Comments on: Calls For Emergency Services Increasing; Response Times Improving http://www.northescambia.com/2009/12/calls-for-emergency-services-increasing-response-times-improving Local News for Molino, Bratt, McDavid, Century, Walnut Hill, Cantonment Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:32:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mike Weaver http://www.northescambia.com/2009/12/calls-for-emergency-services-increasing-response-times-improving/comment-page-1#comment-28451 Mike Weaver Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:24:13 +0000 http://www.northescambia.com/?p=13403#comment-28451 moe, The fractile response for Emergency Medical Services is stated, 84.37% within 10 minutes. You are correct in that this is a much clearer way of documenting service levels. However, nationally the fire service uses response time averages. Thank you for the interest in the level of service you receive. Mike Weaver Escambia County EMS Chief moe,
The fractile response for Emergency Medical Services is stated, 84.37% within 10 minutes. You are correct in that this is a much clearer way of documenting service levels. However, nationally the fire service uses response time averages.

Thank you for the interest in the level of service you receive.

Mike Weaver
Escambia County
EMS Chief

]]> By: moe http://www.northescambia.com/2009/12/calls-for-emergency-services-increasing-response-times-improving/comment-page-1#comment-28440 moe Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:55:19 +0000 http://www.northescambia.com/?p=13403#comment-28440 Improvement to *average* response time is fine but it is a meaningless measure of the actual service level. Average simply means that for every response time of 1 minute there was another response of 10 minutes - great for the recipient of short responses, but not so good for the longer waits. A more meaningful measure is known as fractile response time - measured by dividing the responses into cumulative fractions. After removing severe outliers that are recorded in error (for certain, not just assumed) the data are presented often as 10% increments (i.e. 80 % of responses were under 6 minutes, 90% of responses were under 7 minutes). This presents a much clearer and more meaningful picture of the degree to which EVERY citizen (or at least the vast majority) are actually being served - not just the mathematical average. Improvement to *average* response time is fine but it is a meaningless measure of the actual service level. Average simply means that for every response time of 1 minute there was another response of 10 minutes – great for the recipient of short responses, but not so good for the longer waits.

A more meaningful measure is known as fractile response time – measured by dividing the responses into cumulative fractions. After removing severe outliers that are recorded in error (for certain, not just assumed) the data are presented often as 10% increments (i.e. 80 % of responses were under 6 minutes, 90% of responses were under 7 minutes). This presents a much clearer and more meaningful picture of the degree to which EVERY citizen (or at least the vast majority) are actually being served – not just the mathematical average.

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