, and into an
ambulance. The patient removal results show substantial differences associated with
crew size. Crews comprised of three- or four-person first responders completed removal
1.2 - 1.5 minutes faster than smaller crews with two first responders; all crews with

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additional first responders complete removal 2.6 - 4.1 minutes faster than the
ambulance-only crew.
Figure 5: Patient Removal Time Measured After Patient Access19

These results suggest that time efficiency in access and removal can be achieved by
deploying three- or four-person crews on the first responding engine. To the extent that
each second counts in an EMS response, these staffing features deserve consideration.
Though these results establish a technical basis for the effectiveness of first responder
crews and specific ALS crew configurations, other factors contributing to policy
decisions are not addressed.
Trauma
Overall, field experiments reveal that four-person first responder crews completed a
trauma response faster than smaller crews. Towards the latter part of the task response
sequence, four-person crews start tasks significantly sooner than smaller crews of two
or three persons. Additionally, crews with ALS providers on the engine and one on the
ambulance completed all tasks faster and started later tasks sooner than crews with two
ALS providers on the ambulance. This suggests that getting ALS personnel to the site
sooner matters. A review of the patterns of significant results for task start times
reinforced these findings and in general suggests that small non-significant reductions
in task timings accrue through the task sequence to produce significantly shorter start
times for the last third of the trauma tasks.
Finally, when assessing crews for their ability to increase on-scene operational
efficiency by completing tasks simultaneously, crews with one ALS provider on the
engine and one ALS provider on the ambulance completed all required tasks 2 minutes
16 seconds faster than crews with a BLS engine and two ALS providers on the
19

Ibid

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ambulance. Additionally, first responders with four-person engines completed all
required tasks 1 minute 43 seconds faster than three-person engines and 3 minutes
and 23 seconds faster than two-person crews.
Figure 6: Overall Trauma Scene Time20

Cardiac
The overall results for cardiac mirror those of trauma. Regardless of ALS configuration,
crews responding with four first responders completed all cardiac tasks (e.g., from atpatient to packaging) more quickly than smaller first responder crew sizes. Moreover, in
the critical period following cardiac arrest, crews responding with four first responders
also completed all tasks more quickly than smaller crew sizes. As noted in the trauma
scenario, crew size matters in the cardiac response. Considering ALS placement, crews
responding with one ALS provider on both the engine and one ALS provider on the
ambulance completed all scene tasks (e.g., from at-patient to packaging) more quickly
than a crew with a BLS engine and one ALS provider on the ambulance. This suggests
that ALS placement can make a difference in response efficiency. One curious finding
was that crews responding with a BLS engine and an ambulance with two ALS
providers completed the tasks that follow cardiac arrest 50 seconds sooner than crews
with an ALS provider on both the engine and ambulance. As noted, this counter-intuitive
difference in the results may be attributable to the delay of the patient arrest time based
on the arrival of the 12-lead ECG monitor with the two-person ALS ambulance crew.21 A

20

Ibid
The 12-lead ECG task end time was the arrest start time. In this scenario, there were instantaneously
two ALS providers present at the arrest rather than the one ALS provider placing the 12-lead ECG device
in the ALS engine/ALS ambulance crew. A review of the patterns of significant findings across task start
times showed mixed results. An ALS provider on an engine showed an advantage (sooner task starting
times) over an ALS provider on an ambulance for a few tasks located earlier in the cardiac response
sequence, specifically ALS vitals and 12-lead ECG through IV access.
21

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first responder company with four-person crew also showed shorter start times for a few
early tasks in the cardiac response sequence.22
More importantly, a sequential time advantage appears for the last three tasks of the
sequence; analyze shock through patient packaging. Finally, when assessing crews for
their ability to increase on-scene operational efficiency by completing tasks
simultaneously, crews with an ALS provider on the engine and one ALS provider on the
ambulance completed all required tasks 45 seconds faster than crews with a BLS
engine and two ALS providers on the ambulance. Regardless of ALS configuration,
crews responding with four first responders completed all cardiac tasks from “at patient
time” through “completion of patient packaging” 70 seconds faster than first responder
crews with three persons, and 2 minutes and 40 seconds faster than first responder
crews with two persons.
Additionally, after the patient arrested, an assessment of time to complete remaining
tasks revealed that first responders with four-person engine crews completed all
required tasks 33 seconds faster than three-person engine and 1 minute 23 seconds
faster than two-person crews.
Figure 7: Time to Complete All Tasks After Cardiac Arrest23

Summary
Although resource deployment is addressed in the context of three basic scenarios,24 it
is recognized that public policy decisions regarding the cost-benefit of specific
22

These tasks are inclusive of initial airway, breathing and circulation (ABCs) assessment, ALS vital
signs, 12-lead ECG and expose chest sequence.
23
Ibid
24
The three scenarios addressed are: patient access and removal, a victim of systemic trauma due to a
long distance fall, and a patient with chest pan leading to a cardiac arrest.

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deployment decisions are a function of many factors including geography, resource
availability, and community expectations, as well as population demographics that drive
EMS call volume. While this report contributes significant knowledge to community and
fire service leaders in regard to effective resource deployment for local EMS systems,
other factors contributing to policy decisions are not addressed. The results, however,
do establish a technical basis for the effectiveness of first responder crews and ALS
configuration with at least one ALS level provider on first responder crews. The results
also provide valid measures of total crew size efficiency in completing on- scene tasks,
some of which involve heavy lifting and tasks that require multiple responders to
complete. These experimental findings suggest that ALS provider placement and crew
size can have an impact on some task start times in trauma and cardiac scenarios,
especially in the latter tasks leading to patient packaging. To the extent that creating
time efficiency is important for patient outcomes, including an ALS trained provider on
an engine and using engine crew sizes of four are worth considering.
Recommendation: As outlined in the EMS Field Experiments, some EMS call types
present situations that cannot be adequately addressed by a two-person ambulance
crew. The current NFD practice of dispatching either an ALS fire engine or ALS
tower ladder along with the ambulance is a best practice to ensure that patient care
needs are met in a timely and safe manner. The same holds true for responder
safety – for access and removal and other tasks in the response sequence, the
availability of additional hands can serve to reduce the risks of lifting injuries or
injuries that result from fatigue (e.g., minimizing the need for small-sized crews to
repeatedly ascend and descend stairs). This current practice should continue.

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Village of Northbrook
Governance
The Village of Northbrook comprises approximately 13 square miles. The Village
operates with a managerial form of municipal government as established by Article 5 of
the Illinois Municipal Code, 65 ILCS 5/5-1-1. The Manager is the administrative and
executive head of the government for some purposes. The Manager appoints and
removes all non-elected officers. Under the code of ordinances, a Fire Chief is
appointed by the Manager and serves as the head of the NFD.
The NFD is legally established under the Illinois Municipal Code and Village of
Northbrook Code of Ordinances. The Fire Chief is directly responsible for the proper
administration and operation of the Department. The Code of Ordinances authorizes the
Fire Chief to establish and promulgate binding rules and regulations approved by the
Village Manager (§2-252 of Northbrook Code of Ordinances). The established
Department structure provides a framework for achieving the NFD’s mission, purposes,
goals, strategies, and objectives. The organizational structure can only be reorganized
with by approval of the Village Board.
All items to be considered by the Village Board are heard in scheduled semi-monthly
public sessions. The Fire Chief submits material to the Village Manager for
consideration and meets periodically with the Village Board of Trustees to address the
legislative needs of the Department. The Chief and his team provide follow-up reports
and proposals specific to issues identified during those consultations.
The Village Board reviews and approves programs and basic Department policies
through reviews and audits conducted by the Village Manager and Human Resources.
The NFD organizational chart submitted by the Fire Chief as part of the annual budget
proposal becomes part of the approved budget document. The budget also includes
personnel allocation levels; all positions are specified by job descriptions.

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Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District
Governance
The Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District (NBRFPD) was established for the
purpose of providing fire and emergency medical transport services to residents and
businesses in areas outside the Village of Northbrook’s corporate limits. NBRFPD was
created by State of Illinois statute as a taxing mechanism to generate revenue for fire
department services. The NBRFPD is an independent governmental body that is
comprised of three township appointed trustees, with the Northbrook Fire Chief and
Village’s Chief Financial Officer serving as liaisons. The NBRFPD Trustees administer
the funds through a contract for services with the Village of Northbrook.
The NBRFPD is comprised of three and a half square miles that includes tollways,
forest preserves, residential and commercial land. The District includes the
unincorporated areas of Northfield Township bordered by Lake Cook and Willow Roads,
and from the Des Plaines River to the Eden’s Expressway25 and incorporated areas of
the Village of Deerfield south of Lake Cook Road. This geographic area is included in
the response area of the NFD.
The NBRFPD pays for services through a long-standing intergovernmental agreement
(IGA) which reflects total emergency service call load generated by the District as
compared to the total emergency call load the NFD responds to within Village corporate
limits. The District’s emergency call load contributes approximately 13 to 14% of the
total NFD’s call volume and, therefore, is responsible for the same percent of the total
Fire Department budget and other supporting services including Public Works
mechanics, Finance Department, and pension funding. Property tax revenue is the
District's sole revenue source.

25

The bulk of the areas served include unincorporated Cook County parcels in Glenbrook Countryside,
Mission Hills, Citation Lake, Northbrook West, Mission Hills Estates, pockets of properties along Techny
Road and Sunset Ridge Road, and portions of the Village of Deerfield south of Lake Cook Road.

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Northbrook Fire Department
Overview
The NFD is a full-service fire and EMS organization designed to provide essential public
safety and emergency services to a growing population base. The Department’s
command staff is comprised of one Fire Chief and two Deputy Chiefs. The command
staff is supported by a Management Analyst and two Administrative Clerks.
Since August 1996, the Department has deployed a three-fire station plan26 and staffs
on each shift a minimum of one Battalion Chief, two advanced life support (ALS) engine
companies, one ALS tower ladder company, and three ALS ambulances. When
possible, a rescue company is staffed. The Department operates a three-shift system
and has established a minimum staffing of 16, optimal staffing of 18, and maximum
staffing of 22 firefighters per shift, per day. All stations are currently staffed by full-time
firefighter paramedics, with a minimum of three firefighters per company assigned to all
front-line engine and tower ladder companies.
Figure 8: Village of Northbrook Boundary and Fire Station Locations

26

Station #10 is located at 650 Huehl Rd., Station #11 is located at 740 Dundee Rd, and Station #12 is
located at 1840 Shermer Rd.

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NFD Public Protection Classification
The ISO last surveyed NFD in September 2017 and assigned the NFD a Class 1 rating,
which is the rating for the best level of service. A rating breakdown of the most recent
ISO survey is shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Northbrook Fire Department 2017 ISO Survey Rating Breakdown
ISO Criteria

Earned Credit

Credit Available

Emergency
Communications
Fire Department

8.72

10.00

49.96

50.00

Water Supply

32.50

40.00

Divergence

-3.73

0.00

Community Risk Reduction

4.27

5.50

Total Credit

91.72

105.50

NFD received a total credit of 91.72 points out of a possible 105.50. The fire department
section of the FSRS reviews engine and ladder-service companies, equipment carried,
response to fires, training and number of available firefighters. Table 4 shows a detailed
breakdown of the classification assigned to NFD from the September 2017 ISO survey.
Table 4: Northbrook Fire Department 2017 ISO Survey Apparatus Classification
Credit
Fire Department Credit Given

Earned Credit

Credit Available

Engine Companies

6.00

6.00

Reserve Pumpers

0.50

0.50

Pumper Capacity

3.00

3.00

Ladder-Service Companies

3.95

4.00

Reserve Ladder-Service
Companies
Deployment Analysis

0.49

0.50

8.19

10.00

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Fire Department Credit Given

Earned Credit

Credit Available

Company Personnel

17.8027

15.00

Training

8.03

9.00

Operational Considerations

2.00

2.00

49.96

50.00

Total Credit

Budget
The NFD’s FY 2022/23 budget is $13,665,780.00, which represents 28% of the Village’s
General Corporate Fund allocations for the fiscal year. The NFD’s budget is primarily
consumed by personnel expenses inclusive of salaries, overtime, benefits, and other
compensation. The second largest budget expense is for contractual services that are
largely comprised of costs for the operation and repair of facilities, equipment, and
dispatching services, followed by commodity expenses and capital outlay.
Table 5: Northbrook Fire Department Budget28
Account
Category
Personal
Services
Fringe Benefits
Contractual
Services
Commodities
Foreign Fire
Insurance
Total
Operating
Capital Outlay
Total For
Department

FY19
Actual

FY20
Actual

FY21
Actual

FY22
Estimate

FY 23
Approved

8,508,313

8,624,452

8,824,960

8,993,740

9,492,305

1,269,824

1,271,353

1,281,053

1,341,025

1,459,180

1,278,751

1,297,715

1,290,722

1,317,015

1,456,705

441,808

427,214

413,685

451,970

467,590

61,646

61,633

70,866

399,775

395,000

11,560,342

11,682,367

11,881,286

12,503,525

13,270,780

1,728,627

736,348

437,962

738,970

0

13,288,969

12,418,715

12,319,248

13,242,495

13,270,780

27

ISO provides credit for firefighters who staff ambulances or other units that serve the general public if
they participate in firefighting operations, allowing the earned credit to exceed the credit available.
28
The annual budget reflects operations and capital expenses but does not include pension contributions.

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Capital Assets
Fleet
NFPA standard 1901 is used by the fire service for fire apparatus.29 NFPA 1901 states
that:
“To maximize firefighter capabilities and minimize risk of injuries, it is important
that fire apparatus be equipped with the latest safety feature and operating
capabilities. In the last 10 to 15 years, much progress has been made in
upgrading functional capabilities and improving the safety features of fire
apparatus. Apparatus more than 15 years old might include only a few of the
safety upgrades required by the recent editions of the NFPA fire department
apparatus standards. Because the changes, upgrades, and fine tuning of NFPA
1901 have been truly significant, especially in the area of safety, fire departments
should seriously consider the value or risk to firefighters of keeping fire apparatus
more than 15 years in first-line service.
It is a generally accepted fact that fire apparatus, like all types of mechanical
devices, have a finite life. The length of that life depends on many factors,
including vehicle mileage and engine hours, quality of preventative maintenance
program, quality of driver training program and rules enforcement, whether the
vehicle was used within the design parameters, whether the fire apparatus was
manufactured on a custom or commercial chassis, quality of workmanship by the
original manufacturer, quality of the components used, and availability of
replacement parts, to name a few. In the fire service, there are fire apparatus
with eight to 10 years of service that are just plain worn out or are not within
emission standards. Alternatively, there are also fire apparatus that were
manufactured with quality components, that have had excellent maintenance,
and that have responded to a minimum number of incidents that are in
serviceable condition after 20 years. Most would agree that the care of fire
apparatus while being used and the quality and timeliness of maintenance are
perhaps the most significant factors in determining how well a fire apparatus
ages.”
NFPA 1901 points out many key elements that should be considered when assessing
the useful life of fire department apparatus, with firefighter safety and vehicle emission
standards being primary factors to consider when assessing apparatus life span. Many
older apparatuses do not meet the current safety and emission standards for newer fire

29

NFPA 1901 Standard (2016 Ed.) Annex D Guidelines for First Line and Reserve Fire Apparatus

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apparatus. Newer fire apparatuses incorporate many technological, safety, and
emission changes that are consistent with commercial automotive industry standards.

Apparatus
Fire apparatus are unique and expensive pieces of equipment, customized to operate
efficiently for a specifically defined mission. Table 6 profiles the apparatus assigned to
each NFD fire station. PolarisPSS determined mechanical condition rating through
visual inspection and a review of the records provided by NFD.
Table 6: Northbrook Fire Department Stations and Apparatus30,31
NORTHBROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT – STATION #10
Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Engine

2021

Pierce

Impel Pumper

Front Line

Pump
Capacity

1500

Tank
Capacity

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Engine 10-R

ALS Engine

2004

Pierce

Saber Pumper

Reserve

Pump
Capacity

1250

Tank
Capacity

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Ambulance
10

Ambulance

2018

Horton

Freightliner

Front Line

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Ambulance 10R

Ambulance

2014

Horton

Freightliner

Reserve

Designation
32

Engine 10

500

500

Mechanical
Condition

Mechanical
Condition

Excellent

Excellent

30

All apparatus are ALS-equipped.
Staff vehicles are excluded.
32
An ALS engine is a primary response unit for most types of service requests equipped with a pump and
ability to carry water.
31

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NORTHBROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT - STATION #11
Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

2017

Pierce

Impel Pumper
Squad

Front Line

1500

Tank
Capacity

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Rescue
Pumper

2015

Pierce

Impel Pumper

Reserve

Pump
Capacity

1500

Tank
Capacity

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Truck

2009

Pierce

Velocity
Platform

Reserve

Pump Capacity

1500

Aerial Type

Platform

Tank
Capacity
Height (FT)

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Ambulance 11

Ambulance

2017

Horton

Freightliner

Front Line

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Battalion 11

Command
Vehicle

2017

Ford

Expedition

Front Line

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Battalion 10

Command
Vehicle

2015

Ford

Expedition

Reserve

Designation

Type

ALS
Pumper/Squad Pumper/Squad
11
Pump
Capacity
Designation

Engine 11

Designation

33

Tower 12-R

500

500

300
100

Mechanical
Condition

Mechanical
Condition

Mechanical
Condition

Excellent

Excellent

Excellent

33

A tower ladder is specialized apparatus used for structure fires, rescues, and other service requests
equipped with long ladders, salvage, overhaul equipment, rescue tools, and ALS equipment.

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NORTHBROOK FIRE DEPARTMENT - STATION #12
Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Engine

2008

Pierce

Impel
Pumper

Reserve

Pump
Capacity

1250

Tank
Capacity

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Rescue

2018

Custom
Rescue

Freightliner

Front Line

Pump
Capacity

None

Tank
Capacity

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

ALS Truck

2019

Pierce

Velocity
Platform

Front Line

Pump
Capacity

1500

Tank
Capacity

300

Aerial Type

Platform

Height
(FT)

100

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Ambulance 12

Ambulance

2021

Horton

Freightliner

Front Line

Designation

Type

Year

Make

Model

Front
Line/Reserve

Ambulance
12-R

Ambulance

2016

Horton

Freightliner

Reserve

Designation

Engine 12

Designation

34

Rescue 12

Designation

Tower 12

500

None

Mechanical
Condition

Mechanical
Condition

Mechanical
Condition

Excellent

Excellent

Excellent

Fleet Maintenance
The Village’s Public Works Department is responsible for maintaining all apparatus in
the NFD’s fleet.
NFPA standard 1901 documents proper vehicle maintenance requirements. Proper
maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines is strongly
recommended to optimize apparatus performance, maintain warranty coverage
opportunities, and provide legal protection if the apparatus were to malfunction.
Documentation on all maintenance and repair activities must be maintained for each
apparatus.

34

A rescue apparatus is specialized vehicle that is designed to transport and provide the specialized
equipment necessary for use at the emergency scene.

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Underwriters Laboratories (UL) conducts the annual inspection and testing of the NFD’s
tower ladders and all ground ladders. UL’s procedures conform to the highest standards
in the industry.
NFD has a regular preventive maintenance (PM) plan in place. As additional work order
repairs are requested, provided that there is no immediate safety issue, work orders are
added to the PM schedule, allowing for apparatus down time to be minimized.
PolarisPSS conducted a visual inspection of the apparatus to confirm the apparatus
conditions reported by Village of Northbrook’s Public Works Department Fleet
Maintenance Division and determined that the units are in very good to excellent
condition based on their individual age. The older apparatus showed no signs of fluid
leaks typical of apparatus 10 years of age. All exteriors are well maintained and interiors
are very clean, showing signs of dedicated effort to maintain cleanliness.
Recommendations:
Continue to use UL for annual testing of NFD’s tower ladder apparatuses and all
ground ladders.
All mechanics who work on fire apparatus should obtain the Emergency Vehicle
Technician (EVT) certification as recommended by the manufacturer of each
apparatus so that the maintenance performed supports peak performance.
Include the provision of apparatus-specific training for EVTs in vehicle purchase
contracts.

