Frequently Asked Questions

• Quotes can be filtered in a variety of ways related to the first responder participants (using the options shown on the left side of the Interview Quotes Tool):
  • By Discipline: 9-1-1 / Dispatch (COMMS), EMS, Fire (FF), and Law Enforcement (LE)
  • By Area: Urban (U), Suburban (S), and Rural (R)
  • By Code and Subcode (e.g., Problems code with Technology subcode)
  • Role type
  • Age group
  • Experience grouped by total years of service
  • Gender

Interview quotes are displayed in tabular format with quotes truncated. Individual quotes can be shown in full by clicking the plus symbol next to the quote. To show all quote results in full, toggle the blue "Expand/Collapse All" button at the top of the quotes column.

Columns displayed in the table of results are customizable. The Code/Subcode, Quote and Transcript ID columns are always present. The Discipline, Area, Role, Age, Experience, and Gender columns can be toggled visible or hidden (using the blue toggle buttons shown at the top of the Interview Quotes Tool). All interview quotes are sortable by column, with the exception of the Quotes column.

By default, the tool displays 100 quotes per page. This can be increased within the tool.

All interview quotes can be exported to a PDF file using the "Export PDF" button in the top right corner of the tool. Due to the large size of the dataset, interview quotes may take several minutes to download. Data download speeds have been optimized for use with the Google Chrome web browser. The full dataset of over 20,000 quotes is available for download here. The dataset of quotes can also be accessed via https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-2820.

Full code lists are available as appendices to the Volume 2 report, NISTIR 8245. Quotes displayed with the Subcode omitted are to be interpreted as top-level codes with no associated subcode.

The transcript ID is a notation representing the source interview transcript. The notations are comprised of three parts: discipline (FF; EMS; LE; COMMS); area (Urban=U; Suburban=S; Rural=R); and interview number. This convention provides assurances of the data’s provenance and that the data can quickly and easily be located within the larger dataset when necessary. Example: (LE-U-006) refers to a law enforcement interview, from an urban location, who is law enforcement interviewee number 006.

"Not Specified" within the interview quotes indicates one of two things:

• The interview session was with multiple first responders, so role, age, experience, and gender aren’t specified in the result (e.g., gender cannot be reported for a single quote in an interview with both male and female responders).
• The first responder opted to leave the question response blank during the interview

The "PS" notation refers to "Public Safety" interviews, where the first responder was cross-trained in FF, LE, and EMS disciplines.

A SME is a subject matter expert. For context, some quotes include the interview question, labelled "Q", and the first responder participant, or SME, response, labelled "SME".

For interviews with multiple responders, speaker responses within a quote are labelled with brackets surrounding an "S" followed by their speaker number, e.g., [S3].

Survey results are displayed in tabular format (scrollable via the User Interface (UI) depending on the number of results shown). The first two columns of the results table are static and always displayed:

• Response ID
• Discipline

The remaining columns of the results table are customizable. Each column in the results table represents a different question asked on the survey. Since the survey consisted of questions with many sub-components, results customizations are grouped by question topic. Columns for the following question topics can be toggled visible or hidden (using the blue toggle buttons shown at the top of the Survey Results Tool):

• Devices – frequency of use and rankings for various devices used in first responders’ day-to-day work
• Problems – information problems for COMMS; device problems for EMS, FF, and LE
• Apps / Software – frequency of use and rankings for various applications and software used in first responders’ day-to-day work
• Futuristic – technology that first responders think would be useful in their day-to-day work
• Large Events – technology used in major disasters and large, planned events
• Virtual Reality
• 9-1-1/Dispatch Call Center Information
• EMS Medical Technology
• Final Comments
• Demographics

When the Problems topic is toggled visible, a separate list is presented on the right side of the Survey Results Tool for further results display refinement. Problems are grouped by device, and can be displayed or hidden by clicking or unclicking the checkbox for the associated device.

All survey results are sortable by column, with the exception of the columns for open-ended questions. By default, the tool displays 100 quotes per page sorted in increasing order by Response ID. This can be increased within the tool.

The NIST PSCR Usability Team has made visualizations of the survey results, split into various subsets where appropriate, available for public use. The visualization images can be viewed and downloaded here.

