On October 1, 1998, the City of Plano received a
Class 1 Public Protection Classification from the Insurance Services Office, Inc.
(ISO). Plano is the first city in Texas and the Southwest (which includes TX, OK, KS,
CO, NM, UT and AZ) to receive the Class 1 rating. There are only 8 cities
in the state of Texas and a total of only 55
cities in the United States that have received this top rating.
The rating, established by ISO, evaluates the performance of
municipal fire suppression capabilities. The city rating evaluation consists mainly
of three areas: receiving and handling of fire alarms, the Fire Department, and water
supply. The ranking of items leads to an overall Public Protection Classification,
which is one element used to develop fire insurance rates. The evaluation reviews
and correlates areas of public fire protection that have a significant affect on
minimizing fire damage once a fire occurs.
This was the culmination of effort that began
several years
ago by the Fire Department, Water Department and Public Safety Communications to achieve
this better rating. Everyone in Plano should experience a higher level of fire
protection services due to increased training and performance measurement that was
implemented to qualify for the Class 1 rating. The move from a Class 2 to a Class 1
rating will not result in a lower insurance premium for residential property owners;
however, it may result in lower premiums for commercial property owners.
Commission on Fire Accreditation
International (CFAI)
Since
2001, the Plano Fire Department has had Accredited Agency status with the Commission
on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) for meeting the criteria established
through the CFAI’s voluntary self-assessment and accreditation program. The Plano Fire Department is one of 3 Texas cities and 120 agencies world-wide that have achieved Accredited Agency status with the CFAI. Plano
is the only Fire Department in Texas to achieve accreditation in both fire and
emergency medical services (EMS). Plano
is the only ISO Class 1, fire accredited and EMS accredited Fire Department in
the United States.
The
Commission on Fire Accreditation International is dedicated to assisting the
fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence
through self-assessment and accreditation in order to provide continuous quality
improvement and the enhancement of service delivery to their communities.
The CFAI process is voluntary, and provides an agency with an improvement
model to assess their service delivery and performance internally and then work
with a team of peers from other agencies to evaluate the completed
self-assessment.
Fire Chief Hugo Esparza states: “The achievement of accredited status represents our commitment to the people and visitors of our community to whom we provide high quality emergency services. The journey itself established a culture of critical self-assessment and continuous improvement throughout our organization. It is invaluable to us now in continually seeking improvement and benchmarking our services against other departments across the country to ensure the delivery of superior products and services to our customers.”
Commission on Accreditation of
Ambulance Services (CAAS)
In 2007, the city of Plano Fire Department received re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS)
for its compliance with national standards of excellence. The Plano Fire
Department became the 54th ambulance service out of approximately 33,000 in the
United States to successfully complete the voluntary review process which
included completion of a comprehensive application and on-site review by
national experts in emergency medical services. Plano is one of 3 Texas cities and 106 departments in the United States and Canada that have achieved this accreditation.
The Commission is a non-profit organization which
was established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America's
medical transportation system. The primary focus of the commission's
standards is high-quality patient care. This is accomplished by
establishing national standards which not only address the delivery of patient
care, but also the ambulance service's total operation and it's relationships
with other agencies, the general public and the medical community. The
commission's standards often exceed state or local licensing requirements.
Fire Chief Hugo Esparza states: “Accreditation represents our firm commitment to providing top quality patient care to the community that we serve. Our staff has been the key to our successful completion of the accreditation process. I believe it gives a feeling of pride to work in an accredited department. Everyone played a valuable role in our ability to meet the Commission’s high standards. Having achieved accreditation, the maintenance of it will provide us with the stimulus for continuous quality improvement through critical self-assessment.”
Commission Accreditation Facts:
- Established in 1990, the Commission is an
independent, non-profit corporation with a nine member Board of Directors.
The Board sets policy for the Commission's Operations as well as ongoing
monitoring/revision of the Commission's standards. The Board includes
representatives from the following organizations: American Ambulance
Association, Emergency Nurses Association, National Association of EMTs,
International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Association of EMS
Physicians and the National Association of EMS Directors
- The three member Panel of Commissioners is the
independent body which provides an impartial review of the applicant
agencies. Members of the Panel represent health care, law and
business.
- The Commission is managed by the Center for
Association Growth based in Glenview, Illinois.
- The Commission utilizes more than 70 trained
reviewers from across the country who conduct the comprehensive on-site
review of applicants. Each team of the reviewers prepares a report for
the Panel of Commissioners' consideration. The reviewers include both
physician and non-physician experts in emergency medical services.
- The accreditation process is open to all type of
ambulance services including private, public, fire-based, inter-facility
transport, etc.
- An ambulance service voluntarily completes the
application and review process every five years.
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