Apparatus Replacement Schedule
The cost of fire and EMS apparatus continues to increase. Recently, several
PolarisPSS consultants attended the International Fire Department Instructors
Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana and spoke with several large manufacturers about
the changing market. One manufacturer stated that during 2022 there have been
significant increases in the cost of the various apparatus, reductions in availability, and
increases in production time. The lead time for fire apparatus from the design phase
through order processing and delivery is currently estimated to be 18 to 24 months.
Manufacturers of ambulances are also facing lengthy production timelines secondary to
the extremely limited availability of chassis and parts.
Many of the fire apparatus once considered a 25-year investment no longer have that
expected useful service life. More frequent dispatch of fire apparatus to respond to the
increased EMS call volume increases the daily wear and tear on these apparatuses. For
many fire departments, 10 years as a front-line apparatus followed by 10 additional

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years as a reserve apparatus tends to be a more realistic planning factor for apparatus
useful service life.35
The NFD’s current ambulance replacement plan anticipates seven years of front-line
service and four additional years in a reserve status.
After review of the NFD’s current Apparatus Replacement Plan (ARP)36 (Appendix E)
and confirming the current apparatus inventory assessments, PolarisPSS recommends
that the current ARP should remain in place.
Recommendations:
Continue to support the current ARP that includes a replacement schedule
consistent with NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus
recommendations.
NFD should routinely review and adjust the ARP to ensure the anticipated service
demand increases can be met with the current fleet. Expected delays between order
submission and delivery of a new apparatus, as well as cost increases affecting the
marketplace should continue to be considered during the plan review.

Facilities
Fire department facilities must be designed and constructed to accommodate both
current and forecasted trends in fire service vehicle type and manufactured dimensions.
A facility must have sufficiently sized bay doors, circulation space between garaged
vehicles, departure and return aprons of adequate length and turn geometry to promote
safe response, and floor drains and oil separators to satisfy environmental concerns.
Station vehicle bay areas should consider rotating assets of MABAS Division 3 that are
required to be housed, even if this consideration merely incorporates civil design that
ensures adequate parcel space for future construction of additional bays.
Fire facilities must support responders in performing daily duties while minimizing
exposure to and cross-contamination of administrative and living spaces with hazardous
substances such as diesel exhaust and fire contaminants on the outside of bunker gear.
Fire station facilities must have storage areas for essential equipment and supplies;
space and amenities for administrative work, training, physical fitness, laundering, meal
preparation, and personal hygiene; and, where a fire department is committed to
minimize “turnout time,” bunking accommodations.

35

Anticipated timeframes assume compliance with apparatus manufacturer’s maintenance
recommendations.
36
Revised January 26, 2022

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Community fire-rescue protection requires strategic distribution of fire station facilities to
ensure effective service area coverage is achieved, predicted response travel times
satisfy prevailing community goals and national best practices, and the facilities are
capable of supporting mission-critical personnel and vehicle-oriented requirements and
needs.
Findings
The NFD operates three fire-service facilities. Each shift has a minimum staffing of 16
personnel, five firefighters/officers at each station and one Battalion Chief. Each station
has a minimum of a three-person engine or tower ladder company and a two-person
ALS ambulance. All three stations house auxiliary response rolling stock such as
specialty response apparatus, trailers, reserve fire apparatus, MABAS Division vehicles
on rotation, and support vehicles. On an as needed basis, specialty apparatus are
staffed with qualified personnel.
The Village has changed and grown dramatically in the last 26 years. It is important to
note that during the past 33 years the Village of Northbrook has experienced population
growth, increased residential housing, and commercial and retail business expansion. In
1989 the Village determined that Station #11, built in 1971, was in need of a major
addition. In 1996, Station #10 was relocated and Station #12 was constructed to meet
the increasing demands for emergency services and improve response times. In 2001
the NFD added a third ambulance to reflect the growing demand of the community.
Table 7 provides a profile and brief overview of each fire station location. An
assessment of the physical adequacy and condition of each fire station is outside the
scope of this report.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Table 7: Fire Station Locations37
Station #10

Station #11

Station #12

37

650 Huehl Rd. , Northbrook, IL 60062
Year Built

1996

Year Remolded (if applicable)

N/A

Number of Apparatus Bays

3

Dormitory Capacity

8

740 Dundee Road, Northbrook, Il 60062
Year Built

1971

Addition Built

1989

Number of Apparatus Bays

3

Dormitory Capacity

9

1840 Shermer Road, Northbrook, IL 60062
Year Built

1996

Year Remolded (if applicable)

N/A

Number of Apparatus Bays

3

Dormitory Capacity

8

The facilities were not studied as part of this report

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Recommendation: The Village of Northbrook should conduct a space needs
analysis that is inclusive of a current condition assessment to determine long term
facility needs and inform recommendations for refurbishment/remodeling of current
facilities and/or for new facility construction.
See Section Ideal Station Locations, page 124, for station location
recommendations.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Administrative Functional Responsibilities and Structure
All line and staff officers have been given the opportunity to assume additional duties
within the Department. Officer-level personnel have functional work responsibilities in
addition to emergency response. For example, additional duties include vehicle
maintenance and fleet management, respiratory protection compliance, and training.
Beyond ensuring the NFD achieves compliance with performance and industry
standards, additional duties serve to prepare individuals for future promotion and
advancement opportunities.
Table 8: Fire Department Functional Assignments
Fire Department
Functional Assignment

Rank of Staff
Person
Responsible

Schedule

Fire Prevention Bureau
 Fire Inspector (2)
 Fire Inspectors (4)
 Public Education Officer
 Training & Safety
 Assistant Training
Officer
 Drill Masters (3)
Logistics/Facilities/Grounds
EMS Medical Officer

Fire Marshal
Inspector
Firefighter/Paramedics
Firefighter/Paramedic
Battalion Chief
Lieutenant

full-time (40 hrs./week)
full-time (40 hrs./week)
part-time position (7g)
part-time position (7g)
full-time (40 hrs./week)
part-time position (7g)

Firefighter/Paramedics part-time position (7g)
Battalion Chief
Battalion Chief

 Assistant Medical
Officer

Captain

 EMS Supplies/AED

Lieutenant

Fleet

Captain

 Tools and Equipment

Lieutenant

 Thermal Imaging
Cameras (TIC)/Meters

Lieutenant

 Foam/Hose &
Appliances
Special Operations
 Haz Mat Team Leader
 Technical Rescue Team
Leader
 Dive/Underwater
Rescue Team Leader

Lieutenant

Line Officers (24-hour
shift) with additional
responsibilities and
duties

Captain
Lieutenant
Lieutenant
Lieutenant

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 Fire Investigation Team
Leader
Plans/Reporting/QA
 Site Plans
Respiratory
Protection/SCBA/Fit Testing
Radio/Communications
Turnout Gear/PPE
Quarter
Master/Uniforms/Awards

FT Inspector
Battalion Chief
Lieutenant
Lieutenant
Lieutenant
Lieutenant
Lieutenant

Recommendations:
Complete a strategic planning process to establish a shared understanding of the
Department’s strategic priorities, objectives, key outcomes, and action initiatives.
Conduct an in-depth analysis of job responsibilities for each position once the
second Deputy Chief position is filled.
Update written job descriptions for each position, including qualification
requirements of the person filling the position.
Establish a project management reporting system to track the monthly progress with
project and program implementation progress.
Submit monthly and annual reports to Village management to provide updates on
activities within each NFD division.
NFD currently operates with several non-sworn personnel assigned to administrative
support. The administrative support positions include one Management Analyst and two
Administrative Clerks. These three positions provide critical support for all Department
administrative functions. The value of administrative support cannot be overstated as
the work of these staff members enables Department leadership to concentrate on other
areas of operation.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Table 9: Fire Department Administrative Support Functions
Fire Department
Administrative
Support Positions
Management Analyst38

Primary Responsibilities










Budget administration
Capital Improvement Plan
(management)
Document/inventory disposal
Scheduled leave
Personnel files
Advice of Status
FOIA Officer
Payroll oversight

Administrative Clerk







Ambulance billing
Accounts payable
Petty cash
PO processing
EMS FOIA

Administrative Clerk










Desk reception
Payroll entry
Fire Permit Coordinator
Notary
FPB scheduling/filing
Department rosters
False alarm billing
Department photos

Recommendation: Conduct a job task analysis to provide management with
objective criteria needed to identify current job responsibilities and tasks
assignments. As necessary, realign tasks and/or hire additional support personnel to
address workload issues.

38

With the addition of the second Deputy Chief position, effective November 1, 2022, some of the
Management Analyst’s primary responsibilities are anticipated to change.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

EMS Billing Program
NFD utilizes an in-house billing program. An Administrative Clerk spends approximately
70% of the time administering this program. EMS billing collection revenue generates
approximately $1.6 million annually. The Department has enrolled in the Ground
Emergency Medical Transport (GEMT) Program and will become an active participant
on January 1, 2023.
Recommendations:
Provide Certified Ambulance Coder training to staff members responsible for EMS
billing.
If time spent by the Administrative Clerk processing EMS billing approaches 80%
full-time equivalent, the Village should evaluate whether an outside contractor would
be more cost effective for processing EMS billing.
Conduct one-year evaluation of GMET participation.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Northbrook Fire Department Services and Programs
Fire Prevention Bureau
The Northbrook Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB) is comprised of three full-time
members,39 a Fire Marshal and two Inspector/Investigators. An Administrative Clerk
splits time between the FPB and Fire Administration. Staffing is supplemented by offduty firefighters who are permitted to work as Fire Inspectors per the Department’s 7G
Side Letter Agreement (Appendix E) with the Collective Bargaining Unit, IAFF Local
1894;40 five firefighters are currently working per the terms of this agreement. The hireback Fire Inspectors are commonly known as 7G Fire Inspectors.
The three full-time FPB employees handle most of the day-to-day administrative
functions and core FPB tasks. These tasks include, but are not limited to:







Annual Inspections: The schedule of the estimated 3,850 inspections that
should be performed annually is currently on an 18-month cycle.41
Certificate of Occupancy Inspections: When a new business is being built or
renovated, an inspection is required to determine compliance with the code and
submitted drawing.
System Acceptance Testing (Commercial): System testing consists of
sprinkler hydro-testing, verifying sprinkler head placement, and fire alarm device
testing which requires the activation of every installed device.42 When testing, the
Fire Inspector determines compliance based upon the adopted Village Code and
NFPA Guidelines.
System Testing – Residential: The Village adopted the NFPA 13D sprinkler
requirements for single family homes in 2007. There are now approximately 1000
homes with residential sprinklers.

39

The Village of Northbrook is a robust community with a large commercial and industrial area that
requires significant interaction with the FPB. In the 2023 Budget, a second full-time Fire Inspector was
approved. This position will have a positive impact in the productivity of the FPB and will allow the Fire
Marshal to focus more on the administrative functions of a supervisor and work on streamlining business
processes and improving the use of technology.
40

The 7G Agreement allows shift personnel to work in the FPB while being paid a special hourly rate that
is different from their regular shift rate in order to comply with the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA).
According to the FLSA, firefighters may not perform "additional" fire related activities for their employers
without that time being included as hours worked for FLSA pay computation purposes. The 7G
Agreement allows them to perform the duties of a Fire Inspector without violating FLSA requirements.
41
The number of inspectional properties varies secondary to the determination of the unit of
measurement. For example, an office building with 20 suites can count as 21 inspections - one for each
business and one for the public areas.
42
This test includes smoke alarms, heat detectors, flow switches, tamper switches, battery backup, audiovisual devices, and kitchen hood and duct testing.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois














Fire Investigations: State of Illinois statutes require an investigation for every
fire.43 See Specialty Teams, Fire Investigations section.
Public Education: Public education is a unique way to reach out to the residents
to share knowledge and provide them with a value-added service from their fire
department. Public education includes providing fire safety instruction to primary
school-aged children and safety classes such as CPR, baby-sitter safety classes,
and Stop the Bleed.
Complaint Initiated Inspections: Complaint initiated inspections occur when a
member of the public or building occupant notifies the NFD of what the person
believes to be a hazard and requests follow-up.44
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request Processing: FOIA requests have
increased considerably over the last few years since the law makes it easy to
request information from a government entity. Each request takes time to
process and ensure the appropriateness of information being shared. Typical
types of FOIA requests received include fire reports, ambulance reports,
underground storage tank research, and fire inspection history.
Special Events Coordination: The FPB is responsible for the safety of the
public during highly populated events in the Village such as the 4 th of July,
Northbrook Days, and other similar events that occur throughout the summer.
Event preparations include meetings with other departments, evaluation of any
fireworks displays and carnival rides, tent inspections, and site evaluation for
egress and pedestrian safety.
Plan Reviews and System Submittals: Plan review and fire alarm and sprinkler
system plan submittals are reviewed for code compliance by a third-party plan
reviewer who reviews most of the approximately 300 plans processed by the
Village annually.45 Upon the return of reviewed plans and prior to final approval,
the FPB uses the plan for system acceptance testing to ensure the system was
installed according to the approved plans.
Other Duties: Addressing FPB work orders initiated by fire companies
responding to incidents, resolving fire alarm panel faults, responding to public
inquiries, attending meetings, implementing and maintaining software, billing for
false fire alarms, preparing budgets, reports, staffing schedules, and complying
with FEMA NFIRS reporting requirements.

43

Fire Safety (425 ILCS 25) Fire Investigations Act
An example of this type of inspection is when someone is burning leaves or using a fire pit and the
smoke becomes a nuisance to a neighbor.
45
The cost of the third-party plan review process is passed along to the developer or submitting party,
plus an administrative fee of 10% or $70 whichever is greater.
44

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

The Administrative Clerk assists the FPB with scheduling inspections, tracking plan
reviews, and processing payments, Freedom of Information Act requests, and alarm
billing. Task sharing between these positions appears to work well in this Department.

7G Agreement Staffing
The 7G Fire Inspectors are each assigned an area to inspect. Their productivity
contributes to the FPB’s ability to work toward completion of the annual inspection
cycle.
One 7G Fire Inspector is also assigned to Public Education. However, staffing
limitations and competing priorities for personnel time continue to plague the Fire
Department’s Public Education Program.
The 7G Agreement benefits participating firefighters by increasing their knowledge of
the duties of a Fire Inspector, how to apply the adopted code, and various systems
within a structure. The program also promotes a positive relationship between the Fire
Suppression Division and the FPB and serves to support career development.
However, some 7G Fire Inspectors have at times reportedly treated the position as a
second priority and their attendance has not always been reliable,46 causing annual
inspections to fall behind. Although the cost to train and equip a firefighter to become a
certified Fire Inspector is roughly $15,000, there are no requirements for personnel who
receive the Department-funded certification to serve in the capacity as a 7G Fire
Inspector for a specified period of time.

46

Time off to attend to personal matters and opportunities to work an additional fire suppression shift
were cited as two reasons 7G Inspectors did not work their scheduled shifts.

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

Figure 9: Fire Prevention Bureau Hours Worked vs. Unused Hours

Recommendations:
Evaluate the 7G Side Letter Agreement to include a time commitment requirement
by individuals applying for the position and pay increases for time in grade.
Update FPB ordinances to reflect current practices (e.g., report issuance for code
violations).
Increase the focus on education programs that target the age 65 years and older
population and identified high-risk target hazards in an effort to enhance occupant
safety and preparedness.
Establish a self-re-inspection program for minor violations that allows the occupant
to submit written and photographic documentation of violation correction.
Establish a program to allow basic storefronts to complete and certify a checklist
every “X “number of years in-lieu of an annual in-person inspection. This program
will enable Fire Inspectors to prioritize the in-person inspection of more complex
occupancies.

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Recommendations Continued:
Continue to pursue partnerships with community groups and businesses to assist
with sponsorship and participation in public events. Fire prevention and education
programs can reduce the risk of fires and injuries effectively when used as part of the
Department’s overall prevention strategy. However, it may take months before the
prevention and education initiatives become fully effective.
Publish an annual report on the NFD’s activities from the preceding year to inform
and educate the community about the Department’s role in community safety.
Documenting the Department’s accomplishments will also help to show members the
difference they have helped to make within the community.

Fire/Rescue Services
The NFD operates a fire suppression program directed toward controlling and
extinguishing fires to protect people from injury or death and reduce property loss. The
Department has implemented an incident management system for all emergency
responses, regardless of the size or incident complexity, and has adopted and follows
the constructs of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NFD’s standard
operating procedures (SOP) guide operations during fire incidents.
The NFD’s response and deployment standards are based upon the population density
and fire demand of the community. Response to a reported fire is primarily two engine
companies, two tower ladder companies, two ambulances, a rescue company if staffing
allows, and two command officers. Additional resources are deployed as needed. The
total response force is reliant on automatic aid from surrounding communities. The NFD
has longstanding automatic aid agreements with neighboring fire departments and is
part of MABAS Division 3. As such, NFD provides resources to requests for aid within
the region and state.
In accordance with the Battalion Chief’s job description, the Battalion Chief is
responsible for the day-to-day management of their shift. Battalion Chiefs are
responsible for identifying trends and factors that may contribute to public and firefighter
injuries and deaths and related property and environmental issues. Recommendations
resulting from these reviews are typically acted upon by staff, and as appropriate,
adjustments to operations and practices are institutionalized through changes to
departmental guidelines.
Findings
Based on analysis of information gathered through staff interviews, review of the
company training program and current SOPs, PolarisPSS finds NFD’s fire suppression
companies well prepared to execute their responsibilities in support of the Department’s
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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

fire suppression goals and objectives. The physical resources assigned to fire
suppression are adequate and inventory records are maintained to ensure the presence
of required equipment and supplies.

Emergency Medical Services
The NFD delivers fire protection and ALS emergency medical response in an integrated
fashion. The Department operates its EMS service under the rules and regulations set
forth by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
Personnel Licensure
IDPH is the licensing body for EMT-Basic (EMT-B), EMT-Intermediate, Advanced EMT
(A-EMT), and Paramedic (EMT-P) within Illinois. All NFD sworn personnel possess a
minimum licensure of A-EMT; sixty-six NFD members hold an EMT-P license.
Paramedic licensure is part of the collective bargaining agreement pay grade structure
up to and including the rank of Lieutenant/ Paramedic. Ranks above
Lieutenant/Paramedic receive a stipend to maintain their EMT-P license.
NFD members receive EMS training through the Highland Park Hospital EMS System.
IDPH requires each paramedic to successfully complete 100 hours of continuing
education every four years as a condition of re-licensure.47 To maintain their standing
within the Region 10 EMS System, each paramedic must successfully complete 30
hours of annual continuing education inclusive of classroom education and in-hospital
training. Currently, NFD has a contractual agreement with the Highland Park Hospital
Emergency Medical Services Department to deliver continuing monthly education
training at each fire station. The current practice of providing “in-house” training has
saved the NFD from paying wages for personnel to attend training sessions when offduty.
EMS Staffing
IDPH licenses EMS provider agencies and their transport and non-transport vehicles to
ensure compliance with equipment and staffing requirements and minimum build
standards as adopted by the State. Ambulance staffing models require a minimum of
one paramedic per ambulance,48 Region 10’s EMS System Plan requires two
paramedics per ambulance.49
NFD operating guidelines require each ALS ambulance to be staffed with two
firefighter/paramedics (FF/PM) and each ALS fire apparatus to be staffed with at least

47

EMS Systems are permitted to establish annual training requirements in excess of IDPH minimums.
210 ILCS 50/3.85 Vehicle Service Providers
49
EMS Region 10 Policies and Procedures
48

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one FF/PM,50 resulting in a minimum requirement of three FF/PM per fire station
assigned each shift. NFD consistently complies with its staffing requirements. NFD
protocol requires an ALS fire suppression company be dispatched in tandem with the
ambulance for all EMS medical calls to provide manpower assistance to the ambulance
crew. The ambulance crew is authorized to hold up or defer the suppression company if
they think the suppression unit is not needed.
EMS Program Administration
NFD procedures document the administrative management for the EMS program.51 A
Battalion Chief fills the EMS Medical Officer position and serves as the NFD’s
Designated Infection Control Officer (DICO).52 The EMS Medical Officer is also
responsible for EMS incident investigations, ALS/BLS vehicle licensing, Resource
Hospital EMS inspections, hospital/IDPH reporting, new paramedic student
coordination, the EMS budget, Northbrook Pharmaceutical Distribution Plan,53 and
serving as the EMS Committee chair.54 A Captain fills the Assistant Medical Officer
position and is responsible for managing the Department’s Health Promoting Hospital
(HPH) Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Improvement (QI) Program,55 paramedic
continuing education, tracking paramedic licensures, and blood borne pathogens
training. The Assistant Medical Officer also leads the routine review and update of
SOPs/Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) and development of new SOPs/SOGs, as
appropriate. The Lieutenant who fills the EMS Supply/Automatic External Defibrillator
(AED) position is responsible for ordering and maintaining EMS supplies and
maintaining the AEDs in all Village buildings and vehicles.
The Department maintains a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPPA) Compliance Program and all personnel receive training in complying with the
provisions of this Act. Department members are responsible for maintaining privacy and
confidentiality of an individual’s personal health information in accordance with local,
state, and federal requirements. All new employees receive training on HIPPA
50

NFD Operating Guidelines Subject; Staffing and Region 10 Policies and Procedures
Paramedic licensure is not required to fill the EMS Medical Officer, Assistant Medical Officer, and EMS
Supply/AED positions, but individuals holding these positions have historically been an EMT-P.
52
Person or persons who are responsible for managing a fire department’s infection control program and
coordinating efforts surrounding the investigation of an exposure (NFPA 1581 3.3.30)
53
Cook County Department of Public Health’s plan developed in collaboration with MABAS Division 3
allows communities to estimate the number of medication doses that may be needed during a public
health emergency.
54
Committee oversees the continuous improvement of NFD’s EMS Program.
55
HPH QA and QI aims to improve the overall quality of health services provided. The Society of Hospital
Medicine asserts that one of the key principles of an effective EMS system is demonstrating a
commitment to continuous QI and actively participating in initiatives directed at quality and patient safety.
This program is used to review calls that NFD responds to and evaluate whether proper protocols and
procedures were followed. The reviews are used to improve services and create future training
opportunities.
51

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compliance procedures during initial training and all members receive continuing
education training on HIPPA.
Recommendation: Research and evaluate the costs and benefits of a Mobile
Integrated Healthcare Program to mitigate the unnecessary use of Village
ambulances for non-emergency transports to the hospital.

