Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Debate over FDNY Response Time Data FF Nation NOW

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Debate Grows Over FDNY Response Time Data

FDNY data conflicts with law that counts response times beginning with dispatchers answering 911 calls

KENNETH GARGER, The New York PostPublished Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The city keeps two sets of books when it comes to FDNY emergency response times - and the more easily accessible data show skewed figures that are up to 92 percent more favorable than the actual numbers, the firefighters union said Monday.

The FDNY Web site displays "Fire Statistics" - an outdated way of measuring response times that begins only when a 911 operator turns a call over to a fire dispatcher.

But tucked away on the site, a more accurate compilation of data provides a realistic and much higher set of response times, the Uniformed Firefighters Association claims in a new report.

Local Law 119, which was passed in 2013, requires that the city tally response times from the second the 911 dispatcher answers.

In 2015, according to the first tabulation, the citywide average FDNY response to a structural fire was 4 minutes, 11 seconds, compared with 5 minutes under the updated system.

The average response time to medical emergencies was 4 minutes, 31 seconds - compared with 8 minutes, 11 seconds under the new system. Bronx medical emergencies had an alarming 92 percent disparity.

The FDNY denied any public deception.

"There is nothing misleading about the city's transparent and detailed reporting on response times for emergencies," the FDNY said.

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