Survey results can be filtered in a variety of ways related to the first responder respondent demographics (using the options shown on the left side of the Survey Results Tool):

• Discipline: 9-1-1 / Dispatch (COMMS), EMS, Fire (FF), and Law Enforcement (LE)
• Area: Urban (U), Suburban (S), and Rural (R)
• State
• FEMA Region
• Jurisdiction level
• COMMS Appointment (Civilian or Deputized)
• EMS Agency (Public or Private)
• FF Department Type (Career or Volunteer)
• Role
• Age group
• Experience (grouped by total years of service)
• Gender

All survey results can be exported to a tab-delimited file using the "Export" button above the results table in the Survey Results Tool. Due to the large size of the dataset, results may take several minutes to download. The full dataset of 7,182 survey responses is available for download here. The dataset of survey responses can also be accessed via https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-2820.

To protect the identity of the first responders surveyed, all survey responses are anonymous and have been assigned a unique Response ID for analysis.

• Region 1: Connecticut (CT), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), New Hampshire (NH), Rhode Island (RI), Vermont (VT)
• Region 2: New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), Puerto Rico (PR), Virgin Islands (VI)
• Region 3: District of Columbia (DC), Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD), Pennsylvania (PA), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV)
• Region 4: Alabama (AL), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Kentucky (KY), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Tennessee (TN)
• Region 5: Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Ohio (OH), Wisconsin (WI)
• Region 6: Arkansas (AR), Louisiana (LA), New Mexico (NM), Oklahoma (OK), Texas (TX)
• Region 7: Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Missouri (MO), Nebraska (NE)
• Region 8: Colorado (CO), Montana (MT), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), Utah (UT), Wyoming (WY)
• Region 9: Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Hawaii (HI), Nevada (NV), Pacific Islands)
• Region 10: Alaska (AK), Idaho (ID), Oregon (OR), Washington (WA)

Each column represents a different question asked in the survey. Due to the length of the questions, a shorter descriptor was used for the column headings. The mapping between each column heading descriptor and its corresponding survey question can be found here. Screenshots of how each question appeared on the survey can be found here.

Blank cells within the survey results indicates one of two things:

• Participation in the survey was voluntary. Therefore none of the questions on the survey required a response, with the exception of the discipline question since a response was necessary in order to branch to the appropriate discipline-specific survey. Therefore, participants could choose to skip any of the questions and continue to the next question, or to quit the survey at any point.
• The corresponding survey question was not asked. For example, the questions about the device, "foot pedal" were only asked to COMMS participants. All EMS, FF, and LE participants will have blank cells in the columns for this device. The column name mapping includes information about the questions asked to each discipline (see previous Survey Results Tool FAQ question for mapping).

The tool can be used to analyze the survey results by generating charts and data tables.

To investigate the survey results, use the filters to make selections based on the results you want to investigate. Once filtering options have been chosen, click "Run Analysis" to create charts and data tables based on the selections.

The filters options are described below:

Required Filter Selections

• Discipline: the default selection "All Disciplines" covers the superset of survey questions including questions asked to all four disciplines as well as discipline-specific questions asked to only certain discipline(s). If you want to analyze discipline-specific results, select 9-1-1/Dispatch, EMS, Fire Fighting, or Law Enforcement.
• Question Topic: since the survey consisted of questions with many sub-components, results can be analyzed by the following question topics.
  • Devices – frequency of use and rankings for various devices used in first responders' day-to-day work
  • Problems – information problems for COMMS; device problems for EMS, FF, and LE
    • Problem Area: this filter will only be visible if "Problems" is selected as the Question Topic to investigate. For details on Problem Area filter options, refer to the data map that links the tool's presented survey items back to the survey instrument.
  • Apps / Software – frequency of use and rankings for various applications and software used in first responders' day-to-day work
  • Futuristic – technology that first responders think would be useful in their day-to-day work
  • Major Disasters – technology used in major disasters
  • Large Planned Events – technology used in large, planned events
  • Virtual Reality
  • 9-1-1/Dispatch Call Center Information
  • Demographics
• One or more Questions: select one or multiple questions within the question topic to analyze the survey results. If multiple questions are selected, results of each question will be displayed in separate charts but shown in the same data table.

Optional Filter Selections

• Demographic Subgroup 1 and Subgroup 2: optionally, split the results further for up to two demographic subgroups, such as area, FEMA region, jurisdiction, role, age, experience (in years), or gender.

Note: The options within the filters such as question topics, questions and demographic subgroups will be dynamically determined based on the “Discipline” selection and subsequent selections.