Training Division
NFD’s Training Division is led by a full-time Battalion Chief who is in-charge of Training
and Safety. This Battalion Chief is a member of the administrative staff and works a
traditional 40-hour week.
NFD is one of the 15 member agencies participating in a regional training center known
as the Northeast Illinois Public Safety Training Academy (NIPTSA). NIPSTA conducts
basic training courses and in-service training for all companies and officers, delivers
officer development programs, provides specialty training courses, and addresses
certification program requirements. NIPSTA’s facility is outfitted with many of the
resources and structures consistently found in other modern firefighter training facilities.
NIPSTA is operated by two full-time staff members and a large roster of contracted
subject matter experts.
The NFD maintains a training and education program for all sworn personnel that is
consistent with the goals and objectives for operations and training established in the
Department’s three-year training plan. Program areas and required training needs are
identified based upon federal, state, and local laws and administrative requirements, as
well as the essential job functions, working conditions, knowledge, skills, and abilities
needed to perform anticipated emergency functions as defined in each job position
description. The Training Division utilizes monthly training, annual core competencies,
and compliance with the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act.
The NFD training program is well organized and meets the needs of the Department
and its members. The NFD’s programs exceed the state certification requirements. All
NFD members complete the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001:
Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications - Basic Firefighter requirements
prior to the end of initial recruit training. The use of a comprehensive set of technical
competencies that have been established by the Office of the State Fire Marshal
(OSFM) is one of the Department’s main training program strengths. PolarisPSS’ review
and analysis of the NFD’s Training Division record keeping and reporting process
discloses that the NFD does an excellent job in tracking the training status and
capabilities of all personnel. Supplemental training programs with mandatory
recertification in various disciplines, specialized training, and targeted fire suppression

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training are ongoing. Mandatory training and certification levels for all personnel are
monitored; updates are provided to identify the training needs for all personnel.
All MABAS special rescue teams have annual minimum training requirements set forth
by the MABAS Team Leaders and Fire Chiefs. MABAS personnel are responsible for
ensuring that all special rescue team members complete annual training requirements.
Each team has its own annual training audit that is reviewed by the Team Leaders and
Fire Chiefs responsible for oversight. This system works well to ensure team member
training is current and meets MABAS standards.
Table 10: State Certifications of Fire Department Personnel
Village of Northbrook Fire Department: State Certifications of Personnel
Basic Operations
Firefighter

32 Fire Service Instructor III

1

Trench Technician

Advanced Technician
Firefighter

Training Program
Manager
Basic Fire Prevention
60
Officer

Fire Apparatus Engineer

53 Fire Inspector I

Fire Officer I

30

Youth Fire-setter
Intervention Specialist

1

Company Fire Officer

2

Fire Inspector II

0

Rope Operations

27

Fire Service Executive
Support
Fire Department Incident
Safety Officer
Fire Department Health
and Safety Officer

Public Fire and Life
Safety Educator I
Advanced Fire Prevention
14
Officer

1

Fire Service Vehicle
Operator

42

0

Rope Technician

7

Fire Investigator

8

Water Operations

4

Fire Officer II

13 Arson Investigator

0

Watercraft Technician

2

Airport Firefighter

Advanced Fire Officer
Chief Fire Officer
Fire Department Safety
Officer
Fire Service Instructor I
Fire Service Instructor II

1

0

3

Hazardous Materials
Operation
Hazardous Materials
1
Technician
Hazardous Materials
3
Incident Command
Rescue Specialist –
38
Confined Space

0

19 Trench Operations

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3
0
5

Structural Collapse
Operations
Structural Collapse
Technician
Vehicle and
Machinery Operations
Vehicle and
Machinery Technician

11
12
11
46
13

68
12
12
12
11

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois

The NFD utilizes a skills-based evaluation system to ensure firefighters and companies
are competent and confident to perform job functions. Individual performance is
evaluated during company in-service, officer in-service, post-incident analysis, and
annual departmental proficiency training.
Training and education resources, printed and non-printed library materials, media
equipment, facilities, and staff are available in sufficient quantity, relevancy, and
diversity, and are current. The Department maintains an inventory of its training
materials including written manuals, videos, software, and lesson plans. The Battalion
Chief of Training and Safety continually evaluates training materials to ensure the
materials meet Department goals and reflect the latest information available. Training
materials are evaluated based on current applicable NFPA and OSFM standards. Most
lesson plans meet the national training requirements. The Battalion Chief of Training
and Safety and on-duty and off-duty (7g) shift instructors evaluate all materials as part
of the annual budget process. The Battalion Chief of Training and Safety is a member of
the MABAS Division 3 Fire Training Committee and the NFD Fire Chief is a member of
the NIPSTA Board of Directors. The Fire Training Committee plans the purchase of
training props, materials, and conducts training that is based on local fire department
needs.
Recommendation: The Training Division should continue to provide both practical
and hands-on learning opportunities and consider an on-line training provider portal
for the purpose of accomplishing EMS and fire continuing education requirements.

Specialty Teams: Fire Investigations, Dive and Water Rescue, Hazardous
Materials, Technical Rescue
The NFD operates an adequate, effective, and efficient program for rescuing trapped or
endangered persons from any life-endangering incident and is committed to supporting
four specialty teams: Fire Investigations, Dive and Water Rescue, Technical Rescue,
and Hazardous Materials Response. With the exception of the Fire Investigations Team,
the NFD has designated six positions to each team (two per shift). A Captain leads the
entire specialty team program; a Lieutenant serves as the Team Leader for each team.
All firefighters are state certified in technical rescue awareness operations and the
Department has seven certified rescue technicians that serve as part of the MABAS
Division 3 Technical Rescue Program. In addition, all personnel receive regular cold
water and ice rescue training consisting of survival suit and swift water awareness
training. The Department has designated six certified public safety divers who are
outfitted with self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) and underwater
communication equipment. All first due companies have awareness level training.
MABAS Division 3 has specialized apparatus to support special teams including Air 3,
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Rescue 3, and Decon 3, all of which are regional apparatus. Rescue technicians are
also available upon request from over 100 other MABAS Divisions.
Standard operating guidelines are written and used for different types of technical
rescue incidents such as structural collapse, above ground, confined space, trench
collapse, high angle, swift water and submersion, cave-ins and vehicle accidents. All
personnel who are part of the Technical Rescue Program are required to complete
competencies and training programs annually as part of Department procedures and as
part of the MABAS Division 3 Team. MABAS Division 3 command-level personnel are
also involved in the review and audit of the program
The Department maintains on its apparatus an inventory of special rescue and heavy
rescue equipment. The heavy rescue squad is equipped to initiate a rescue in all
technical rescue categories.
Specialty Team Training
The special operations teams represent a group of firefighters that in addition to their
firefighting duties and training have elected to diversify and train to meet the challenges
and dangers of specific rescue environments. Because of the specialized, often
complex, and dangerous nature of special operations, it is imperative that the personnel
who engage in these endeavors are well-trained and given opportunities to maintain
their skills at the highest level possible. This requires both cognitive and physical
training on a regular basis.
Fire Investigations
NFD created a Fire Investigation Team to investigate all reported fires within the Village;
and currently has eight Village employees trained to the OSFM Fire Investigator
certification. NFD team members include the Fire Marshal, one full-time Fire Inspector,
and three part-time Fire Inspectors. The team also includes one individual from the
Northbrook Police Department and one from the Village’s Department of Planning and
Development.
The NFD Fire Marshal is responsible for administering the Fire Investigation Program
under the supervision of the Fire Chief.
The Department operates an adequate, effective, and efficient program directed toward
origin and cause investigation and determination for fires, explosions, and other
emergency situations that endanger life or property. The Village’s Code of Ordinances
and OSFM regulations have described and defined the responsibility to investigate fires
and determine fire origin and cause. The Fire Investigation Team works closely with the
Northbrook Police Department, as needed.
The Fire Investigation Program meets the Department’s needs for the type of incidents
occurring in the Village. It operates under State of Illinois, MABAS Division 3, and the
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Department’s fire investigation guidelines. Additional staffing and equipment can be
requested as needed from MABAS Division 3 and other local, state, and federal
resources.
The current staffing level allows the Department to meet its mandate for conducting fire
cause determination and fire injury investigations. Investigations are conducted
consistent with the NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, 2008
edition. Fire investigators are equipped with personal investigative equipment and gear.
The Fire Marshal reviews all fire investigation reports to evaluate the quality of the
report and to determine the effectiveness of procedures used by personnel to conduct
each investigation. The Department takes appropriate steps as a result of the review.
Hazardous Materials Response Team
The NFD has a comprehensive approach to hazardous materials emergencies wherein
personnel on all first-due companies are trained to the operations level. As part of
MABAS Division 3 and through scheduled rotation, the Department houses a wellequipped, dedicated hazardous materials unit. Most of the NFD team members are
trained to the technician and specialist levels.
In 1986, the Federal Government passed the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) for the purpose of helping communities plan for chemical
emergencies. Illinois law requires owners of facilities with specific types and quantities
of hazardous chemicals to submit Tier II forms to the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency (IEMA), Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC), and local fire
department. For the Village, the Fire Chief is responsible for collecting and
disseminating the Tier II forms.
The Department’s response and deployment standards are based upon the population
density and hazardous materials response demands of the community. The targeted
service level objectives in the standards of cover benchmark statements are based on
industry standards and best practices, as identified earlier in this report.
The NFD operates an adequate, effective, and efficient hazardous materials program
directed toward protecting the community from the hazards associated with fires and
uncontrolled releases of hazardous and toxic materials. The Department equips all frontline engines, the tower ladder, and the rescue squad with a small equipment cache to
handle minor gas and fuel leaks. Larger hazardous materials responses are handled by
the two scheduled on-duty technicians and personnel from the MABAS Division 3
hazmat team.
The Department and MABAS SOGs describe what is expected of its members during
hazardous incidents. MABAS requires a complete annual review of SOGs; hazmat team
members complete the initial review and senior management reviews and approves any
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recommended changes. The emergency incident type response plan and a tactical
worksheet are used during hazmat incidents to ensure that the company officers
consider all appropriate elements of hazmat response to keep responders safe while
mitigating the incident.
The Department uses multiple systems to document the activity of team members and
capture information from hazardous material incidents for post-incident analysis.
Hazmat post incident reviews and regular hazmat team leader meetings also provide
ongoing and regular evaluation of the hazardous material response program.
All personnel who are part of the hazardous materials team are required to complete
annual competencies and training programs as part of departmental procedures and as
part of the MABAS Division 3 Team. MABAS Division 3 command-level personnel are
also involved in reviewing and auditing the program.
Recommendation: Enter information contained in the hazardous materials
statistical data sheets into the Department’s Firehouse Record Management System
so that it is available to Department and specialty team leadership to use this
information as part of the annual evaluation of hazmat program performance.

Emergency Management Program
Staffing
The Village of Northbrook’s Fire Chief was appointed by the Village Manager to serve
as the Village’s Coordinator of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) (Northbrook
Ordinance Article IV §3-98). There are no additional budgeted positions within the Fire
Department or another Village department that are dedicated to performing EMA
functions. The Fire Chief, however, may assign a staff member to assist as needed.
Recommendation: To enable the Village to operate a fully functioning Emergency
Management Agency pursuant to Northbrook Ordinance Article IV §3-96, the Village
should identify existing positions that will assume responsibility for the functions
identified in Northbrook Ordinance Article IV §3-99. The Village should consider
dedicating and budgeting additional positions to ensure performance of and
compliance with IEMA requirements such as emergency management planning,
training, and exercise functions.
Planning
In a resolution dated September 28, 2004, the Village officially committed to adopting
the use of NIMS and managing all emergency incidents and preplanned events through
use of the incident command system (ICS) organizational structure, doctrine, and
procedures. NFD leadership reported that the Department’s SOPs for incident response

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conforms to ICS doctrine and that established training plans ensure Department
members remain compliant with NIMS training requirements. All firefighters are required
to complete IS-100, IS-200, and IS-700 and all sworn personnel at the rank of Captain
or above must also complete ICS-300 and ICS-400. However, the Village does not
maintain a designated NIMS Coordinator and the status of NIMS training compliance for
other Village employees is unknown. Village departments maintain comprehensive
inventories of all apparatus and equipment, but these resources are not typed according
to NIMS standards provided in NIMS Guideline for Resource Management
Preparedness, June 2021.
The Village’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) was last updated and certified in 2011
by the Cook County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA), now known as
the Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security (DEMRS). Pursuant
to 29 Il Administrative Code 301.520(b) the certification is effective for at least two
years, but no longer than four years. The Cook County certification has lapsed, but
since the Village is not a mandated EMA pursuant to 20 ILCS 3305/10, it is not required
by state law to have a certified EOP. IEMA permits municipalities to submit EOPs for
recertification to the county ESDA every 2-4 years.
Although provided for in the EOP, the Village does not formally engage in an annual
review and exercise of the Plan. PolarisPSS noted a number of content areas within the
EOP that require update in order to reflect current standards. Please see Appendix D.
The Village’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is located in the lower level of
Station #11. Although it has not been activated for an emergency in a number of years,
the Village continues to invest resources to maintain its EOC capability. The EOC
supports six fully operational workstations and has the space to support 2-4 additional
reduced-technology workstations. The Village’s Emergency Management Coordinator
maintains pre-packaged boxes of information and resources (e.g., phone, job checklists,
ICS forms) that upon EOC activation are distributed to personnel staffing each
workstation to assist staff with execution of their duties and responsibilities. EOC
capabilities have not been exercised within the past five years.
The EOC facility has a back-up generator to provide emergency power. The EOC’s
communication capabilities have not been upgraded within the last five years. The
hardware at each workstation supports access to phones, the internet, and the Village’s
Police Department radio system, which includes the Illinois STARTCOM21 system.
Fiber lines are used to support internet and telephone capabilities. The EOC houses a
fully functional police dispatch console that can be used to maintain 911 police dispatch
capabilities if the primary dispatch capability were to be compromised.
The Village does not formally maintain a Joint Information System, but the Village’s
Communication Coordinator is responsible for information and communications
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functions on behalf of the Village government during large scale incidents. As dictated
by incident circumstances, the Communication Coordinator works with Village agencies
and community stakeholders to manage information release and distribution and serves
as the Village’s lead point of contact for public information coordination.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to Emergency Management
Assistance Compact requests, the Fire Chief worked with the Village’s Finance
Department to track and/or project the cost of response activities. The Village currently
does not have a defined written procedure for the real-time tracking of expenses from
the start of an incident.
The Village of Northbrook actively participates in the Cook County Hazard Mitigation
planning process and maintains a Village-specific plan. In his capacity as the Village’s
Emergency Management Coordinator, the Fire Chief coordinates with other Village
departments to annually update the Village’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. Village
departments continue to actively work toward achieving defined mitigation objectives.
Recommendations:
The Village EOP requires a comprehensive review and update. See Appendix D for
an overview of requirements that must be addressed in the EOP update. Once
updated, the EOP should be submitted to the Cook County Department of
Emergency Management and Regional Security for re-certification.
Document EOC operational procedures (e.g., process for how incident action plans
are developed, briefings conducted) and assign responsibility for the performance of
emergency management functions within the EOC (e.g., EOC management, routine
testing to communication equipment, conduct of after action reviews).
Incorporate opportunities to test EOC functionality, both in terms of operational
procedures and technology resources, to aid the Village in identifying areas that
require additional planning, training, and/or resourcing.
Test all EOC resources (e.g., resources in the information boxes) for functionality on
a routine basis and updated as necessary. Document the role of the Finance
Section Chief and train personnel to fill this position.
Develop a procedure for the real-time tracking of incident expenses that can be
universally implemented by all Village Departments.

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Training
Apart from NIMS training required by their positions within the Fire Department, neither
the Fire Chief nor Deputy Fire Chief have completed training to prepare them to fulfil
their emergency management roles. It is unknown whether other Village personnel have
completed any formal emergency management training.
Recommendations:
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the federal Emergency
Management Institute (EMI) offer free training on a wide range of emergency
management topics. At a minimum, the Village’s Emergency Management
Coordinator(s) should complete IEMA’s 8-hour New Coordinator's Workshop and
the Illinois Professional Development Series training requirements. The workshop is
designed to provide new local emergency management agency coordinators an
overview of their responsibilities in relationship to their local government and the
state and covers how the content of the Illinois Emergency Management Act and
current requirements outlined in the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
Administrative Rules affect local jurisdictions. The seven on-line and six discussionbased classroom courses that comprise the Professional Development Series are
designed to provide an introduction to the wide range of responsibilities for which
emergency managers must be prepared. The Village may wish to consider
requiring position-specific emergency management training for certain Village
positions that have a specialized role in supporting emergency management
operations (e.g., public information officer, finance director).
Centralize the management of emergency management and NIMS-compliance
training to ensure that all Village positions that have a defined emergency
management role maintain the minimum training required for their position. The
development of individual training plans for positions with defined emergency
management functions is necessary. Dedication of personnel hours to support the
scheduling and tracking of emergency management training is required.
The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) is a partnership of
several nationally recognized organizations whose membership is based on the
urgent need to address the counter-terrorism preparedness needs of the nation’s
emergency first responders within the context of all hazards including chemical,
biological, radiological, and explosive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
hazards. Acceptance into a training course is coordinated through IEMA.
Exercises
The most recent interagency exercise was conducted three years ago and focused on
an active shooter incident at a local middle school. The Village hosted a 16-hour training
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course for local school personnel about active shooter incidents in May 2022. Although
the Fire Department routinely conducts drills to exercise its internal response
capabilities, the Village currently does not have any inter-disciplinary exercises
scheduled.
Recommendation: Establish an emergency management exercise program with
the intent of validating emergency response plans and identifying areas for
improvement. At the onset, the Village may consider prioritizing command, control,
and communications for incidents that require multi-agency/multi-disciplinary
support, inclusive of multi-jurisdictional incidents and incidents that require EOC
activation, as the exercise program focus. Establishing the Village’s exercise
program to be consistent with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation
Program (HSEEP) will provide the Village with an established set of guiding
principles and validated approach for exercise program management, design and
development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning.
Community Engagement
The Village maintains a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program, but
staffing limitations have largely prevented the Village from actively engaging with Team
members for training. NFD leadership reported that there have been limited
opportunities to use CERT members in the capacity intended by the national CERT
Program.
Recommendation: Review and evaluate to determine how and whether the CERT
Program should be retained or restructure.

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Review of Current Communications
Dispatching/Communication Services
All 911 calls are initially received at the primary Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP)
or call center located at the Northbrook Police Department. Calls requiring a fire service
or EMS response are immediately transferred to the secondary PSAP center, Regional
Emergency Dispatch Center (RED Center), where they are processed and dispatched
to the appropriate companies.56
The Village of Northbrook has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with RED
Center for dispatching services. RED Center is an integrated, multi-jurisdictional
dispatch center capable of providing the closest Northbrook station response regardless
of assigned response area. Existing Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) capabilities
provide dispatchers with the information required to find and dispatch the closest
appropriate vehicle, track its location, and keep callers and first responders apprised of
arrival times. When a company calls for backup, dispatchers can respond instantly and
dispatch the nearest suitable company.
RED Center staffs 20 full-time telecommunicators, two alarm-monitoring technicians,
and four administrative staff. Information Technology and GIS services are provided for
RED Center by outside vendors through contracts. The dispatch office is staffed 24hours a day, with a minimum of four telecommunicators per shift. All telecommunicators
are certified in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and Emergency Fire Dispatch
(EFD) and equipped to provide key medical assistance during emergencies, including
pre-arrival instructions for CPR, choking, and childbirth. RED Center was the first
dispatch center in Illinois certified to perform EMD. A detailed quality assurance process
to monitor EMD performance is in place. RED Center continues to excel in this area.
RED Center serves as the headquarters and divisional dispatching center for MABAS
Division 3, which is comprised of 17 fire departments in an area north of Chicago and
immediately west of Lake Michigan. RED Center maintains capabilities to cross patch
radio frequencies utilized by field units from responding agencies.

