Fire and EMS Dispatch Calls from San Francisco CAD System

Fire Calls-For-Service contains records of all fire unit responses to 911 calls from San Francisco's Computer-Aided Dispatch system. Each record includes call number, incident number, address, unit identifier, call type, and disposition, with multiple records per call due to multi-unit responses. The dataset updates daily via an automated pipeline from the Department of Emergency Management.

Use Cases

• Analyze call type frequency and distribution, focusing on Medical Incidents, Alarms, Structure Fires, and Traffic Collisions.
• Model response time intervals using the recorded time stamps for different unit identifiers and call types.
• Geospatial analysis of incident locations by mapping the address field, which is associated with intersections or call boxes.
• Identify operational patterns by examining the disposition codes and their correlation with specific unit identifiers.

Strengths

• Data is updated daily via an automated pipeline, ensuring high recency.
• Records include detailed temporal data with all relevant time intervals for response analysis.
• Sourced directly from the authoritative Department of Emergency Management's computer-aided dispatch system.

Limitations

• Addresses are associated with intersections or call boxes, not specific street addresses, limiting precise geocoding.
• Multiple records exist for each call number due to multi-unit responses, requiring aggregation for call-level analysis.
• The raw description does not specify the total number of rows or a defined time range for historical coverage.

Provenance

Source

Department of Emergency Management, City of San Francisco

Collection Method

Extract from the city's Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, enhanced with fire-department specific information.

Freshness

Updates daily.

Geography

City of San Francisco