If you’re using our StreetWise to RMS interface (such as with Emergency Reporting), much of the data created through the use of StreetWise in the field automatically creates associated data in your NFIRS report before you even return from the call. Unit status is captured in the NFIRS unit sections, while basic incident data is captured in the main incident sections. Finally, many of your tactical actions and benchmarks will be recorded in the CAD Narrative section to help further document the events that occurred during an incident.
While “Staging” does not appear in your NFIRS CAD narrative, it is, in fact, captured as the unit’s “Arrived” timestamp in your NFIRS incident report data in Emergency Reporting.
NFIRS does not currently have a separate and distinct timestamp data point for “Staging”. Instead, the U.S. Fire Administration, in its Code-A-Gram supplement 2010-12-01 clarified that “arriving at a staging area is considered being at a specific location of the incident.” This was done to help alleviate questions as to whether or not arriving at an IC-designated staging location was equivalent to arriving at the scene for purposes of NFIRS documentation. Since the staging area represents the unit’s initial assignment for that incident, the USFA said “Yes”.
For this reason, use of either the “On Scene” or “Staging” button in StreetWise will record an associated “Arrived” unit timestamp in the NFIRS unit section of Emergency Reporting’s incident report.