Dispatching Benchmarks and Criteria for Primary PSAPs
NFPA 1221 Standard for the Installation, Maintenance and Use of Emergency Services
Communications Systems provides PSAP centers with information regarding the
installation, operation, and performance standards for the purpose of enhancing the
reliability of the emergency service communication system.
More specifically, Standard 1221 establishes two key performance criteria for the
primary PSAP center. The first performance standard addresses the amount of time it
should take to answer a 911 call and the second standard addresses the amount of

56

RED Center is located at 1842 Shermer Rd in Northbrook, IL

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time it should take to transfer a 911 call to the secondary PSAP center. For both tasks
combined, the performance standard is less than 50 seconds, 95% of the time.
Figure 10: NFPA 1710 Cascading Events

NFPA 1221 performance standards for primary PSAP centers:



90% of events received on emergency lines shall be answered within
15 seconds, and 95% of alarms shall be answered within 20 seconds.57
Where alarms are transferred from the primary PSAP to a secondary answering
point, the transfer procedure shall not exceed 30 seconds for 95% of all alarms
processed.58

Findings
PolarisPSS was unable to obtain dispatching data to identify the primary PSAP
center’s59 current baseline for answering emergency calls and the current baseline for
transferring calls to the secondary PSAP center (RED Center).

Dispatching Benchmarks and Criteria for Secondary PSAPs
Secondary PSAP Center Call Processing Time includes two core performance-based
events, Alarm Answering Time and Alarm Processing Time. NFPA 1710 describes call
processing time as “The time interval from when the alarm is acknowledged at the
57

NFPA 1221 Section 7.4.1
NFPA 1221 Section 7.4.4
59
The Village of Northbrook’s primary PSAP center is operated by the Northbrook Police Department.
58

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communication center until response information begins to be transmitted via voice or
electronic means to emergency response facilities and emergency response units
(ERUs).” NFPA 1710 4.1.2.3.3 establishes two performance-based criteria.
 90% of all emergency calls must be processed within 64 seconds (01:04) or less.
 95% of all emergency calls requiring special handling must be processed within
106 seconds (01:46) or less.60

Call Processing Time Findings
This study compares call processing data to determine compliance with the current
NFPA 1710 standard for call processing.
As illustrated in Table 10, in 2021 RED Center processed 90% of all calls within 80
seconds, placing RED Center performance at the 80th percentile and well within
the performance criteria of 95% at 106 seconds.
Table 11: RED Center Call Processing Times for Village of Northbrook, 2021
2021
Emergency
Calls

4,867

64 seconds
(1 minute:04
second)
90%

RED Center:
Observed
Compliance
80 seconds
(1 minute: 20
seconds)
90%

* 106 Seconds
(1 minute:46
second)
95%

* 101 Seconds
(1 minute:41
second)
95%

NFPA 1710
Benchmark Criteria

Median
Average
Max

0:00:47
0:00:52
0:04:57

RED Center is enhancing their Records Management System (RMS) system with the
application of a software package called First Watch. With this software, the NFD will be
able to gain real time and accurate reports on operational performance criteria including
call handling times, call processing times, and fire and EMS response times.
When reviewing the 2021 response data, PolarisPSS observed a difference in the types
of incidents that are used for statistical analysis by RED Center and NFD. This
60

Call that require special handling include those requiring emergency medical dispatch questioning and
pre-arrival medical instructions, language interpretation or the use of a TTY/TDD device or audio/video
relay services; calls of criminal activity that require information vital to emergency responder safety prior
to dispatching units; hazardous material incidents; technical rescue; the determination of the location of
the alarm due to insufficient information; and calls received by text message.

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observation indicates that an agreement between RED Center and NFD on the
classification of emergency incidents and the priority levels given to those incidents is
needed. An important component of call-taking protocols and processes is the degree
to which they ensure that calls are classified accurately and reliably. The significant
number of codes that are currently used to classify calls by type and priority level can
become problematic when call takers and dispatchers are tasked with coding calls very
quickly, particularly when callers are in distress. Despite the current array of options, or
perhaps because of it, different call takers and dispatchers may code the same type of
call at a higher or lower priority level, and many calls of an uncertain nature may be
classified in “other” categories and possibly be given a different “level of priority”.
Recommendations:
The Village of Northbrook should review with RED Center the guidelines call takers
and dispatchers use to classify calls by type and priority level. Call takers and
dispatchers have an important role in interpreting and documenting the information
that enables them to identify the incident type and set the incident’s priority level. It is
essential for the NFD to have input on the guidelines to ensure the accuracy of the
data produced and enable the NFD to reliably analyze current trends and use the
information to inform staffing and service delivery decisions.
The Village of Northbrook should look at the processing times in a comprehensive
manner. Call transfers between the primary and secondary PSAP centers have an
impact on the overall processing time standard. Given the life safety implications for
critical incidents, both Village of Northbrook and RED Center PSAPs should make
every effort to reduce/eliminate transfers, thereby reducing the amount of time
required to answer, process, transfer, and dispatch alarms. Potential strategies to
reduce transfers include consolidation, either physical or virtual, CAD to CAD
integrations, improved wireless call routing, and improved compliance with call
answering standards.

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Fire Department Staffing
Sworn Personnel
As of the date of this study, 70 full-time sworn personnel provide service to the Village.
Company-level officers and firefighters comprise the largest contingent of NFD
personnel. The NFD operates three shifts that work a schedule of 24 hours on/48 hours
off, with a minimum of 16 personnel always on duty.61 This schedule results in an
average 56-hour workweek for firefighters.
Table12 details the number of NFD personnel by rank.
Table 12: Line Personnel and Rank62

Line Personnel & Rank
Position

Number

Fire Chief

1

Deputy Chief

2

Battalion Chief

4

Captains

3

Lieutenants

9

FF/Engineer

9

FF/Paramedics

42
TOTAL

70

61

The 16 personnel per shift includes one Battalion Chief who provides day-to-day company and station
oversight and serves as the incident commander in accordance with the Department’s SOG.
62
The table represents the current FY 2022 staffing. An additional Deputy Chief position is budgeted for
FY 2023.

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Table 13 details NFD’s minimum concentration and distribution of personnel and
apparatus.
Table 13: Current Concentration and Distribution of Personnel and Apparatus

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Resource Deployment
Current Deployment of Resources
Table 14 depicts each of the NFD’s core services, general resource capability, and
minimum staff resources per service.
Table 14: Resource Staffing and Capabilities
Service

Fire Suppression

Emergency Medical Services

Vehicle Accident

Special Team Response
 Trench and Collapse
Rescue
 High Angle Rescue
 Confined Space Rescue
 Water Rescue
 Hazardous Materials
Response

Resource Capabilities
1 staffed ALS engine
1 staffed ALS
pumper/squad
1 staffed ALS tower
3 staffed ALS
ambulances
1 Battalion Chief
3 staffed ALS
ambulances
2 ALS equipped engines
1 ALS-equipped tower
1 Battalion Chief
3 staffed ALS
ambulances
2 staffed ALS engines
1 staffed ALS
pumper/squad
1 Battalion Chief
3 staffed ambulances
2 staffed engines
1 staffed rescue
1 Battalion Chief
1 ALS-equipped tower

Basic Staffing Capacity
Per Shift
Minimum daily staffing of 16
with additional personnel
from auto aid departments.

Minimum daily staffing of 16

Minimum daily staffing of 16

Minimum daily staffing of 16

Automatic Aid
NFD participates in automatic aid agreements with surrounding departments. Automatic
aid is defined as assistance that is dispatched automatically by a contractual agreement
between two fire departments, communities, or fire districts and at the same time as the
units from the jurisdiction where the incident is occurring. The first basic principle for
automatic aid is that all jurisdictional boundaries are essentially erased, which allows for
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the closest, most-appropriate company to respond to an incident regardless of the
jurisdiction to which the company belongs. The second principle is that to provide,
immediately and at the time of initial dispatch, additional personnel or resources that
may be needed to mitigate the reported incident.
ISO recognizes an automatic aid plan under the following conditions:





Agreements are in writing.
Departments are notified on first alarm according to a defined plan.
Departments train together quarterly, semiannually, and annually. Drills with
automatic aid companies must be half-day in length.
Automatic aid personnel respond with a needed company.

Mutual Aid
Mutual aid is defined as an agreement between fire departments to help each other
across jurisdictional boundaries. Mutual aid only occurs when local emergencies exceed
local resource capabilities.
The Village is a member of MABAS Division 3.63 MABAS, in partnership with IEMA, has
established a statewide, nondiscriminatory mutual aid response system for fire, EMS,
and specialized incident operational teams.64 Sharing the effort are representatives from
OSFM, IDPH- EMS Division, and the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. MABAS defines a
resource response plan to any location within the state when the Governor orders a
declaration of disaster. The MABAS Division 3 command vehicle is available for
deployment to support planning, coordination, and implementation of incident action
plans.
Figure 11 illustrates the location of automatic aid departments and the response times
to the Village.

63

A memorandum of understanding was signed on January 16, 2001, a first in Illinois history.

64

Mutual aid is an essential component of almost every fire department’s operation. Except for the largest
cities, no municipal fire department can, or should, be expected to have adequate resources to respond
to and safely, effectively, and efficiently mitigate large-scale and complex incidents. Mutual aid is shared
between communities when their day-to-day operational fire, rescue, and EMS capabilities have been
exceeded, ensuring that the residents of the communities are protected even when local resources are
overwhelmed.

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Figure 11: Automatic Aid Departments/Districts

Findings
Between the years 2018 to 2021, the NFD has received automatic aid and mutual aid
an average of 381 times per year. During the same time period, NFD has provided
automatic and mutual aid an average of 326 times per year.

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Table 15: Summary of Automatic and Mutual Aid Received, 2018 - 2021

Table 16: Summary of Automatic and Mutual Aid Given, 2018 - 2021

The NFPA 1710 performance standard for all initial alarm companies to be within eight
minutes of travel for all low- and medium-hazard incidents must be considered when
determining the efficacy of automatic aid and mutual aid agreements. Therefore,
PolarisPSS analyzed how well automatic aid and mutual aid companies meet this
performance standard. As exhibited in Table 17, PolarisPSS found that all primary
companies listed on the NFD box alarm cards meet the 8-minute travel time standard
47% to 85% of the time.

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Table 17: Automatic/Mutual Aid Companies within 8-Minute Travel Time, 20182021

Recommendation: Annually assess the response time performance of all automatic
aid companies to ensure that the assembly of an effective response force is
occurring within the NFPA 1710 standards.

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All Hazards Risks and the Community
Introduction
Figure 12: Risk Probability and Consequence
Managing community risks includes
assessing “risk factors” that are known to
potentially increase the severity of an
emergency and developing a mitigation
strategy to minimize the impact of the risk
event. Not all risks are equal. Some risk
events are more likely to occur than others,
and the cost of a risk event can vary
greatly. The goal is to ensure sufficient
resources are distributed throughout the
community in a manner to provide
adequate response without over
committing limited resources that could be
used elsewhere. Evaluating risk for probability of occurrence and the severity or the
potential loss are important factors to consider when developing a fire and EMS service
deployment plan. Probability is the likelihood that a particular incident will occur in a
given time period. An incident that occurs daily is highly probable; an incident that
occurs once every century has low probability. Consequences measure the impact of an
incident to individuals, the community, and the agency. The three areas of concern
when evaluating consequences are:





Life safety: danger to occupants
Economic: loss of property, income, historic or irreplaceable assets
Environmental: irreplaceable or long-term damage to the environment

From the risk analysis, a matrix can be developed to evaluate hazards based on the
probability and consequences.
Hazard identification involves recognizing the kinds of natural, technological, and other
human-made conditions that can create a risk to the community. Natural hazards result
from uncontrollable, naturally occurring incidents such as flooding, severe
thunderstorms, and snowstorms. Human-made hazards include buildings, hazardous
materials, transportation systems, and the like. Finally, people who create demands for
fire department services for emergency medical incidents, human-caused fires, and
more are a risk factor.
Community risk assessment evaluates several factors inclusive of service area
population, population density, and population demographics; local land use and
development; and the geography and natural risks present within the community. These

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factors affect the number and type of resources - both personnel and apparatus necessary to mitigate an emergency.






Population is a risk factor. Population demographics present another unique
risk since over 5.6% of the Village’s population is under five years of age and
25.6% is over 65 years of age.
The physical characteristics of the area and the resultant natural hazards
are risk factors. Northbrook is at risk of seasonal storms, flash floods, snow,
and tornadoes.
Land use and zoning can also affect risk. Risk can be characterized as low
(e.g., open spaces); moderate (e.g., low-density residential, small commercial
and office); or high (e.g., large commercial, industrial, and high-density
residential).

The risk assessment process goal is to match the deployment of resources with the
identified risk in the most effective manner possible. The Village of Northbrook has a
wide range of risks, some of which create greater challenges or require a greater
deployment of resources to control during an emergency. Each specific incident dictates
the overall deployment of personnel and equipment to achieve the desired outcome.

Population Risk Factors
Population Density65
The population density in the United States is approximately 90 people per square mile.
However, most people live in cities, causing cities to have a much higher density. The
population density inside U.S. cities is approximately 1,600 people per square mile but
can vary considerably from one city to another and even across different neighborhoods
within a single city. Unincorporated areas typically have a population density of about 35
people per square mile.
Table 18: U.S. Census Bureau Population Categories
Population
Category
Urban
Suburban
Rural

Population Density
Population >2,000 people per square mile
Population =1,000-2,000 per square mile
Population <1,000 people per square mile

The United States Census Bureau classifies the Village of Northbrook as an urban area
of 13.24 square miles. The Village’s 2020 estimated population is 35,222 people who
reside in 14,209 housing units. The Village has an average population density of
65

United States Census Bureau, Understanding Population Density, March 04, 2015

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2,660.00 persons per square mile, with the population concentrated in the central parts
of the community in neighborhoods and planned development communities surrounded
by open spaces and light community retail sections. The Village’s Residential Zoning
map in Figure 13 illustrates the residential areas in the Village.
Figure 13: Village of Northbrook Residential Zoning Map

Figure 14 shows population growth over the past 40 years. The Village’s population
grew by 6.2% between the years of 2010 and 2020.

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Figure 14: Village of Northbrook Population, 1980-202066,67

At-Risk Populations
Population demographics can affect service demand and risks within a community.
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) identifies population groups facing a
higher risk of injury or death from a fire:68
 Children under 5 years of age
 Older adults over 65 years of age
 People with disabilities
 People with a language barrier
 People in low-income communities
A significant number of Northbrook residents fall within one or more at-risk population
group and are more likely to use fire department services, especially EMS. 69
Age
The median age of the Northbrook population is 50.2 years old; the average age of
Illinois’ population is 38.6 years old.70 Of concern is the fact that 31% of Northbrook’s
population is comprised of children less than five years of age and adults over 65 years

66

Village Comprehensive Plan (2000)
U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved on May 1, 2022 from
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/northbrookvillageillinois
68
Fire Risk in 2019. USFA Topic Fire Report Series Vol 21, Issue 8, October 2021
69
U.S. Census Bureau 2019 population estimate
70
U.S. Census Bureau 2021 Estimated Population Figure
67

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of age.71 When compared to the overall population of Illinois, Northbrook’s population
over 65 years old is 10.3% greater than the percentage of the Illinois’ population that
falls within this age group; the Northbrook population of children less than five years old
is 2.1% less than the comparable Illinois population.72 The percentage of the population
five years old or less and 65 years old and older is a factor that affects service demand
and, therefore, community risk in the service areas.
Figure 15: Village of Northbrook Population Percentages by Age

The USFA’s National Fire Data Center informs us that adults who are 50 to 69 years old
accounted for 38% of civilian fatalities from fires. Children less than 10 years old
accounted for 5.4% of fatalities, while adults who are 70 years old and over accounted
for 31.3% of fatalities. See Figure 16 for a breakdown of fire deaths and injuries by age
group.

71

Twenty-six percent of Northbrook’s population is 65 years of age or older and 5% of the population is
under the age of five years.
72
Population Reference Bureau

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Figure 16: U.S. Percentage of Fire Deaths and Injuries by Age Group73

Disabilities
Individuals who have a disability may have difficulty with or be incapable of selfpreservation during an emergency. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, approximately 23% or one in four adults in Illinois have a disability; the two
most common functional disabilities identified are mobility affecting 11% of the
population and cognition affecting 10% of the population.74 Illinois residents 65 years old
and older who have a disability make up 34.6% of the population.75 Additionally, people
under 65 years old with no health insurance are more prone to chronic illness or exhibit
poor physical condition simply because they do not seek treatment promptly.
Target Hazard - Senior Living/Medical Facilities76
Emergency service organizations in the United States are experiencing increases in
service requests received from facilities that serve the aging/frail population. Acute
increases in the demand for services and resources can cause a strain on the entire
emergency service delivery system. Fire service leadership must evaluate strategies to
ensure the facility does not unnecessarily tax the emergency response system.
When examining response trends to health care facilities, it is important to remember
that 2020-2021 data includes incidents related to the COVID-19 pandemic and,
73

National Fire Data Center
CDC National Center On Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities: Disability Impacts Illinois.
Retrieved on May 6, 2022 from www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/programs.html.
75
Retrieved on June 10, 2022 from
https://centerondisability.org/ada_parc/utils/counties.php?state=IL&table=45&colour=1
76
Retrieved on June 22, 2022 from https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-researchreports/retirement-communities-industry/
74

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therefore, the numbers may be inflated when compared to non-pandemic time periods.
Regardless, the NFD should continue to monitor responses to health care facilities. If
the number of responses seem high (e.g., one or more responses per day to the same
facility), a review of the types of medical incidents for which 911 calls are received may
be prudent. If the review shows a high number of non-emergency type requests, a
conversation between Department leadership and the facility’s administration is
warranted to ensure the facility has an agreement with a private ambulance provider to
handle their non-emergent responses so that NFD resources can remain available to
respond to true emergencies.
Figure 17: Senior Living Locations

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Table 19: Senior Living Locations and 2021 EMS Incidents

Income and Poverty
The median household income in the Village of Northbrook is approximately $128,883;
the medium household income in Illinois is approximately $68,428.77 Approximately 3.3%
of Village residents are classified as living in poverty; 12% of all people who live in Illinois live
in poverty. As noted in a recent study conducted in Ontario, Canada, a percentage of this
most vulnerable population made frequent calls to request emergency medical services
because they could not afford health care insurance.78
Community Events
Community events may put additional stress on the emergency response system. Preplanning must be done for special events to address the “what if” scenarios. Village
departments should collaborate to develop incident action plans for large community
events to clarify roles, responsibilities, and resources to provide for a coordinated and
safe response.

