National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)
Policy or Procedure |
Content |
System policies and procedures |
Determine the hardware and software to be used and how the system will function. Write policies and procedures to document the system and to establish procedures for the use of the system.
Policies and procedures may be needed to cover the following situations:
NOTE: Policies and procedures may be needed for each level in the system because hardware and software implementation may be different at each level. |
Data flow policies and procedures |
Determine how data will flow within the State, county, and department and write policies and procedures at each level specifying the following data flow elements:
NOTE: Policies and procedures may be needed for each level in the system. |
File naming convention |
Define the convention for naming files used to pass data through the system from firehouse to fire department to county to State. Recommendation: Use a format that will allow you to see at a glance the fire department, station, date, and NFIRS version.
Suggestion: Using typical 8 + 3 character file-naming format:
Sample: 76000JAN.005
NOTE: Some third-party software packages use a default file-naming convention (e.g., JAN.txt, JAN2001.txt) for report generation. Establish policies and procedures that direct the person generating the report to rename the file to comply with the established standard. |
Specify additional critical fields |
If additional fields need to be completed (e.g., beyond the core required fields identified by NFIRS 5.0) to generate reports, they should be identified prior to implementation, a policy requiring their completion should be written, and the software should be configured to make them required. They would then show up as incomplete during the validation process if the user had not entered all required data.
Suggestion: To better track the cause of Fire Service Casualties within a local fire department, the Cause of Firefighter Injury data field is a critical piece of information. Develop a policy and procedure to make this field required.
Sample: Cause of Firefighter Injuries (a required data field) |
Use of Plus-one codes |
NFIRS 5.0 has the capability to break down the standard codes provided in the base software into more specific subcodes by adding another digit to the code numbers. These are referred to as Plus-one codes. The addition of the Plus-one code capability is an option requested by many fire administration organizations. Plus-one codes are available in both the Data Entry ToolData Entry Tool and in NFIRS 5.0 certified third-party software tools. The codes can be used for local, state, or national reporting.
The State data manager should determine if Plus-one codes are going to be used in their state.. If so, they should be coordinated by the state data managers to ensure code use standardization for report generation. Polices and procedures relating to the use of Plus-one codes should be written and distributed to all NFIRS 5.0 users when the system is implemented in a State.
Suggestion: To determine the denomination type for fires in places of worship, develop Plus-one codes for Property Type Code 131.
Sample: Religious Denominations 131a Adventist, Seventh Day 131b Assembly of God 131c Baptist 131d Catholic 131e Episcopal 131f Greek Orthodox 131g Lutheran 131h Unitarian 131o Other 131p Undetermined denomination
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Training policies and procedures |
Training policies and procedures will be determined after the software is selected to implement NFIRS 5.0. Training situations that may require a policy or procedure include:
Refer to the Training section of the Toolkit for details. |
Support policies and procedures |
Support policies and procedures will be determined after the software is selected to implement NFIRS 5.0. Support situations that may require a policy or procedure include:
Refer to the Support section of the Toolkit for details. |
Communication policies and procedures |
Write policies and procedures to specify communication methods and practices in the following areas:
Sample: Refer to the sample newsletters in the Samples section of the Toolkit. |
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United States Fire Administration |
Page |
File Type | application/msword |
File Title | Budget Item Table |
Author | Kathleen Stell |
Last Modified By | Kathleen Stell |
File Modified | 2001-10-11 |
File Created | 2001-10-02 |