There are six types of charts depending on the filter selections and the resulting number of percentages to display. When the cursor hovers over a chart element, it will show more details with the associated data label, percentage, and response count.

• The Chart tab
  • Display Options
    • Dark mode: on/off to show/hide dark background
    • Patterns: on/off to show/hide patterns to data series (only shown if one or more demographic subgroup is selected)
• The Data Table tab
  • The data table is sortable by column. Clicking on a column heading will toggle between sorting in ascending order and descending order. By default, the data table is sorted by the first column, Row ID.

• Charts can be downloaded in PNG or PDF formats by clicking the "Export Chart" button on the upper right corner of each chart.
  • If multiple questions are selected, all charts displayed can be downloaded into a single PDF by clicking the "Export All Charts" beneath Display Options.
• Data tables can be downloaded in CSV, Excel, or PDF formats by clicking the "Export Data Table" button on the upper right corner of the data table.

The percentages displayed in a chart are calculated by dividing the number of responses for each item by the total number of responses for the question.

• The number of responses (n) for each percentage is the number of survey respondents who selected the response option, given the selected filters and can be found in the data table in the column labeled "n".
• The total number of responses to a question is the number of survey respondents who were asked the question and responded and can be found in the Data Table tab in the column labeled "total count". Note: When the "Demographic Subgroup" filters are selected, the total number of responses is further split by the selected demographic subgroup(s).

There are also some special considerations for specific survey questions and filters:

• Some survey questions allowed respondents to check all that apply; for these questions, percentages will not sum to 100%. For details on response options to the survey questions, refer to the data map.
• A varied number of participants responded to each survey question because a) the survey was voluntary, and b) participants saw certain questions and response options depending on their discipline. Because of this, when the "All Disciplines" filter is selected, the percentages displayed in the chart may reflect different values for the total number of responses. Refer to the Data Table tab to see the corresponding total number of responses.
• The list of items displayed in the charts is determined dynamically based on the filter selections. For example, if "All Disciplines" is selected, and the "Device: BodyCam" Question is selected, the percentage displayed in the chart is based only on valid responses for law enforcement (not all disciplines) since this device was only asked on the law enforcement survey. If multiple questions are selected, each question is processed independently, and the percentage calculation would be based on valid responses only for that question. Additionally, when using discipline-specific filters (COMMS, EMS, FF, or LE), items that are 0% reflect either that no respondents selected the item or that the item wasn't asked to that discipline. Refer to the data map for more information.
• There were two different types of devices listed for the futuristic technologies question.
  • One type was a preset list of technology based on PSCR research priorities and derived from the results of the interviews. The total number of responses for this type were the total number of respondents who participated in the survey (dependent on discipline).
  • The second type was a list of items that were piped forward based on a participant’s previous survey responses about their day-to-day technology use. The total number of responses for this type were depended on these responses.
  • See the "Methodology" page for resources providing more information about the futuristic technology question.

Yes – Since first responders in tribal areas were not specifically recruited for the survey aside from the larger sample outreach, tribal responses were so few that they are only included in the Survey Results Tool. Although the percentage of tribal responses was low, it is important to include their data with the overall results. For more details on our outreach efforts, see the "Methodology" page for links to our Phase 2, Volume 1 report.

Currently, only charts filtered by a discipline show in the title, for example, "[Chart title] (Filtered by EMS)." But, if "All Disciplines" is selected, there will be no "Filtered by [discipline]" shown.

The list of axis categories displayed in the charts is determined dynamically based on the filter selections. Survey respondents were able to select a response option for each of the survey items for a question. A data map was created to link the tool's presented survey items back to the survey instrument. The Survey Results Tool FAQ provides more information about this mapping (see "What do the column headings mean?").

The "role" filter is a classification from the "job title" survey question. Titles were categorized into one of the four categories:

• Frontline Responder: roles directly involved in responding to incidents and emergencies, including titles such as dispatcher, communications officer, EMT, paramedic, firefighter, fire apparatus driver operator (FADO), police officer, and deputy (sheriff).
• Supervising Responder: roles with supervisory responsibilities, including titles such as communications manager, captain, lieutenant, corporal, and sergeant.
• Chief/Management: roles with decision-making responsibilities, including titles such as chief, commander, commissioner, and director.
• Non-frontline Responder: roles that provide critical support to frontline responders, including titles such as technician, education coordinator, training, fire safety officer, investigator, administrator/admin, and fire marshal.