77

Retrieved on June 10, 2022 from U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Northbrook Village, Illinois
Agarwal, G., Lee, J., McLeod, B. et al. Social factors in frequent callers: a description of isolation,
poverty and quality of life in those calling emergency medical services frequently. BMC Public
Health 19, 684 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6964-1
78

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Physical Hazards
Severe Weather
Severe weather incidents can happen anytime. Severe weather can create hazardous
conditions caused by thunderstorms including damaging winds, tornadoes, large hail,
flooding, and flash flooding; winter storms can cause freezing rain, sleet, snow, and
strong winds. Table 20 summarizes the National Weather Service meteorological
advisories, watches, and warnings for the Village of Northbrook between 2018 and
2021.
Table 20: Weather Watches or Warning, 2018-202179

79

Retrieved in June 2022 from National Weather Service

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Flooding
The Village of Northbrook has experienced numerous storm water flooding incidents
over the past decade. The North Branch of the Chicago River runs north and south on
the far-east side of the Village. Heavy rains and early spring snow melt that drain into
the river are primary contributors to flooding in subdivisions, flooded properties, and
standing water that results in street closures. Flood Factor, a non-profit research and
technology group, estimates that there are 1,131 properties in Northbrook that
have greater than a 26% chance of being severely affected by flooding over the next 30
years, which represents 1% of all properties in the Village.80
Flooding can also cut off access to utilities, emergency services, transportation, and
may impact the economic well-being of an area. Overall, Northbrook has a moderate
risk of flooding over the next 30 years, which means flooding is not likely to impact day
to day life within the community.
NFD should be aware of all locations susceptible to flooding and develop contingency
plans for flooding, whether localized or widespread.
Figure 18: 2019 Floodplain Map81

80
81

Retrieved on June 10, 2022 from Northbrook, IL Flood Factor® | Risk Factor
Village of Northbrook Comprehensive Plan, 2019

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Technological Hazards
The most prominent technological, or human-created, hazards faced by residents of
Northbrook are transportation emergencies, structural fires, and hazardous materials
releases.
Transportation
Transportation corridors provide necessary access and egress for the NFD apparatus.
The configuration of transportation systems can also affect the response capability of
emergency service resources. Limited access to the Tri-State Tollway and Eden’s
Expressway and rail line crossings can interrupt street connectivity and force apparatus
drivers to negotiate a circuitous route to reach an emergency scene.
Roads
Surface streets dominate the NFD service area. As illustrated in Figure 19, the Village
has three regional arterial highways, Dundee Road, Lake-Cook Road, and Willow Road
running east/west and Waukegan Road running diagonally northwest to southeast. The
main risks are over-the-road shipments of combustible and hazardous materials and
vehicle accidents that occur on either the Tri-State Tollway or Eden’s Expressway.
Figure 19: Village of Northbrook Highway System

The balance of NFD’s service area is a mix of relatively well-interconnected street
networks and disconnected neighborhoods characterized by meandering streets and
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cul-de-sacs. All the Village’s traffic signals within the service area are equipped with
signal pre-emption equipment. Signal pre-emption can provide significant response time
performance advantage and improve motorist safety.
Railroads
The Association of American Railroads has identified Chicago as the busiest place for
railroads in the nation, a status it has held for 125 years. Nearly 500 freight trains and
760 passenger trains operate throughout the region daily. About 25% of all U.S. freight
rail traffic and 46% of all intermodal traffic begins, ends, or travels through the Chicago
region.82
Rail lines intersecting urban areas create risks for train/vehicle collisions and mass
casualty incidents during a collision or derailment. Freight lines over which large
quantities of freight, including various quantities and weights of hazardous materials,
are transported each year create additional risks. Most rail accidents occur when the
trains are traveling at a high rate of speed or during product loading and unloading.
Through Northbrook alone, there are approximately 61 scheduled Metra trains, 16
Amtrak trains, and 20 Canadian Pacific Rail freight trains that use the Metra Milwaukee
North Line (MMNL) tracks that run north and south through the Village per day.
Between the Village of Northbrook and the Village of Glenview there is a cutoff switch
that connects the Union Pacific Rail to the MMNL and allows Canadian Pacific freight
trains using the UP line to use MMNL between Metra services.83
Most Metra trains travel at a low rate of speed and the number of cars per train is
typically low. However, both Amtrak and freight trains will travel average speeds
between 40-50 mph and at times they will travel at rates of speed between 70-80 mph.
The probability of a derailment is considered low, but the impact high because of
increased population density and growth in areas downwind of rail lines.
NFD will not have adequate resources to respond effectively to a major hazardous
materials incident and will require MABAS Division 3 assistance. Any release of
hazardous materials could result in evacuations of surrounding areas; evacuation
perimeters will be determined by the type of product involved and weather conditions.

Development-based Growth Projections84
Census-based population projections provide a mathematically calculated estimate of
future population based on historical data. However, projections often fail to account for
an area’s expected growth rate that results from redevelopment, annexation, changes in
82

Retrieved on June 22, 2022 from AAR-Integrated-Rail-Network-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Village of Northbrook Comprehensive Plan,2010
84
Retrieved June 22, 2022 from Northbrook Population Increased In 2020 Census Data | Northbrook, IL
Patch
83

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employment capacity, or other socio-economic factors. For this reason, PolarisPSS
reviewed available local development and business information to project the future
population.
Data for development growth specified in the Village of Northbrook Comprehensive Plan
was not sufficient to create a population projection. The development-based population
forecast is typically higher than the census-based population forecast primarily due to
local and regional issues that are expected to expand development opportunities,
including annexation, additional transportation improvements, and infrastructure
capacity.
This study’s intent is not to be a definitive authority for the projection of future population
in the service area, but rather to base recommendations for future fire protection needs
on a realistic projection of future service demand. The service demand for emergency
agencies is almost entirely based on human activity; therefore, it is important to have a
population-based projection of the future size of the community. PolarisPSS anticipates
that the NFD will be an emergency service provider to a growing population that will
likely reach over 37,000 residents within the corporate limits by 2030.85

Findings
PolarisPSS identified two community factors that create a moderate risk of increasing
the demand for emergency services. The first is the current aging population and the
second is the increase in senior living facilities.
PolarisPSS identified two technological hazards that have a high risk probability with
potential consequences for life and property. Incidents caused by both risks will have
high mitigation costs. The first risk factor is the Tri-State Tollway and the Edens
Expressway transportation corridors that pass through the Village. The second risk
factor is the railroad lines that move freight and passengers through the Village.
PolarisPSS recommends that the Village develops deployment strategies and plans that
can be implemented during an emergency or when service demands warrant
plan implementation in preparation for incidents caused by each risk.

85

This projection does not potential population growth within the Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District.

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Recommendations:
Develop a Community Risk Reduction Plan (CRRP) that identifies strategies and
programs to mitigate the potential increase in emergency services due to an aging
population.
Develop a CRRP that identifies strategies and programs in support of the Village’s
Emergency Operations Plan for the purpose of mitigating the potential requirements
for increased emergency services resources in response to transportation
and railroad emergencies.

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Critical Tasking and Alarm Assignments
The NFD service area is a moderately populated urban environment that contains an
elevated number, density, and distribution of risk. As the actual or potential risk
increases, the need for greater numbers of personnel and apparatus also increases.
Specific critical tasks need to be accomplished for each type of incident and
corresponding risk, requiring the dispatch of specific numbers and types of apparatus.
Tasks that must be performed at a fire can be broken down into two key components:
life safety and fire flow. Life safety tasks are based on the number of building
occupants, and their location, status, and ability to take self-preserving action. Life
safety-related tasks involve the search, rescue, and evacuation of victims. The fire flow
component involves delivering sufficient water to extinguish the fire and create an
environment within the building that allows entry by firefighters.
The number and types of tasks needing simultaneous action will dictate the minimum
number of firefighters required to combat different types of fires. In the absence of
adequate personnel to perform concurrent action, the commanding officer must
prioritize tasks and complete some in chronological order rather than concurrently.
These tasks include:
 Command
 Water supply
 Scene safety
 Pump operation
 Search and rescue
 Ventilation
 Fire attack
 Backup/rapid intervention
Critical task analysis also applies to non-fire-type emergencies, including medical,
technical rescue, and hazardous materials emergencies. Numerous simultaneous tasks
must be completed to effectively control an emergency. The NFD’s ability to muster the
needed number of trained personnel quickly enough to make a difference is critical to
successful incident outcomes.
The NFD has developed mutual aid box alarm response cards to address its critical task
analysis needs for various incident types. Based on current unit staffing levels, NFD has
defined the number and type of apparatus needed to deliver a sufficient number of
personnel to meet the critical tasking identified.
Review of the NFD’s box alarm cards indicates that the critical task analysis needs will
be met. It is evident that the NFD generally complies with industry standards and
provides the minimum number of personnel needed for effective incident operations.
Establishing resource levels needed for various types of emergencies is a uniquely local
decision. Factors influencing local decisions for incident staffing include the type of
equipment operated, training levels of responders, operating procedures, geography,
traffic, and the nature of buildings and other risks protected.
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Emergency Activities - National Fire Incident Reporting System
The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a system established by the
USFA National Fire Data Center. NFIRS was established after the 1973 National
Commission on Fire Prevention and Control report, America Burning, led to passage of
the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, which authorizes the USFA to
gather and analyze information on the magnitude of the nation's fire problem, as well as
its detailed characteristics and trends. The Act further authorizes the USFA to develop
uniform data reporting methods and to encourage and assist state agencies in
developing and reporting data.
The NFIRS has two objectives: to help state and local governments develop fire
reporting and analysis capability for their own use and to obtain data that can be used to
more accurately assess and subsequently combat the fire problem at a national level.
To meet these objectives, the USFA developed a standard NFIRS package that
includes incident and casualty forms, a coding structure for data processing purposes,
manuals, computer software and procedures, documentation, and a National Fire
Academy training course for utilizing the system.
The NFIRS is divided into nine incident groups that are then further defined within the
group to gather more specific information. Table 21 defines the NFIRS groups.
Table 21: NFIRS Group Numbers and Incident Types
NFIRS Group
Group 100
Group 200
Group 300
Group 400
Group 500
Group 600
Group 700
Group 800
Group 900

NFIRS Incident Type
Fire
Overpressure, Explosion, Overheat (No Fire)
Rescue and Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
Hazardous Condition (No Fire)
Service Call
Good Intent Call
False Alarm
Sever Weather and Natural Disaster
Special Incident Type

The NFIRS represents the world's largest, national, annual database of fire incident
information. Although participation in NFIRS is voluntary, over 23,000 fire departments
across all 50 states and the District of Columbia report NFIRS data annually. Thirtyseven fire departments with a population protected of over 500,000 participate in the
NFIRS. Participating departments report an average of 23 million incidents each year,
with a combined average of one million fires reported annually. The NFIRS database
comprises 75% of all fires reported annually.

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Emergency Response Data
A fire department’s primary function is to respond to and mitigate emergencies that
arise within its jurisdiction. Although this activity only takes up a small percentage of the
department’s overall time, its state of readiness must always be at maximum levels to
optimally provide an efficient and safe level of service. Relevant, detailed, and concise
data pertaining to the fire department is essential to provide archival documentation of
the department’s preparedness for and response to emergencies.
One of the challenges faced by fire/EMS leadership is identifying and justifying the
financial investment in the resources needed to provide the highest level of service and
safety for those who receive and provide such service. Good data is essential and
routinely used by fire department leadership to inform these decisions.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) defines three requirements for good
data.86




86

Relevant: Information collected on the things that matter, such as response
times and the number of calls for service.
Accurate: The processes for data collection must be consistent and
trustworthy.
Reliable: A measurement from one company must be equivalent to the same
measurement from another company and it is not necessary to adjust your
data to accommodate known distortions.

International Association of Fire Chiefs: Weathering the Economic Storm, December 2008

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Northbrook Fire Department Response Data
This section highlights the emergency response data for NFD for all incidents between
January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021. A total of 26,401 incidents were recorded,
with 1,305 of the recorded incidents being for automatic aid and mutual aid responses.
This section of the report focuses only on the 25,096 incidents that originated within the
NFD response area.

Incidents by Nature
NFD participates in the NFIRS fire program by reporting all incidents under the authority
of the USFA. Figure 20 charts the total percentage of incidents by NFIRS group.
Notably, Group 100, which includes all types of fire, accounts for 1% of the overall
incidents. Medical incidents, Group 300, which account for the highest percentage of
incidents nationally and in Illinois, represent 56% of NFD’s total incidents responded to
during the four years included in the study data.
Figure 20: Fire Department Four Year Summary of Incident Type by Percentage

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Identifying Emergency Service Trends
Examining the historical occurrences of emergencies is necessary to determine a
department’s efficiency and to estimate future resource needs. The following factors are
significant when examining call data:





Calls by month
Calls by day of the week
Calls by time of day
Automatic aid and mutual aid

Incidents by Month
Fire department leadership should recognize when the department is at its busiest for
the month, day of the week, and time of day. Patterns of significance indicate the
probability that emergencies will occur at a particular time, which enables the
department to anticipate staffing levels and make contingency plans for adequate
personnel or other resources needed for emergency response.
Like increases in call activity caused by daytime business populations and tourism
season, weather can increase call volume and workload. Locally sponsored events like
carnivals or fests can also contribute to increases in call volume. Figure 21 charts
NFD’s incidents by month. This information shows an even distribution of incidents
through the four years studied.
Figure 21: Four Year Summary of All Incidents by Month

Incidents by Day of the Week
Coupled with the time of day and perhaps incidents by month, analyzing incidents by
day of the week can identify patterns and indicate that staffing or resource deployment
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changes may be needed. Figure 22 charts the calls by day of the week. There are a
relatively consistent number of incidents each day of the week.
Figure 22: Four Year Summary of All Incidents by Day of the Week

Incidents by Time of Day
The least busy time of day is typically from midnight to early morning, peaking in the mid
to late afternoon, and decreasing in the later evening hours. Although the least busy
time of day is from midnight to early morning, it is also when the highest number of
civilian fire deaths occurs due to sleeping building occupants.87 Those most at risk are
the very young and old, who are often less able to escape and protect themselves.
Figure 23 graphs the incidents by the time of day for calls for in 2018-2021.

87

Ibid

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Figure 23: Four Year Summary of All Incidents by Time of Day

Call/Hour Volume Analysis
Call volume data from 2018-2021 shows that in a 24-hour period NFD experiences its
heaviest call volume between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM. For a shift beginning at 7:00 AM,
this indicates companies are at their busiest handling emergency calls during the first
12-hours of a 24-hour shift.

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Historic System Response Workload
To engage in a full response time analysis, it is important to first examine the
Department’s service demand. Higher service demands can strain the resources and
may have a negative effect on response times.
Figure 24 shows NFD’s 4-year service demand.88 Total service demand has increased
9.4% over the four years, primarily driven by an increase in “other” incidents.
Figure 24: All Incidents Inside Response Area 2018 – 2021 and All Incidents
Outside of Area 2018 – 2021

Figure 25 shows responses by type of incident from 2018-2021. Emergency medical
responses represent 56% of NFD’s total responses.
In 2020, many fire departments and EMS providers experienced a reduction in
emergency service calls. The consensus among industry professionals is that the
reduction in call volumes was a result of the government-imposed “stay at home” and
“social distancing” orders. Comparing EMS data between 2019 and 2020, the NFD
experienced an 18% reduction in EMS calls. In 2021, EMS calls rebounded to levels
experienced during calendar years 2018 and 2019.

88

Incident data used for the evaluation of current performance was all responses made from 2018
through 2021. During that four year period, NFD responded to 26,401 incidents.

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Figure 25: Incident Counts Inside and Outside the TRA, 2018-2021

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Historical System Distribution, Deployment and Concentration
Performance
Fire Station Distribution Analysis
In every emergency service delivery system, time becomes the key performance
indicator that demonstrates how effectively a department compares to industry
standards. The strategic placement of fire stations within a community is vital to
providing efficient and effective fire department programs and services. Without
informed planning for station locations, response to fires, medical emergencies, and
other types of incidents, calls for service made by the public may result in increased
response times for first arriving and backup companies. Factors that typically contribute
to the number and location of fire stations in a community include:










Available property
Budgetary limitations
Community expectations
Fire and EMS national benchmarking and standards
Preexisting locations
Public’s perceived level of risk
Response times
Requests for service
Unique local conditions

Many of these factors have reportedly influenced the location of Village of Northbrook
fire stations since the Department’s inception.

Time, The Critical Element
Upon receiving a call for emergency service, time becomes the critical element. Fire
growth can expand at a rate of many times its volume per minute. Time is the critical
factor for the rescue of occupants and the application of extinguishing agents to
minimize loss.
The primary criteria used to determine the best locations for a fire station is the built
environment and the severity of fire risk to structures and other fixed properties within
the designated geographic boundaries. The primary goal is to ensure the fire
department can muster sufficient resources in a timely manner to minimize the loss of
life and property. The secondary goal is to ensure a sufficient backup force is available
to minimize the probability of fire spreading to other areas of a structure, spreading to
other structures and escalating into a group fire, or an all-out conflagration where large
swaths of the geographic area burn.

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Fire Behavior
Acceptable standards and best practices recommend that fire stations and their
assigned personnel and apparatus should be strategically placed to arrive at the scene
of a structure fire or similar incident in time to mitigate the threat to occupants. Or when
no life threat is present, reduce the damage to property due to the direct effect of fire or
its byproducts, such as heat and smoke damage.
Flashover
During a structure fire, the point between survivability and minimal property damage and
severe harm to occupants with significant damage to a structure and contents occurs at
the point of flashover; the sudden involvement of a room or an area in flames from floor
to ceiling caused by thermal radiation feedback. Thermal radiation feedback is the
energy of the fire being radiated back to the contents of the room from the walls, floor,
and ceiling. This thermal radiation confined to the interior of the room will raise the
contents to their ignition temperature. When all the contents of the room suddenly ignite
the room has reached the point of flashover, or the fully involved stage of a structure
fire.
Fire Extension
A quick response by the fire department is usually the most effective strategy to reduce
loss of lives and property damage in structures without sprinklers.89 The faster the fire
service can respond and set up, the sooner they can begin to mitigate an incident. This
should translate into increased safety for firefighters and occupants, as well as
decreased property loss and indirect business loss. Both temperature rise and time
represent a rate of fire propagation in a room without sprinklers and roughly
corresponds to the percentage of property destruction. At any given point in the fire
sequence, the hypothetical room of origin flashes over. Extension outside the room
begins at that point and exposes occupants in other parts of the structure to harm.
Built-in Protection
In contrast, between one and two minutes a fire’s severity can be greatly diminished
and occupants’ exposure to harmful conditions reduced through the presence of smoke
detection and automatic fire sprinkler systems. According to the NFPA only one
sprinkler head operated in 79% of fires in which sprinklers were activated; in 97% of
fires with operating sprinklers, five or fewer heads operated. It is widely accepted that
most fires that occur in structures with properly designed, compliant, and functioning
sprinkler systems will be extinguished before the fire department arrives on the scene.

89

Fire Service Features of Building and Fire Protection Systems. (2015). OSHA 3256-09R. Retrieved on
June 6, 2022 from www.osha.gov

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Occupants can greatly reduce their risk from fire through the installation of smoke
alarms and automatic fire sprinkler systems. These two life safety features, whether
installed together or independently and in conjunction with other elements of modern
building codes, have greatly reduced the severity of property damage during a fire while
improving the survivability of occupants. The system must be compliant and tested with
the current use of the structure.
EMS Services
Delivery of EMS is also time critical for many types of injuries and incidents. Out-ofhospital cardiac arrests occur in homes or residences 70% of the time, public settings
18.8% of the time, and nursing homes 11.2% of the time. If performed immediately,
CPR can double or triple the chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.90
Figure 26: Survival Rate for Heart Attack Victims When CPR is Available

For both fire and medical emergencies, the basis for the placement of fire stations
should be the amount of time that it takes to deliver adequate emergency resources to
the point of demand from each fire station or combination of stations.

90

American Heart Association, CPR and First Aid: Emergency Care. Retrieved on June 6, 2022 from
https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/cpr-facts-and-stats

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Fire Station Distribution – GIS Time and Distance Analysis
Fire station distribution (distribution) analysis requires locating geographicallydistributed first-due resources for all-risk initial intervention. Station location affects rapid
deployment to minimize and terminate average, routine emergencies. Distribution is
measured by the percentage of the jurisdiction that is covered by the first-due
companies within the adopted agency dispatch policy.
Concentration addresses the spacing of multiple resources arranged so that an initial
“effective response force” can be assembled on scene within a specified time frame. An
initial effective response force is that which will most likely stop the escalation of an
emergency in a specific risk type.

Defining Area of Response
Each NFD fire station has an area of response (AOR) that is approximately five square
miles of coverage. However, the majority of the population is within Station #10 AOR.
Reviewing a map of the Village with each station location exhibited, one could easily
assume that all three fire stations are evenly disbursed and provide adequate coverage
to their AOR, as well as the entire Village or the total response area (TRA). A time
travel analysis discloses disparity between each station’s ability to respond to service
calls within its AOR.

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Figure 27: Fire Department Area of Response

Travel Time Modeling Assessment – Applied Data
Using GIS technology and time travel modeling software, PolarisPSS produced
meaningful and accurate data driven results to analyze NFD’s travel and response time
performance.
PolarisPSS determined travel times by utilizing the Village of Northbrook GIS mapping
data, which includes fire station locations and the latest information detailing each street
line segment, intersections, and attribute information such as road type, distance, and
travel speeds. This allowed PolarisPSS to identify a station location, specify a travel
time, and run a network analysis. The results displayed by an irregular polygon around
the station illustrate where the fire apparatus could travel in any direction for the
specified time. This analysis was performed on each station and then simultaneously on
all three stations to analyze gaps in coverage, establish run orders, and more.

