This article provides answers to commonly asked questions about fire incident documentation in First Due. Whether you're navigating setup configurations, managing documentation requirements, or troubleshooting submission issues, this comprehensive FAQ resource addresses the most frequent questions from users across all roles who work with fire incident reporting.
Fire incident documentation is a critical function that impacts compliance, data accuracy, and reporting capabilities. Users often encounter questions related to NFIRS 5.0 standards, system configurations, data integration, and export processes. This FAQ consolidates answers to help users quickly resolve common issues and understand system capabilities without needing to contact support.
This resource is organized into three main categories: Setup (configuration and initial system questions), Documentation (data entry and validation questions), and Submitting & Exporting (file generation and compliance questions). The information provided reflects NFIRS 5.0 standards and First Due's implementation of those standards.
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My Agency operates under two (or more) FDIDs, does First Due support this workflow?
Yes! First Due can support multiple FDIDs under a single agency. When you add a second or beyond FDID, the form will automatically expose a dropdown for your crews to select which FDID they are under. If you don't know the code, don't worry—we allow you to change labels to make documenting the correct FDID easier.
Do Responder times push into NFIRS?
Yes and No. Users logged into Responder as Unit Users can have their times populate into NFIRS as apparatus times. Your Client Success or Implementation Manager can assist you with setting this up.
Can I make fields required?
Yes, you can make select fields required above and beyond the NFIRS 5.0 standard through our Field Customization. Not every field is available as documenting certain fields leads to triggering other NFIRS 5.0 Standard validation requirements that may cause submission failures.
How can I prevent CAD data from being altered on my report?
Select fields, specifically those most commonly imported from CAD, can be set as Read Only through Field Customization. There is a permission object that can override this Read Only setting if manual changes are needed by a supervisor.
Why are some Actions Taken not available to document with specific Incident Types?
NFIRS 5.0 Design Documentation has specific rules and requirements around documenting Actions Taken with specific Incident Types. These Actions, if documented in your NFIRS report, would be viewed as incorrect data and the incident would be rejected.
Can data from our Preplan come directly into NFIRS?
Yes! If the incident address is matched to a Preplan address, there will be a prompt asking if you'd like to import the data from Preplan. People Involved have a separate button to import Contacts from Preplan if those contacts were involved in this Incident (such as making contact with a keyholder).
I received a file automatically, but it contains data for my personnel, including emails, addresses, names, apparatus information and other data points. What is this file?
The NFIRS 5.0 standard has two different data exports that are supported. There is the familiar Incident export that contains your data from incidents, and there's the lesser known "Department File" that contains information related to your staff, units, stations, and vehicles. This Department File is part of the NFIRS Standard, but not commonly used. We have an option to disable this file in our NFIRS Setup if it is not desired or required for submissions.
My NFIRS submission report has lots of Warnings about data. Why is this happening?
Warnings are usually a result of a Special Study question in the export file, such as COVID-19, that FEMA does not currently recognize in their validation tool. Warnings still result in a successful import.
My NFIRS submission has errors. Why?
First Due strives to be 100% compliant with NFIRS rules and regulations. Sometimes when exporting data to third-party applications such as State Repositories, those repositories have different interpretations of the "Relational Edits" or validations that are enforced. We make every effort to be compliant with NFIRS rules as interpreted by different entities.
Regular Configuration Review: Periodically review your Field Customization settings to ensure required fields align with your agency's documentation standards and compliance requirements.
FDID Label Customization: If your agency operates under multiple FDIDs, customize the dropdown labels to match terminology familiar to your crews to reduce documentation errors.
Preplan Data Utilization: Maintain up-to-date Preplan information to maximize the efficiency of automatic data import during incident documentation.
CAD Data Protection: Work with your administrator to identify which CAD-imported fields should be set as Read Only to maintain data integrity while allowing supervisor override capability when necessary.
Export File Management: Understand which export files your state or reporting entity requires and disable unnecessary exports (like the Department File) to avoid confusion or unintended data sharing.
Validation Understanding: Familiarize yourself with the difference between Warnings and Errors in NFIRS submissions. Warnings typically don't prevent successful submission, while Errors require correction.
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