CAD Analyst: Overview

Decision-makers in emergency services can use CAD Analyst to generate objective data concerning current response performance. This application filters and processes key data from existing CAD or Records Management System (RMS) and utilizes that historical information to evaluate response performance. The user can quickly identify significant results of the analysis with the color-coded maps generated by the program.

Full Screen view of CAD Analyst showing the performance of a single agency (station).

Key Benefits of CAD Analyst:

• Taps into historical CAD data and reviews current workloads and response performance
• Performs on-the-spot “what is” analysis of the department’s current performance
• Generates objective, factual data to explain departmental performance at all levels
• Enables decision-makers to gain insights into current performance
• Prints easy-to-understand, color-coded maps for analysis and reporting
• Zooms in for a view of all incident data and factors including landmarks, schools, or churches, for example
   

Color-coded display of response performance in CAD Analyst.

Key Features:

• A workload and response performance calculator for specifying days of the week, times of day, seasons of the year, and incident type groups. CAD Analyst can extract incidents of a given type or time period and display their density thematically in a map.
• Average performance buttons for viewing specific responses by type such as average first unit, first EMT, first paramedic, and second engine-on-scene with green indicating acceptable performance and red unsatisfactory performance.
• Performance button for displaying thematically the percentage of incidents meeting performance targets.
• Zoom button for close-up viewing of all color-coded incidents in that zone. The user can click on a star to obtain all details about an incident including number, date, location, etc.
• Print button.
   

With the calculator, emergency managers can perform on-the-spot strategic analyses using their own computers.

Color-coded display of response performance in CAD Analyst.

Capabilities of CAD Analyst:

With CAD Analyst as a tool for evaluation, decision-makers can:

• Review current coverage using different response criteria
• Experiment with different time targets
  
• Calculate response performance reports by individual zones


• Compute scores by station area


• Plot incident plots along with the line-up and response performance info


• Plot unit response plots along with their response performance


• Obtain response performance reports by call category


• Obtain response performance reports by individual zones


• Print color coded maps along with scores


• Create reports/presentations by easily exporting color-coded maps into PowerPoint


• Analyze selected incidents in multiple ways using multiple criteria


• Shift
• Time of day
• Day of week
• Month
• Type of call
• Specific unit areas

Projects using CAD Analyst include:

• Statistical mapping of the workload and call-to-scene performance on all MVAs occurring during weekday rush hours in tourist months.
  
• Distributions of average dispatch handling, turn-out, and call-to-scene times of the first engine on Structure Fires. The darker the green, the better, and the darker the red, the worse when compared to target times.
  
• Distributions of the percentage call-to-scene performance of the first paramedic on life-threatening medical calls.
  

CAD Analyst can also:

• Analyze the frequency with which units respond outside their first due areas;
• Compare response performances across shifts;
• Compare peak vs. non-peak response times;
• Identify whether the CAD is dispatching the wrong units;
• Analyze the effect of changes in deployment