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Figure 28: GIS Modeling Method

PolarisPSS conducted a spatial accessibility of emergency incidents for the purpose of
determining response efficiencies. Using both statistical and analytical modeling
software, PolarisPSS measured and compared historical travel time data sets to specific
travel-time thresholds. The results produced accessibility scores that presented the
pattern of cluster spatial distribution for the travel-time threshold within a given
catchment area.91 Figure 29 depicts the modeling process. By applying GIS to the
numerical patterns and trends, descriptive maps were produced for illustrative
assessments.

91

Catchment areas can be defined by distance, by travel time, and by mobility patterns, allowing
analysis of travel time in a variety of ways.

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Figure 29: GIS Modeling Processes

PolarisPSS applied this technology to the NFD dispatch data for both response and
travel time to determine the Department’s level of performance by stating the
percentage of incidents in which the first due company arrives on scene compared to
the national standards and best practices.

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Travel and Response Time National Standards and Best Practices
In the United States there are several nationally recognized methods for determining fire
station locations. Each method has the same intended goal to strategically place
firefighters and their equipment for optimum effectiveness within a community to reduce
the risk of life and property damage during a fire, medical emergency, or other type of
incident.92
Each method is organized as either a standard or best practice derived from standardmaking organizations such as the NFPA or the fire insurance industry whose interests in
the effectiveness of public fire protection is derived through the ISO, a leading source of
information for the industry about property/casualty insurance risk. A similar method that
is sometimes used is the CFAI Self-Assessment and Accreditation Program.
PolarisPSS determined the NFD’s preference for analysis included both the NFPA and
ISO methods. 93,94 See Figure 10 for the cascade of the events of an emergency
incident from beginning to end. This report focuses on five core performance-based
events, three included in Call Processing Time and the remaining two included in
Response Time.
Performance reliability is measured in minutes and seconds and can be measured as
the percentage of time the system performs within its stated objective. Due to the nature
and scope of the study in relation to the distance from a fire station to any point in the
Village, a description of the standard response time criteria is provided for an initial
structure fire and emergency medical response.

92

All of the methods place particular emphasis on the placement of fire stations and accompanying
number and types of units, including engines and ladder trucks, and their level of staffing with regards to
structural fire protection. This is understandable due to the potential monetary influence by the fire
insurance industry on individual property owners and their community leaders. Optimum municipal fire
station locations serve as a major element in the industry’s formula for individual and commercial property
fire insurance premiums.
93

The purpose of NFPA 1710, The Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression
Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire
Departments is to specify the minimum criteria for addressing the effectiveness and efficiency in the
delivery of public fire suppression operations, EMS, and special operations. With relation to fire station
location, a section of this standard focuses on the response time of fire companies to arrive on the scene
of a fire or medical emergency to effectively organize and deploy personnel and equipment.
94
The ISO FSRS views the strategic location of stations based on response distance. The schedule
applies a theory whereby developed areas of a community should be no further than 1.5 road miles from
the closest engine company and 2.5 miles from the closest ladder company. Using the lesser distance of
the two criteria equates to an engine company providing coverage over an area of 4.5 square miles on a
flat and uniform street grid.

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Response Distance Rationale
ISO field representatives have long used the response distance criterion due to its ease
of application. In recent years the method has undergone much scrutiny due to the
perceived oversimplification of fire station location and analysis. The research,
conducted by the RAND Corporation, revealed an average speed of 35 miles per hour
for fire apparatus traversing through city streets where heavy traffic, narrow lanes,
topography, tight intersections, and other barriers to reach a theoretical location before
the 4-to-6-minute time for flashover to occur. The criteria produce an expected travel
time of 3 minutes 12 seconds for an engine company and 4 minutes 54 seconds for a
ladder-service company.95
Table 22: ISO Structure Fire Response
Unit/Company
Maximum Travel Distance *
1 Due Engine Co.
1.5 road miles
st
1 Due Ladder Co.
2.5 road miles
* Average travel speed at 35 mph
st

Travel Time
3.2 minutes
4.9 minutes

Structure Fire Response
Both NFPA 1710 and ISO recognize the industry-wide practice of sending a minimum of
two engine companies and one aerial ladder company under the supervision of a chief
officer to all reported residential structure fires and similar properties. Table 23 shows
the NFPA 1710 standard for the maximum travel and response time for the abovementioned units responding to a typical single family residential structure fire.
Table 23: NFPA 1710 Maximum Travel and Response Time for Structure Fire
Response
Unit/Company
1st Due Engine Co.
2nd Arriving Company
Initial Full Alarm
(low and medium hazard)

Initial Full Alarm
(high rise)

Maximum Travel
Time
4 minutes
6 minutes

Maximum Response
Time
5 Minutes 20 Seconds
7 Minutes 20 Seconds

8 minutes

9 Minutes 20 Seconds

10 minutes, 10
seconds

11 Minutes 30 Seconds

95

In its analysis of fire company distribution ISO does not measure or use actual historical response
times of individual communities. This is due to many fire departments lacking accurate and reliable
response-time information in conjunction with their view that there is no standardized national
recordkeeping system that would allow for the determination of fire department response times.

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Emergency Medical Response
Similarly, NFPA 1710 identifies travel time criteria for a fire department that provides
basic or advanced response to medical emergencies.
Table 24: NFPA 1710 EMS Response
Unit/Company
Basic Life Support
Advanced Life Support

Maximum Travel
Time
4 minutes
8 minutes

Maximum Response
Time
5 Minutes
9 Minutes

Special Operations Response
NFPA 1710 provides little direction regarding response time criteria for special
operations. Examples include response to hazardous materials spills, rescue operations
requiring specialized technical expertise such as high angle, confined space, swift water
and urban search and rescue. The standard does stipulate the fire department should
include criteria for the various types of special operations response and mitigation
activities that the fire department is expected to respond to within its organizational
statement.

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NFD Historic Travel and Response Time Assessment
4- and 8-Minute Travel Time Standard
PolarisPSS used NFD emergency run data from 2018 to 2021 to assess historic travel
and response times. The first assessment was to calculate spatial accessibility from
each of the three fire station locations with a 4-minute travel time threshold and a
second spatial accessibility using the 8-minute travel time. Both time thresholds are in
accordance with the NFPA 1710 recommended travel time standard of four minutes for
the first arriving fire or EMS units and eight minutes to assess the effective response
force needed for sustained operations. The purpose of this analysis is to determine the
percentage of an area that can be reached within both time thresholds.

Travel Time Findings
PolarisPSS used the current GIS street maps to show that from each of the fire station
locations 74% of the Village can be reached within the 4-minute travel time
benchmark for an 11.1 square mile area. One hundred percent of the entire response
area is within the 8-minute benchmark, which represents an area of approximately 15.7
square miles. It is evident that the current fire station locations will not provide the
benchmark of 90% for the first arriving unit within four minutes. A review of the historical
response data is presented in Emergency Response Data section of this report to
support this finding.
Figure 30: Streets Covered by Travel Time - TRA

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Overview: Fire Stations Area of Response - Travel and Response
Time Assessment
How fast help arrives is the most important measure of performance for any emergency
service provider. In this section, the 4-minute and 8-minute travel time catchments are
identified and then historical incident data from 2018 through 2021 is applied to conduct
a performance measurement of both travel times and response times.

Station #10 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement
Travel Time Findings
Station #10 has the largest AOR,
consisting of approximately 6.4
square miles with 106.1 road
miles. Station #10 AOR also has
the highest percentage of Village
residents out of the three fire
stations’ AORs. Many residents
meet the “at risk ages” of over 65
years and less than five years old.

Figure 31: Station #10 AOR Demographics

4-Minute Travel Time Assessment
The review of Station #10’s AOR 4-minute travel time assessment found that 62% of
the AOR is obtainable within a 4-minute travel time. This analysis indicates and
supports the fact that Station #10’s 6.4 square mile AOR is too large.
8-Minute Travel Time Assessment
PolarisPSS then assessed Station #10’s travel times within the entire Village TRA to
determine what Station #10’s travel time capabilities would be if they were dispatched
as part of an effective response force to any location within the Village boundaries. This
assessment revealed that 86% of the TRA is obtainable within an 8-minute travel
time.

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Figure 32: Station #10 AOR and TRA

Station #10 Area of Response Performance Findings
Applying the response time performance standard of being within 5 minutes and 20
seconds for 90% of all fire incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #10 was
within the 60th Percentile of the 5-minute 20-second benchmark. Applying the
response time performance standard of being within five minutes for 90% of all EMS
incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #10 was within the 49th Percentile
of the 5-minute benchmark.
Figure 33: Station #10 Area of Response – 2021 Performance Findings

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Station #11 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement
Travel Time Findings
Station #11’s AOR is
approximately 5.1 square miles
with 76.9 road miles. There are
3,514 households in the AOR that
are serviced.

Figure 34: Station #11 AOR Demographics

4-Minute Travel Time Assessment
The review of Station #11’s AOR
4-minute travel time assessment
found that 70% of their AOR is obtainable within a 4-minute travel time.
8-Minute Travel Time Assessment
PolarisPSS then assessed Station #11’s travel times within the entire Village TRA to
determine what Station #11’s travel time capabilities would be if they were dispatched
as part of an effective response force to any location within the Village boundaries. The
assessment revealed that 80% of the TRA is obtainable within an 8-minute travel
time.
Figure 35: Station #11 AOR and TRA

Station #11 Area of Response Performance Findings
Applying the response time performance standard of being within 5 minutes and 20
seconds for 90% of all fire incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #11 was
within the 60th Percentile of the 5-minute and 20-second benchmark. The analysis
also indicated that Station #11 is within 11 seconds of reaching the 70th percentile
benchmarks.
Applying the response time performance standard of being within five minutes for 90%
of all EMS incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #11 was within the 60th
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Percentile of the 5-minute benchmark. Here too, the data indicates that Station #11
is within 18 seconds of reaching the 70th percentile benchmark.
Figure 36: Station #11 Area of Response – 2021 Performance Findings

Station #12 – Travel and Response Time Performance Measurement
Travel Time Findings
Station #12’s AOR is approximately
4.2 square miles with 61.9 road
miles.

Figure 37: Station #12 AOR Demographics

4-Minute Travel Time Assessment
The review of Station #12’s AOR 4minute travel time assessment
found that 73% of the AOR is obtainable within a 4-minute travel time.
8-Minute Travel Time Assessment
PolarisPSS then assessed Station #12’s travel times within the entire Village TRA to
determine what Station #12’s travel time capabilities would be if they were dispatched
as part of an effective response force to any location within the Village boundaries. The
assessment revealed that 90% of the TRA is obtainable within an 8-minute travel
time.

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Figure 38: Station #12 AOR and TRA

Station #12 Response Performance Findings
Applying the response time performance standard of being within 5 minutes and 20
seconds for 90% of all fire incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #12 was
within the 70th Percentile of the 5-minute and 20-second benchmark. Applying the
response time performance standard of being within five minutes for 90% of all EMS
incidents, PolarisPSS found that in 2021 Station #12 was within the 60th Percentile
of the 5-minute benchmark. Here too, the data does indicate that Station #12 is within
4 seconds of reaching the 70th percentile benchmark.
Figure 39: Station #12 Area of Response – 2021 Performance Findings

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Effective Response Force
An ERF is defined by NFPA 1710 as the minimum number of firefighters and equipment
that must reach a specific emergency location within a maximum prescribed response
time.96 The maximum prescribed response time acts as one indicator of resource
deployment efficiency.
NFPA 1710 states that the ERF for a single-family dwelling shall be a total of 17
personnel and that all shall be on-scene within 9 minutes and 20 seconds (560 seconds
total). Given that the NFD’s minimum staffing per shift is 16 personnel combined with
the additional staffing and equipment responding as automatic aid companies,
PolarisPSS conducted an ERF response time assessment to determine if apparatus
and personnel could meet the 9-minute and 20-second benchmark.
Figure 40: NFPA 1710 Effective Response Force of 1797

Effective Response Force Response Time Findings
Applying the initial full alarm assignment response time performance standard of 9
minutes and 20 seconds, the data shows the percentage of fire incidents that would be
covered by two fire stations and the percentage of incidents that would be covered by
three fire stations. The purpose of this assessment is to determine the NFD capabilities
96
97

Ibid
Illustration Source, IAFF, 2002

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for assembling an ERF within 9 minutes and 20 seconds without automatic aid
assistance.
Based upon the percentage of incidents within each station’s AOR, PolarisPSS found
that:




55% of Station #10’s incidents are reachable by Station #11 and Station #12
within 560 seconds (9 minutes, 20 seconds)
85% of Station #11’s incidents are reachable by Station #10 and Station #12
within 560 seconds (9 minutes, 20 seconds)
68% of Station #12’s incidents are reachable by Station #10 and Station #11
within 560 seconds (9 minutes, 20 seconds)

The data indicates that if all three NFD fire stations were available, the NFD has the
ability to assemble the ERF within 55% to 85% of the performance standard of 9
minutes, 20 seconds. As stated in the Resource Deployment section of this report,
efficiencies are gained from the benefit of having automatic aid companies respond to
structure fires within the Village boundaries.
Figure 41: Effective Response Force – Initial full Alarm

This study conducts a thorough analysis of the NFD’s risks and response performance,
and compares those performance elements to national standards, specifically NFPA

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1710. It is important for the Department to establish performance goals and monitor
each goal over time to ensure continued compliance with these standards.
Recommendations:
Based upon the current three station configuration, NFD should establish the
following performance goals:
Turnout Time Goals
Goal 1: NFD will achieve a turnout time goal of 1 minute (1:00) for EMS incidents
90% of the time.
Goal 2: NFD will achieve a turnout time goal of 1 minute, 20 seconds (1:20) for fire
incidents 90% of the time.
Response Time Goals
Goal 1: NFD will achieve a response time goal of 5 minutes (5:00) or less for the first
arriving medical unit for medical emergencies 80% of the time.
Goal 2: NFD will achieve a response time goal of 5 minutes, 20 seconds (5:20) or
less for the first arriving fire suppression company for fire incidents 80% of the time.
Effective Force Response Time Goals
Goal 1: NFD will achieve an effective response force of 17 personnel for structure
fires in 9 minutes, 20 seconds (9:20) or less, 90% of the time.
Produce a quarterly measurement report on the NFD’s operational performance.
Monitor performance measures to ensure the availability, capability, and efficient
and effective use of resources. Performance measures should include alarm
processing, turnout time, response time, and total response time for each first-due
fire and EMS company.

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Unit Hour Utilization
Evaluating Unit Workloads
Unit Hour Utilization (UHU) is a calculation that estimates the amount of time a
company is occupied on emergency calls as a percentage of the total amount of hours a
company is staffed and available for response. A company that is staffed full-time is
available 8,760 hours per year. UHU measures the percentage of on-duty time
consumed by emergency service field activities. A high UHU means lower availability for
calls. Poor availability negatively affects response times.
However, there are other time factors not accounted for by UHU inclusive of time for
training, maintenance, public education efforts, and other preparedness-related
functions. In other words, when companies are not engaged in emergency response, it
does not mean they are not working. There are many daily shift responsibilities that
include non-emergency tasks that must be completed within the 24-hour shift, such as:








Morning muster
Apparatus and equipment checkout
Personal details
Station details
Physical Training
Meals
Daily Training Session

UHU Benchmarks
While there is no NFPA standard for UHU in the fire service, fire and EMS UHU
benchmarks have been defined by several sources. One such source is a July 2016
report from Citygate Associates that advocated a maximum UHU commitment to not
exceed 30%. In May 2016, Henrico County Division of Fire in Virginia published an
article after studying the department’s workload that identified a general commitment
factor scale for its department. Table 25 is a summary of the findings as it relates to
commitment factors.

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Table 25: Commitment Factors as Developed by Henrico County, Virginia Division
of Fire, 201698
Commitment Factors as Developed by Henrico County (VA)
Division of Fire, 2016
Unit Hour
Utilization
Description
Factor
Personnel can maintain training
0.16 – 0.24
Ideal
requirements and physical fitness and
(3h50m –
Commitment can consistently achieve response time
5h45m)
Range
benchmarks. Units are available to the
community more than 75% of the day.
Community availability and unit
sustainability are not questioned. FirstIndicates
0.25
due units are responding to their
System
(6h)
assigned community 75% of the time,
Stress
and response benchmarks are rarely
missed.
Evaluation
The community served will experience
Range
0.26 – 0.29
delayed incident responses. Just under
Resulting in
(6h14m –
30% of the day, first-due ambulances
Delayed
6h57m)
are unavailable; thus, neighboring
Incident
responders will exceed goals.
Responses
Not Sustainable: Commitment
Threshold—the community has less
than a 70% chance of timely
emergency service and immediate
0.30
relief is vital. Personnel assigned to
Red Line
(7h12m)
units at or exceeding 0.3 may show
signs of fatigue and burnout and may
be at increased risk of errors. Required
training and physical fitness sessions
are not consistently completed.
As identified in the Henrico County study, the 30% benchmark provides a reasonable
standard that ensures units are not over-utilized, response times are within the stated
performance measurement, and personnel injuries and accidents do not increase,
which is a “red flag” for workforce fatigue.

98

The commitment factors described relate to units staffed 24-hours per day and are included for
comparison purposes and information for NFD.

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The UHU benchmark that many public safety entities have adopted is a maximum of
0.35 of a 24-hour shift, which is 8 hours and 30 minutes. If a company has a UHU of
35%, it most likely will be available for the next call 65% of the time. If a UHU is below
10% units may not be well utilized, but response times may be high too often.
Some communities choose a UHU benchmark in the 0.15 to 0.25 range to improve or
maintain response times. If a company is out of its assigned station or AOR more than
25% of the time, then it is unlikely to meet response time goals of 90% of calls within a
4-minute travel time. For the purpose of benchmarking, PolarisPSS recommends a
benchmark of 0.25 which is equivalent to 6 hours of a 24-hour shift.
Fire station location is only one factor in determining whether response-time goals will
be achieved. The “busyness” factor or workload is also important since companies that
are extremely busy may not be available for the next call, thus necessitating the
response from a station further away. PolarisPSS’ analysis found that none of NFD’s
fire companies have excessively high workloads. However, several ambulance units are
approaching a high workload threshold.
It is important to note that the concept of workload is not merely a count of how many
calls to which a company is dispatched. One company can have fewer responses than
another but remain on the scene longer on average and, therefore, has a greater
workload. Evaluating workload is important when looking at the overlaps in coverage to
an area that may be required to achieve the response time goals as part of the CFAI
self-assessment process. An analysis of workload can indicate whether a new station
should be built, new apparatus purchased, or if current stations should be closed or
companies moved.
Figure 42: Unit Hour Utilization

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NFD Fire and EMS Company Unit Hour Utilization
This analysis provides an overview of the workload each NFD fire and EMS company
experienced during a 24-hour period for shifts starting at 7:00 AM. Response data from
2021 rather than the cumulative or average data from 2018-2021 was used to calculate
the UHU since the 2021 data provides a better analysis of current demand because it
excludes the COVID-19 variances that occurred in 2020. PolarisPSS used ImageTrend
data received from NFD to conduct the UHU analysis.99,100
Based upon the NFD’s current tandem response plan for EMS incidents, RED Center
dispatches a two-person ambulance company with a three-person fire suppression
company to assist the ambulance company with patient care, packaging, patient
removal, and provide for scene safety at vehicle accidents. However, the actual duration
of assignment for the ambulance company and fire company may differ substantially.
The fire company is released from the EMS incident once there is no longer a need for
their assistance, resulting in the fire company’s on-scene time being much shorter than
that of the EMS company, especially if the patient has to be transported to a hospital.
This assessment determines each company’s 24-hour workload based upon the actual
incident times that begin when the call is received to the point the company is back in
service. If the company is experiencing incident workloads that exceed the
recommended benchmark of 0.25 or 6 hours of a 24-hour shift, then the concentration
of staffing and apparatus may not have the capacity for handling back-to-back incidents
that may occur within each AOR.

99

https://www.imagetrend.com/solutions/slate/

100

PolarisPSS identified reporting differences in data provided by RED Center and NFD. PolarisPSS
brought this concern to the attention of NFD leadership. NFD-provided data was used for the UHU
analysis.

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Figure 43: Station #10: 24-Hour UHU for Calendar Year 2021

Figure 44: Station #11: 24-Hour UHU for Calendar Year 2021

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Figure 45: Station #12: 24-Hour UHU for Calendar Year 2021

As exhibited in Figures 43-45, the findings indicate that all fire and EMS companies are
working within the benchmark of 0.25 or less, which is classified as an “ideal
commitment” level.
Recommendation:
On a quarterly basis, monitor the UHU for each first-due ambulance and fire
suppression company within each AOR for the purpose of assessing any increases
in both demands for services and company workload fatigue. The acceptable UHU
benchmark is 0.25 or less.
In collaboration with RED Center, standardize data metrics to improve the
consistency and reliability of reported data.

