Call volume directly affects the quality of service provided by Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) because there are a limited number of crews available to respond to emergencies. When a crew is dispatched to an incident, it is unavailable for other calls. If another emergency occurs in the same area while crews are already on a call, units from other Fire Management Areas must respond, leading to longer response times and potentially worse outcomes for fire and medical emergencies.

Tracking the number of incidents helps the City make informed decisions about adding resources or adjusting dispatch protocols to prioritize the most critical calls. These decisions impact PF&R’s ability to meet national response standards set by the National Fire Protection Association’s Standard 1710.

The number of incidents has generally increased each year, with PF&R making adjustments to manage calls more efficiently with the same resources.

To maintain response times for high-priority calls, PF&R has developed programs to send other types of responders to lower-acuity calls. For example, the Community Health Assess and Treat (CHAT) program was created to handle low-acuity medical calls and connect individuals with additional healthcare resources. This program not only reduces the demand on fire and emergency response resources but also helps decrease non-emergent visits to Emergency Departments.

Calls involving homeless individuals have contributed to growth in several call categories, including fires, medical, and service calls. To address this, PF&R collaborates with Portland Street Response (PSR) and other providers to ensure the most appropriate resources are deployed or to connect individuals with follow-up care after PF&R’s initial response.

Every incident is logged in the PF&R records management system along with information on what was relayed through dispatchers, what units were sent, and what was found at the scene. PF&R counts all calls with a dispatch code assigned by the Bureau of Emergency Communications (9-1-1 call center) and a time of dispatch for at least one PF&R unit.

Information about call counts, available resources, and other statistics can be found on the PF&R Annual Performance Reports webpage.