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Fire Prevention Bureau SWOT Analysis
PolarisPSS conducted a SWOT analysis of the Fire Prevention Bureau to assess both
internal and external factors. A SWOT Analysis helps to identify internal Strengths,
Weaknesses, and future Opportunities, and Threats.

Strengths
The FPB is a mature Bureau with the infrastructure in place to handle the community’s
demand for services. The Fire Marshal is very knowledgeable of the codes and their
application, understands the dynamics of his community, and knows how to work with
individuals to accomplish an objective. The Fire Inspector handles a big portion of the
residential sprinkler inspections, attends to fire alarm board issues, addresses FOIA
requests, and is well known for his ability to conduct fire investigations.
The 7G Agreement provides resources to assist with conducting annual inspections in a
timely manner. Work assignments are divided amongst the full-time and 7G Agreement
staff to enable the conduct of annual inspections on an 18-month cycle. Although this
timeframe may appear like NFD is behind on inspections, very few departments in
communities of similar size are able to complete the annual inspections in a 12-month
period.

Weaknesses
The Fire Marshal currently handles all system testing, Certificate of Occupancy
Inspections, complaints, meetings, staffs the Electrical Commission, and performs many
other job functions. These responsibilities take him away from focusing on supervisory
functions and compete with the time needed to implement software modifications and to
move the FPB out of the “status quo” state. The FPB staffing and workload limit the
amount of time that the Fire Marshal can dedicate to developing new programs.
Scheduling for 7G employees is done on a paper calendar. Opportunities for fire
suppression overtime and personal matters are two primary reasons that 7G employees
reportedly cancel scheduled shifts. The 7G Agreement does not require employees to
commit to a minimum number of work hours per month and employees are paid at the
same rate regardless of their time in service as a Fire Inspector.
Tracking re-inspections continues to be a challenge. Consideration should be given to
using ImageTrend for tracking and assigning re-inspections. However, some reinspections may be addressed through a self-re-inspection process that would allow the
occupant to send an email and picture of the corrected violation, reducing the need to
revisit sites and allow the Fire Inspector to continue performing annual inspections.
Competing commitments have prevented a greater investment of resources in public
education. Public education serves the primary purposes of providing an opportunity for
NFD personnel to interact with the public during non-urgent events and creates a valuePOLARIS PUBLIC SAFETY SOLUTIONS, LLC

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added interaction for the public with the NFD since most people will not interact with the
Department unless they experience an emergency. One part-time 7G Inspector has
been assigned to Public Education, but the part-time status limits the amount of time
spent on public education. Either part of the third full-time employee’s time can be
assigned to public education or Bureau leadership may consider splitting the
responsibility between two part-time employees.

Opportunities
The FPB has a good foundation upon which to expand its service delivery. The 7G
Agreement enables the FPB to use members of the Department who are already
familiar with NFD operations and the community to work part-time in the FPB.
Leveraging these employees to fill in the gaps for inspections, public education, and
other Bureau activity such as System Testing, which is currently handled by the Fire
Marshal, will enable the Fire Marshal to focus on enhanced service delivery and
supervisory functions. However, a schedule commitment by these employees is needed
to ensure scheduled events are not missed or have to be handled by another inspector.
As a personnel retention strategy, consider modifying the 7G Side Letter of Agreement
to include a time commitment by individuals applying for the position and an annual
increase in financial compensation upon working a minimum number of hours per year
in combination with length of service in the Fire Inspector role. Incentivizing employees
for years of service may encourage them to stay longer in the position.
Daily review of all NFIRS reports should be conducted as this activity is one of the tools
that can be used to address Community Risk Reduction. Daily review provides
information about patterns or community activities. Without a consistent review, patterns
may be overlooked if the incidents are occurring over the three different shifts. Fire
departments have historically been able to identify major issues through report reviews.
For example, through diligent report monitoring the problems identified with faulty
halogen torchier lamps and poorly designed carbon monoxide detectors during the
initial production were able to be addressed and corrected. However, the pattern
recognition does not stop at fire issues. Bicycle riders being struck by cars or elderly
residents having constant falls may dictate public education opportunities for children
and the elderly. NFIRS reports provide the best insight as to what is occurring within the
community.
The FPB is currently using ImageTrend for some activities, but continues to use a paper
form for scheduling its part-time employees. Re-inspections are not currently being
populated for reminders. Not all software properties are up-to-date nor have hardware
components received the required maintenance. Although the use of spreadsheets is
still appropriate for some data collections, integrating all activities into ImageTrend will
enable all members of the FPB and Administration to have ready access to information
about a property.
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There are private companies that provide data collection for the annual maintenance
records for commercial sprinkler, fire alarm and hood/duct suppression systems.
Maintenance checks are required for all systems,101 but can easily fall through the
cracks and not be completed. These companies can oversee this process and track
required maintenance records for a Fire Prevention Bureau; information can then be
incorporated into the ImageTrend Records Management System. Pursuing a private
agreement to provide these services is an opportunity to strengthen inspection
compliance monitoring.
Establishing a self-re-inspection program for minor violations that allows the occupant to
send an email or letter with a picture of the violation corrected will decrease demand for
Fire Inspector time dedicated to re-inspections. Basic storefronts can also perform the
annual inspection with a checklist form to complete, sign, and return. With these
inspections, an in-person inspection can then occur every two or three years providing
more time for the Fire Inspector to focus on the more complex occupancies.
Develop a new public education program for the Northbrook residents. With the addition
of the third full-time employee, the opportunity to implement a new public education
program should be possible. Courses to consider offering or expanding upon include:








Fire safety lessons for primary school grades, especially during Fire
Prevention Week when the scheduling is already setup in the school system.
CPR classes
Stop the Bleed classes
Baby-sitter safety classes
First-aid classes
Fall Prevention for the Elderly
Fire Prevention Week Open House

There are opportunities for the FPB to improve the use of social media and the Village
website. The information on the website appears to be stagnant and should be updated
to answer some general questions that relate to the FPB activity.
The development of a FPB succession plan will help to prepare others for advanced
roles in the Bureau. FPB members need exposure to all facets of Bureau work; only
assigning one person to a specific task limits the growth of the other members.
Including employees in the budgeting process, process for developing and passing an
ordinance, and scheduling and conducting meetings with a developer or various boards

101

Testing requirements are levied by NFPA 13 and 72 which was adopted by the Village of Northbrook
Under Article VII. - Fire Prevention Section 6-102 in their local ordinances.

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and commissions provides opportunities for learning and prepares employees to
assume new responsibilities.
PolarisPSS identified opportunities to strengthen three Village fire prevention
ordinances through the amendment process.






110.3.1.1: Update this section to allow electronic notification of an inspection
order. Electronic notification is the current practice and should be reflected in
this section.
110.3.1.3: The appeal process should be 48-business hours or two business
days instead of just 48 hours to allow the appeal to reach the Fire Chief in a
timely manner.
503.7 (f) Fire Lanes: Modify this section to state the Fire Chief or his designee
to give more flexibility for shift personnel to handle this type of situation when
the Fire Chief is not present.

Threats
A recession that impacts local government funding creates a possible threat for the
FPB. When a fire department is required to reduce its budget, many times the FPB is
one of the first programs to be affected. Interestingly, the 1973 America Burning Report
prepared under a presidential directive stated that fire departments have not invested
enough in fire prevention and that more resources are needed to combat fires and injury
prevention. Yet, local governments still minimize staffing for fire prevention to reduce
personnel costs in the fire department.

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Ideal Station Locations
The level of fire services provided in any community is determined by the elected
governing body. The decision is unique to every community and includes factors such
as desired response times, growth, increased life risk (e.g., schools, daycares, assisted
care facilities), increased commercial and industrial risk, and the desire to maintain or
improve services. In essence, fire protection and staffing are a local policy issue and a
community must balance local resources against acceptable risk.
Communities may elect to adopt several response time standards for various levels of
community risk or they may adopt one single response time standard for all risks. Here,
a risk refers to a location of a potential response and the characteristics at that location
(e.g., fire potential, occupant exposure). Providing several response/travel times based
on the level of risk means that some areas will be reached in a shorter period than other
areas. A single response time standard for the community or area served will provide
approximately the same level of initial response to all areas of the community. Some of
the risks to consider for various response/travel times include:




Sprinklered versus non-sprinklered structures
Commercial versus residential structures
Multifamily versus single family residential structures

In previous sections of this report, PolarisPSS provided a comparison of the NFD’s
current performance to the industry benchmarks and NFPA 1710 recommended
performance standards. Through information and data provided, PolarisPSS conducted
an ideal station location analysis to determine if any fire station relocation or building a
new fire station would enhance response time performance.
Determining where to build a new fire station involves evaluating factors such as travel
times, roadway accessibility, first-due area impact, neighborhood type, and land
availability. The factors examined for this study were limited to travel times and first-due
area impact, particularly as it relates to the identified risk in the community.
It is understood that in the scenarios presented, land may not be available at the exact
location identified. The best option for the Village would be the closest site to the
identified location with sufficient land area, topography, and drainage. The analysis was
completed assuming that the NFD would continue to operate from the existing stations.

Applied Data
PolarisPSS utilized data provided by RED Center to analyze the NFD response
capability. Data included Village GIS data relating to street network, boundaries,
physical attributes, and NFD historic response data as reported for the years 20182021. Utilizing ArcGIS software in conjunction with Network Analyst and Spatial Analyst,
PolarisPSS generated maps, charts, and graphs to visually present the results.
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Travel times are used to provide quantifiable and reliable data for analysis and
discussion. Travel time is a constant that can be measured accurately and is dependent
on the location and deployment of resources. The use of travel time provides the
foundation from which to determine how fire station location can influence the
Department’s total response performance.

Current Stations
The map in Figure 46 shows the current 4-minute and 8-minute travel times throughout
the Village from the current three fire stations. Note that 70% of all incidents from 2018
and 2021 are within the NFPA standard of a 4-minute travel time. The area north of the
Edens Expressway Spur (I-94), the southwest section of the Village, and areas east of
Station #12 have significant areas with 5-minute and 6-minute travel times, including
some areas that have a travel time beyond 7 minutes. However, all areas of the Village
are reachable within 8 minutes.
Figure 46: 4- and 8-Minute Travel Time Heat Map

Three Ideal Station Location-Full Relocation Analysis
To determine if the Village could successfully meet the NFPA 1710 travel time
performance standard of 90% at a 4-minute travel time or at least to determine if any
improvement in coverage could be obtained with three fire stations, PolarisPSS
conducted a GIS analysis to determine the ideal station locations. Figure 47 displays
the ideal locations for three stations compared to the current locations. It is evident that
travel times would improve, but approximately 30% of the TRA is not reachable no
matter where fire stations are placed.
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Figure 47: Three Ideal Station Locations Travel Time Heat Map

Based on the four years of historical response time data, the analysis determined that
the ideal three-station configuration may reduce the current NFD travel time of 7
minutes and 42 seconds at the 90th percentile, NFD’s baseline, to 5 minutes and 14
seconds at the 90th percentile. This would be an improvement of 2 minutes and 28
seconds. However, even with the three ideal locations, the NFD can only reach 70% of
the entire response area within a 4-minute travel time.

Additional Station Location with Existing Station Locations
PolarisPSS analyzed the impact of adding a fourth fire station to the overall response
area while keeping the existing three stations. The analysis identified the best location
for a fourth fire station, Proposed #13, with the objective of increasing the NFD’s 4minute travel time percentages.
Utilizing GIS technology and the ArcGIS9 Fire Analysis Tool Software™, PolarisPSS
determined the most advantageous location for a fourth fire station, Proposed #13, as it
appears on the map in Figure 48.

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Figure 48: Location of Proposed #13

Figure 49 shows NFD travel times from current fire stations #10, #11, and #12 and
Proposed #13 locations in 4-minute through 8-minute intervals. These time intervals are
based on current NFPA response performance criteria, fire growth dynamics, and EMS
patient outcomes. The analysis indicates that if constructed within a reasonable
distance from Waukegan Road and Walnut Court., Proposed #13 would improve the 4minute travel time percentages. Based upon the results of this GIS and spatial analysis,
it appears that the Village could benefit from the addition of Proposed #13.

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Figure 49: Current Locations and Proposed #13 4- and 8-Minute Travel Time Heat
Map

Proposed #13 Response Time Assessment
Using Proposed #13, a 4-minute travel time assessment was conducted using the
historical incidents from 2018-2021. From this analysis, PolarisPSS compared the
current three-station configuration travel time performance to the four-station
configuration with the new location of Proposed #13.
The GIS analysis indicates that by adding Proposed #13 near Waukegan Road and
Walnut Court, the projected response times would drop from the historic response time
of 7 minutes 42 seconds to the projected response time of 5 minutes 39 seconds, a
difference of 2 minutes 3 seconds.

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Figure 50: Historic Response Times and Projected Response Times with
Proposed #13102

From the 80th percentile to the 50th percentile, the NFD would experience a 1 minute 39
second to 1 minute 18 second improvement in the 4-minute travel time performance
standard. Table 26 provides a summary of this analysis. Additionally, Proposed #13
would improve the 4-minute travel time coverage for the TRA from the current baseline
of 70% to 77%.103
Table 26: Response Times with Proposed #13

102

All historic incidents from 2018-2021 were used for this analysis.
Proposed #13’s location is outside of the Village’s corporate boundaries and annexation of the area is
precluded pursuant to the Lake Cook Corridor Agreement between the Villages of Northbrook and
Deerfield.
103

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Relocation of Existing Stations with Addition of Proposed #13
PolarisPSS analyzed the impact of adding Proposed #13 and relocating Stations #11
and #12 for the purpose of improving upon the 4-minute travel time, as well as
assessing any improvements to the total area of coverage.
Relocation of Station #12 Alone
Figure 51 shows the NFD travel times from current Stations #10 and #11 and Proposed
#13 with the relocation of Station #12 to the ideal location titled Proposed #12W. The
analysis indicates that if constructed within a reasonable distance from Techny Road
and Pfingston Road, Proposed #12W would result in an improvement to the overall
response plan for both travel times and total area of coverage.
Figure 51: Location of Proposed #13 with Relocation of Proposed #12W:

Figure 52 shows NFD’s 4-minute through 8-minute travel time intervals from the current
Stations #10 and #11, Proposed #13, and Proposed #12W locations. Again, the time
intervals used are based on current NFPA response performance criteria, fire growth
dynamics, and EMS patient outcomes.

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Figure 52: Current Stations #10 and #11, Proposed #13, With Relocation of
Proposed #12W 4- and 8-Minute Travel Time

Findings
Based upon the results of this GIS and spatial analysis, it appears that the Village could
benefit from the addition of Proposed #13 and the relocation of Station #12. Figure 53
displays the GIS analysis conducted with current Stations #10 and #11locations,
Proposed #13, and Proposed #12W to assess any improvements in travel times and
total area of coverage. The analysis indicates that the projected response times would
drop from the historic response time 7 minutes 42 seconds to the projected response
time of 5 minutes 54 seconds, a difference of 1 minute 48 seconds. Proposed #13
would also help to lower UHUs for Stations #10 and #11, thereby increasing their
availability for response.

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Figure 53: Historic Response Times and Projected Response Times with Station
#10, Station #11, Proposed #13, and Proposed #12W

From the 80th percentile to the 50th percentile, the NFD would experience a 1minute 46
second to 1minute 16 second improvement in the 4-minute travel time performance
standard. Table 27 provides a summary of this analysis. Additionally, the proposed
relocation of Station #12 would improve the 4-minute travel time coverage for the total
response area from the current baseline of 70% to 80%.
Table 27: 4-Minute Travel Time Improvements with the Relocation of
Station #12

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Relocation of Station #11 and Station #12
PolarisPSS analyzed the best location for Station #11 with current Station #10,
Proposed #13, and the relocated Station #12W. The analysis indicated that
improvements could be gained by relocating Station #11 south and west of its current
location.
The analysis displayed in Figure 54 indicates that within a reasonable area of Voltz
Road and Woodlark Drive, the relocation of Station #11 would improve the overall
response plan in both travel times and total area of coverage.
Figure 54: Current Stations #10 and #11, Proposed #13, Proposed #12W, With
Relocation of Station #11SW

Figure 55 shows NFD’s 4-minute through 8-minute travel time intervals from the current
Stations #10, #11, Proposed #13, Proposed #12W, and Relocation of #11SW locations.
Again, the time intervals are based on current NFPA response performance criteria, fire
growth dynamics, and EMS patient outcomes.

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Figure 55: Current Stations #10 and #11, Proposed #13, Relocation of #12W, With
Relocation of #11SW 4- and 8- Minute Travel Times

Findings
Based upon the results of this GIS and spatial analysis, it appears that the Village could
benefit from the proposed relocation of Stations #11 and #12W. Figure 56 shows the
results of the GIS analysis conducted with current locations of Station #10, Proposed
#13, Proposed #12W, and the proposed relocation of Station #11 to assess any
improvements in travel times and total area of coverage. The analysis indicates that the
projected response times would drop from the historic response time 7 minutes 42
seconds to the projected response time of 5 minutes 22 seconds, a difference of 2
minutes 22 seconds.

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Figure 56: Historic Response Times and Projected Response Times with Station
#10, Proposed #13, Proposed #12W, and Proposed #11SW Locations

From the 80th percentile to the 50th percentile, the NFD would experience a 1minute 55
seconds to 1minute 7seconds improvement in the 4-minute travel time performance
standard. Table 28 provides a summary of this analysis. Additionally, the proposed
relocation of Station #11 would improve the 4-minute travel time coverage for the total
response area from the current baseline of 70% to 83%.
Table 28: 4-Minute Travel Time Improvements

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Recommendations:
PolarisPSS recommends a three step plan that in the end will significantly improve
travel times and the percentage of the TRA that would be covered within the 4minute travel time.
Step #1: The analysis identified that the three current fire station locations can only
cover 70% of the entire Village within a 4-minute travel time and indicates that a
fourth fire station is needed. The Village should consider building Proposed #13 in
the recommended area of Waukegan Road and Walnut Court to increase the
coverage area from 70% to 77%.
Step #2: If Proposed #13 is built, the next step toward achieving the goal of
improving the 4-minute travel time and increasing the area of coverage from a 77%
to 80%, is to relocate Station #12 to the location of Proposed #12W.
Step #3: If Proposed #13 is built and Station #12 is relocated to Proposed #12W,
the next step toward achieving the goal of improving the 4-minute travel time and
increasing the area of coverage from a 80% to 83%, is to relocate Station #11 to the
location of Proposed #11SW.
Modify the IGA with the NBRFPD to reflect the investment required to add a fourth
fire station.

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Appendix
A. Acronym List
B. Tables of Figures
C. Table of Tables
D. Emergency Management Authorities Review
E. Apparatus Replacement Plan
F. 7G Side Letter Agreement
G. Summary of Recommendations

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Appendix A: Acronym List

AED

Automatic External Defibrillator

A-EMT

Advanced- Emergency Medical Technician

ALS

Advanced Life Support

AOR

Area of Response

ARP

Apparatus Replacement Plan

AVL

Automatic Vehicle Location

BLS

Basic Life Support

CERT

Community Emergency Response Team

CFAI

Commission on Fire Accreditation International

CFR

Code of Federal Regulations

CPR

Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation

CPSE

Center for Public Safety Excellence

CRRP

Community Risk Reduction Plan

DEMRS

(Cook County) Department of Emergency Management and
Regional Security

DICO

Designated Infection Control Officer

DPSE

Division of Personnel Standards and Education

ECG

Electrocardiogram

EMA

Emergency Management Agency

EFD

Emergency Fire Dispatch

EMD

Emergency Medical Dispatch

EMI

Emergency Management Institute

EMS

Emergency Medical Services
A-1

EMT-B

Emergency Medical Technician- Basic

EMT-P

Emergency Medical Technician- Paramedic

EMS

Emergency Medical Services

EOC

Emergency Operations Center

EOP

Emergency Operations Plan

EPCRA

Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

ERF

Effective Response Force

ERU

Emergency Response Units

ESDA

Emergency Services and Disaster Agency

EVT

Emergency Vehicle Technician

FF/PM

Firefighter/Paramedic

FLSA

Fair Labor Standards Act

FOIA

Freedom of Information Act

FPB

Fire Prevention Bureau

FSRS

Fire Suppression Rating Schedule

GEMT

Ground Emergency Medical Transport

GIS

Geographical Information System

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HPH

Health Promoting Hospital

Hrs.

Hours

HSEEP

Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program

IAFC

International Association of Fire Chiefs

IAFF

International Association of Firefighters

ICMA

International City/County Management Association

ICS

Incident Command System
A-2

IDPH

Illinois Department of Public Health

IEMA

Illinois Emergency Management Agency

IGA

Intergovernmental Agreement

IL OSHA

Illinois Division of Occupational Safety and Health

ISO

Insurance Services Office

IV

Intravenous

LEPC

Local Emergency Planning Committee

LOS

Level of Service

MABAS

Mutual Aid Box Alarm System

MMNL

Metra Milwaukee North Line

MW

MegaWatt

NBRFPD

Northbrook Rural Fire Protection District

NDCP

National Domestic Preparedness Consortium

NFD

Northbrook Fire Department

NFIRS

National Fire Incident Reporting System

NFPA

National Fire Protection Association

NIMS

National Incident Management System

NIPSTA

Northern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

OSFM

Office of the State Fire Marshal

OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

PM

Preventive Maintenance

PO

Purchase Order

PPC

Public Protection Classification

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment
A-3

PSAP

Public Safety Answering Point

QA

Quality Assurance

QI

Quality Improvement

RED Center

Regional Emergency Dispatch Center

RMS

Records Management System

SCBA

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus

SCUBA

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

SOC

Standard of Cover

SOG

Standard Operating Guidelines

SOP

Standard Operating Procedure

TIC

Thermal Imaging Camera

TRA

Total Response Area

UHU

Unit Hour Utilization

UL

Underwriters’ Laboratories

USFA

United States Fire Administration

VoN

Village of Northbrook

WMD

Weapons of Mass Destruction

A-4

B-1

B-2

C-1

Appendix D: Emergency Management Review
Authorities:

Village of Northbrook Ordinances:
Northbrook, Illinois Code of Ordinances Chapter 3, Article IV Civil Emergencies,
Emergency Services and Disaster Relief
Division 1- Emergency Management Agency
Division 2- Civil Emergencies
Cook County Ordinances
Chapter 26, Article II, Cook County, IL Code of Ordinances

State of Illinois Statutes
20 ILCS 3305/5 et. seq. Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act
IEMA Regulations:
29 IL Adm Code 301
Subpart B

Emergency Operations Plan Requirements

Subpart C:

Emergency Operations Plan Submission and Review Requirements

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Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois
Issue
Whether NB is required to have
an Emergency Services and
Disaster Agency (ESDA) or
Emergency Management Agency
(EMA) by Illinois law.

•

•

Authority

Analysis

Conclusion

Illinois Emergency
Management Act
(IEMAct)
20 ILCS 3305/10
NB Ord. Ch 3, Art. IV,
Div.1.

Cook County must establish an
ESDA and NB is under
jurisdiction of the Cook County
ESDA (IEMAct §10(b)).

NB is not required by statute to have
an ESDA or EMA but has established
an EMA through its own ordinance.

NB is not required by statute to
establish an ESDA or EMA, but
NB may by ordinance establish
an emergency management
agency or department (IEMAct
§10(c)). An EMA created by
ordinance is distinct from an
ESDA mandated by statute.

NB has created an EMA Agency with a
coordinator, but not established a
separate department or agency.
Research has not disclosed a mandate
from the Office of the Governor
mandating NB to establish an ESDA.

NB has created an EMA
coordinator but has delegated
the duties the Fire Chief. The
Fire Chief is the liaison officer
for the Cook County ESDA
(IEMAct §10(e) and (i)).
Governor may mandate
municipal corporations to have
and ESDA (IEMA §10(d)).

D-2

Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois
Whether NB is certified EMA by
Cook County ESDA

•
•

29 IL Adm Code
301.520
Cook Co Ord Ch 26
§26.31

IEMA Regulations identify
requirements for certification
that include training and
continuing education for the
coordinator and exercises.
Must be recertified for 2-4
years.

Whether NB is required to
prepare an Emergency
Operations Plan (EOP).

•
•
•
•

20 ILCS 3305/10(g)
29 IL Adm Code
301.320(a)
29 IL Adm Code
§301.210 et seq
Cook County Ord Ch
26 Art II §26-33(b)

While NB does have a previously
certified EOP, there are no documents
identifying NB EMA as a Cook Countycertified non-mandated ESDA/EMA.
Requirements for certification include
education requirements for the EMA
coordinator, an EOP, and exercises.

Cook County requires a
biennial review for certification.

Certifications are effective for at least
two years but no longer than four
years.

Each ESDA shall biennially
submit for approval an EOP to
IEMA.

NB is a non-mandated and nonaccredited EMA/ESDA.

EOPs shall comply with
standards set by 29 IL Adm
Code §301.210.

The IL Adm Code requires nonmandated EMA/ESDAs to submit
EOPs complying with planning
standards to the Cook County ESDA.
NB EOP has not been recertified
within the last two years.

D-3

Comprehensive Fire Department Organizational Assessment Study for the Village of Northbrook, Illinois
Whether NB EOP complies with
current IEMA standards

29 IL Adm Code Subpart B
Subpart C §301.320

Requirements are distinguished
by date as EOPs submitted
before and after 01/02/2002.

EOP is out of date and has provisions
that may not comply with current
requirements.

EOP requirements changed for
EOPs due for review on or after
09/01/2020. See §301.230.

EOP must be thoroughly reviewed to
determine items that must be revised
to comply with the post-09/01/2020
mandates.

D-4

Type
Ambulance
Ambulance
Ambulance
Ambulance
Ambulance
Engine
Engine
Engine
Engine Pumper Squad
Engine
Tower Ladder
Tower Ladder
Rescue Squad
Battalion
Battalion
Utility/FPB
Pickup/Training
Staff Car - Explorer (1102)
Staff Car - Explorer (1100)
Staff Car - Explorer (1101)
Staff Car - Explorer (FPB)
Staff Car - Escape (FPB)

# Fleet Year
12R
64 2014
12
68 2016
11
10
10R
10R
12
11
11
10
12R
12
12
Bat 10
Bat 11

65
69
66
56
58
60
57
59
61
62
55
76
73
71
70
51
75
52
53
54

Appendix E: RECOMMENDED FIRE DEPARTMENT VEHICLE REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE - FY20/21 - FY40/41
Replace yrs

20/21

21/22

22/23

23/24

11
11

2017
2018
2011
2004
2008
2015
2017
2021
2009
2019
2018
2015
2017
2007
2017
2016
2016
2018
2018
2018

24/25
AMB

25/26

26/27

27/28

28/29

29/30

30/31

31/32

32/33

33/34

34/35

35/36
AMB

36/37

AMB

11
11
11
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
10
10
10
12
10
10
10
10
10

37/38

38/39

39/40

40/41

AMB
AMB

AMB
AMB

AMB

AMB
ENG
ENG
ENG
P/SQD

ENG

ENG
TWL
TWL
RESCUE
BAT

BAT
BAT

BAT

UTL
UTL
STAFF
STAFF
STAFF
STAFF
STAFF

Refurbish Engine and Tower when taken out of front line service.
Battalion - 10 year replacement schedule - 5 years front line + 5 years reserve service.
FY 16/17 Pumper/Squad in place of 5th Engine (57) and Squad (55) - estimated 20 yr service life for Pumper/Squad.
FY 17/18 Rescue - estimated 20 yr front line service.
FY 19/20 Five Engines at 20 years = 10 years front line + 10 years reserve service.
FY19/20 Tower Ladder 10 years front line + 10 years reserve service.
FY20/21 Ambulance replacement schedule = 7 years front line + 4 years reserve service. Due to low mileage and other mechanical reasons, extended from 10 to 11 years. Extension resulted in longer gap in replacement (FY20/21 to FY24/25).
FY23/24 #76 replacing #71
FY29/30 Utility/FPB - due to average annual mileage, extended replacement from 10 to 12 years.

AMB = Ambulance
ENG = Engine
P/SQD = Pumper Squad
TWL = Tower Ladder
RESCUE = Rescue Squad
BAT = Battalion
UTL = Utility
STAFF = Staff Car

AMB
ENG
P/SQD
TWL
RESCUE
BAT
UTL
STAFF
Totals

20/21
21/22
$337,384
$735,702

22/23

23/24

24/25
25/26
$387,156
$844,235

26/27
27/28
$414,731

28/29
29/30
$444,270
$968,779

30/31
31/32
$475,913

33/34
32/33
$509,810
$1,111,696

34/35

35/36
36/37
$565,236

37/38
38/39
$605,495

39/40
40/41
$648,621
$1,463,892

$1,598,119
$1,902,605
$62,500

$2,683,812
$666,928

$69,295

$88,165

$97,745

$45,000
$1,073,086

$62,500

$1,231,391

$100,000
$100,000

$484,026

$159,000
$159,000

$3,315,654

$45,000

$475,913

$1,621,507

$88,165

$565,236

$1,695,864

$605,495

$3,350,740

$648,621

$1,463,892

FY20/21 Ambulance purchase price $337,384
FY16/17 Pumper Squad purchase price $776,000
FY19/20 Tower Ladder purchase price $1,386,000 plus change orders - budget sheet says spent 1,395,414
FY17/18 Rescue purchase price $327,000
FY14/15 2015 Battalion Expedition purchase price $33,042
FY16/17 2017 Battalion Expedition purchase price $38,196
Used 3.5% increase per year to calculate future estimated purchase cost

Revised 1/26/22

Appendix F: Side Letter of Agreement

F-1

F-2

F-3

Appendix G: Recommendations
Recommendations
As outlined in the EMS Field Experiments, some EMS call types present situations
that cannot be adequately addressed by a two-person ambulance crew. The
current NFD practice of dispatching either an ALS fire engine or ALS tower ladder
along with the ambulance is a best practice to ensure that patient care needs are
1 met in a timely and safe manner. The same holds true for responder safety – for
access and removal and other tasks in the response sequence, the availability of
additional hands can serve to reduce the risks of lifting injuries or injuries that
result from fatigue (e.g., minimizing the need for small-sized crews to repeatedly
ascend and descend stairs). This current practice should continue.
Continue to use UL for annual testing of NFD’s tower ladder apparatuses and all
2
ground ladders.
All mechanics who work on fire apparatus should obtain the Emergency Vehicle
3 Technician (EVT) certification as recommended by the manufacturer of each
apparatus so that the maintenance performed supports peak performance.
Include the provision of apparatus-specific training for EVTs in vehicle purchase
contracts.
Continue to support the current ARP that includes a replacement schedule
5 consistent with NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus
recommendations.
NFD should routinely review and adjust the ARP to ensure the anticipated service
demand increases can be met with the current fleet. Expected delays between
6 order submission and delivery of a new apparatus, as well as cost increases
affecting the marketplace should continue to be considered during the plan
review.
The Village of Northbrook should conduct a space needs analysis that is inclusive
of a current condition assessment to determine long term facility needs and inform
7
recommendations for refurbishment/remodeling of current facilities and/or for new
facility construction.
4

8

Complete a strategic planning process to establish a shared understanding of the
Department’s strategic priorities, objectives, key outcomes, and action initiatives.

Conduct an in-depth analysis of job responsibilities for each position once the
second Deputy Chief position is filled.
Update written job descriptions for each position, including qualification
10
requirements of the person filling the position.
Establish a project management reporting system to track the monthly progress
11
with project and program implementation progress.
Submit monthly and annual reports to Village management to provide updates on
12
activities within each NFD division.
9

Conduct a job task analysis to provide management with objective criteria needed
to identify current job responsibilities and tasks assignments. As necessary,
realign tasks and/or hire additional support personnel to address workload issues.
Provide Certified Ambulance Coder training to staff members responsible for EMS
14
billing.
13

Page

22

32

32

32
33

33

36

38
38
38
38
38

39

40

G-1

Recommendations

If time spent by the Administrative Clerk processing EMS billing approaches 80%
15 full-time equivalent, the Village should evaluate whether an outside contractor
would be more cost effective for processing EMS billing.
16 Conduct one-year evaluation of GMET participation.
17

Evaluate the 7G Side Letter Agreement to include a time commitment requirement
by individuals applying for the position and pay increases for time in grade.

Update FPB ordinances to reflect current practices (e.g., report issuance for code
violations).
Increase the focus on education programs that target the age 65 years and older
19 population and identified high-risk target hazards in an effort to enhance occupant
safety and preparedness.
Establish a self-re-inspection program for minor violations that allows the
20 occupant to submit written and photographic documentation of violation
correction.
Establish a program to allow basic storefronts to complete and certify a checklist
every “X “number of years in-lieu of an annual in-person inspection. This program
21
will enable Fire Inspectors to prioritize the in-person inspection of more complex
occupancies.
18

Continue to pursue partnerships with community groups and businesses to assist
with sponsorship and participation in public events. Fire prevention and education
22 programs can reduce the risk of fires and injuries effectively when used as part of
the Department’s overall prevention strategy. However, it may take months before
the prevention and education initiatives become fully effective.
Publish an annual report on the NFD’s activities from the preceding year to inform
and educate the community about the Department’s role in community safety.
23
Documenting the Department’s accomplishments will also help to show members
the difference they have helped to make within the community.
Research and evaluate the costs and benefits of a Mobile Integrated Healthcare
24 Program to mitigate the unnecessary use of Village ambulances for nonemergency transports to the hospital.
The Training Division should continue to provide both practical and hands-on
25 learning opportunities and consider an on-line training provider portal for the
purpose of accomplishing EMS and fire continuing education requirements.
Enter information contained in the hazardous materials statistical data sheets into
the Department’s Firehouse Record Management System so that it is available to
26
Department and specialty team leadership to use this information as part of the
annual evaluation of hazmat program performance.
To enable the Village to operate a fully functioning Emergency Management
Agency pursuant to Northbrook Ordinance Article IV §3-96, the Village should
identify existing positions that will assume responsibility for the functions identified
27 in Northbrook Ordinance Article IV §3-99. The Village should consider dedicating
and budgeting additional positions to ensure performance of and compliance with
IEMA requirements such as emergency management planning, training, and
exercise functions.

Page
40
40
44
44
44

44

44

45

45

48

50

53

53

G-2

Recommendations

The Village EOP requires a comprehensive review and update. See Appendix D
for an overview of requirements that must be addressed in the EOP update. Once
28
updated, the EOP should be submitted to the Cook County Department of
Emergency Management and Regional Security for re-certification.
Document EOC operational procedures (e.g., process for how incident action
plans are developed, briefings conducted) and assign responsibility for the
29 performance of emergency management functions within the EOC (e.g., EOC
management, routine testing to communication equipment, conduct of after action
reviews).
Incorporate opportunities to test EOC functionality, both in terms of operational
30 procedures and technology resources, to aid the Village in identifying areas that
require additional planning, training, and/or resourcing.
Test all EOC resources (e.g., resources in the information boxes) for functionality
31 on a routine basis and updated as necessary. Document the role of the Finance
Section Chief and train personnel to fill this position.
Develop a procedure for the real-time tracking of incident expenses that can be
32
universally implemented by all Village Departments.

Page
55

55

55

55
55

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the federal Emergency
Management Institute (EMI) offer free training on a wide range of emergency
management topics. At a minimum, the Village’s Emergency Management
Coordinator(s) should complete IEMA’s 8-hour New Coordinator's Workshop and
the Illinois Professional Development Series training requirements. The workshop
is designed to provide new local emergency management agency coordinators an
overview of their responsibilities in relationship to their local government and the
state and covers how the content of the Illinois Emergency Management Act and
33
current requirements outlined in the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
Administrative Rules affect local jurisdictions. The seven on-line and six
discussion-based classroom courses that comprise the Professional Development
Series are designed to provide an introduction to the wide range of responsibilities
for which emergency managers must be prepared. The Village may wish to
consider requiring position-specific emergency management training for certain
Village positions that have a specialized role in supporting emergency
management operations (e.g., public information officer, finance director).

56

Centralize the management of emergency management and NIMS-compliance
training to ensure that all Village positions that have a defined emergency
management role maintain the minimum training required for their position. The
34
development of individual training plans for positions with defined emergency
management functions is necessary. Dedication of personnel hours to support the
scheduling and tracking of emergency management training is required.

56

G-3

Recommendations

Page

The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) is a partnership of
several nationally recognized organizations whose membership is based on the
urgent need to address the counter-terrorism preparedness needs of the nation’s
35
emergency first responders within the context of all hazards including chemical,
biological, radiological, and explosive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
hazards. Acceptance into a training course is coordinated through IEMA.

56

Establish an emergency management exercise program with the intent of
validating emergency response plans and identifying areas for improvement. At
the onset, the Village may consider prioritizing command, control, and
communications for incidents that require multi-agency/multi-disciplinary support,
inclusive of multi-jurisdictional incidents and incidents that require EOC activation,
36
as the exercise program focus. Establishing the Village’s exercise program to be
consistent with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)
will provide the Village with an established set of guiding principles and validated
approach for exercise program management, design and development, conduct,
evaluation, and improvement planning.

57

Review and evaluate to determine how and whether the CERT Program should be
retained or restructure.

57

The Village of Northbrook should review with RED Center the guidelines call
takers and dispatchers use to classify calls by type and priority level. Call takers
and dispatchers have an important role in interpreting and documenting the
38 information that enables them to identify the incident type and set the incident’s
priority level. It is essential for the NFD to have input on the guidelines to ensure
the accuracy of the data produced and enable the NFD to reliably analyze current
trends and use the information to inform staffing and service delivery decisions.

61

37

The Village of Northbrook should look at the processing times in a comprehensive
manner. Call transfers between the primary and secondary PSAP centers have an
impact on the overall processing time standard. Given the life safety implications
for critical incidents, both Village of Northbrook and RED Center PSAPs should
39 make every effort to reduce/eliminate transfers, thereby reducing the amount of
time required to answer, process, transfer, and dispatch alarms. Potential
strategies to reduce transfers include consolidation, either physical or virtual, CAD
to CAD integrations, improved wireless call routing, and improved compliance with
call answering standards.
Annually assess the response time performance of all automatic aid companies to
40 ensure that the assembly of an effective response force is occurring within the
NFPA 1710 standards.
Develop a Community Risk Reduction Plan (CRRP) that identifies strategies and
41 programs to mitigate the potential increase in emergency services due to an aging
population.   
Develop a CRRP that identifies strategies and programs in support of the Village’s
Emergency Operations Plan for the purpose of mitigating the potential
42
requirements for increased emergency services resources in response to
transportation and railroad emergencies.

61

68

82

82

G-4

Recommendations

Based upon the current three station configuration, NFD should establish the
following performance goals:
Turnout Time Goals
Goal 1: NFD will achieve a turnout time goal of 1 minute (1:00) for EMS incidents
90% of the time.
Goal 2: NFD will achieve a turnout time goal of 1 minute, 20 seconds (1:20) for
fire incidents 90% of the time.
Response Time Goals
43
Goal 1: NFD will achieve a response time goal of 5 minutes (5:00) or less for the
first arriving medical unit for medical emergencies 80% of the time.
Goal 2:NFD will achieve a response time goal of 5 minutes, 20 seconds (5:20) or
less for the first arriving fire suppression company for fire incidents 80% of the
time.
Effective Force Response Time Goals
Goal 1: NFD will achieve an effective response force of 17 personnel for structure
fires in 9 minutes, 20 seconds (9:20) or less, 90% of the time.
Produce a quarterly measurement report on the NFD’s operational performance.
Monitor performance measures to ensure the availability, capability, and efficient
44 and effective use of resources. Performance measures should include alarm
processing, turnout time, response time, and total response time for each first-due
fire and EMS company.
On a quarterly basis, monitor the UHU for each first-due ambulance and fire
suppression company within each AOR for the purpose of assessing any
45
increases in both demands for services and company workload fatigue. The
acceptable UHU benchmark is 0.25 or less.
In collaboration with RED Center, standardize data metrics to improve the
46
consistency and reliability of reported data.
PolarisPSS recommends a three step plan that in the end will significantly improve
travel times and the percentage of the TRA that would be covered within the 4minute travel time.
Step #1: The analysis identified that the three current fire station locations can
only cover 70% of the entire Village within a 4-minute travel time and indicates
that a fourth fire station is needed. The Village should consider building Proposed
#13 in the recommended area of Waukegan Road and Walnut Court to increase
47 the coverage area from 70% to 77%.
Step #2: If Proposed #13 is built, the next step toward achieving the goal of
improving the 4-minute travel time and increasing the area of coverage from a
77% to 80%, is to relocate Station #12 to the location of Proposed #12W.
Step #3: If Proposed #13 is built and Station #12 is relocated to Proposed #12W,
the next step toward achieving the goal of improving the 4-minute travel time and
increasing the area of coverage from a 80% to 83%, is to relocate Station #11 to
the location of Proposed #11SW.
Modify the IGA with the NBRFPD to reflect the investment required to add a fourth
48
fire station.

Page

110

110

118

118

135

135

G-5