Pre-Arrival¶
Pre-Arrival guides a call-taker through a set of questions, turns the answers into a determinant code, and then gives them the instructions to read to the caller while units are on the way.
It runs from the Dispatch console: on a call you already have, or on a 911 you are still taking. Every community gets it; what your plan affects is whether you can write your own protocols (see Editing protocols).
How a protocol works¶
Four steps, in this order:
- Case entry: the two things true of any call: what happened, and how many people are involved.
- Chief complaint: pick the protocol. Type to filter, or enter its number.
- Key questions: the questions for that complaint. One at a time, in order.
- The determinant, then the instructions: a code such as
9E1, followed by the scripts to read out.
The code is three parts: the protocol number, a severity letter, and a sub-number. 9E1 is protocol 9 (cardiac arrest), severity Echo, first branch.
| Letter | Default priority | |
|---|---|---|
| E | Echo, the most serious | P1 |
| D | Delta | P1 |
| C | Charlie | P2 |
| B | Bravo | P3 |
| A | Alpha | P4 |
| O | Omega, referral or advice | P5 |
Those priorities are a default you can change per letter in Admin.
Running one¶
From an existing call: open the call, then the Pre-Arrival tab, then Start Pre-Arrival.
From the New Call form: the Pre-Arrival button sits with the actions at the bottom. You can work the whole protocol before the incident exists; it attaches itself to the call when you create it, and anything you already read to the caller is written onto the new call's log.
From a 911: the Pre-Arrival button is in the call-taking panel, next to Create & Dispatch. This is the one that matters most, because you are on the line with the caller while you work it. The intake binds to the incident when you create it.
It is built to be worked without the mouse
One question fills the screen at a time. Enter moves on, Left and Right step back and forward through what you have answered, and on a multiple-choice question you just start typing to filter and press Enter to take the first match. You are talking to someone while you do this.
Send help before you finish¶
Some answers mean units go now. Answer that the patient is not breathing, that there is an active shooter, that people are still inside the building, and a red bar appears offering to dispatch immediately. The questions carry on afterwards.
Nothing about Pre-Arrival makes anyone wait for the interview to end. If it did, it would be worse than not having it.
What lands on the call¶
- The determinant and the protocol it came from.
- One line each time you start reading a set of instructions, naming what you are giving: "DISPATCH IS INSTRUCTING THE CALLER IN ADULT CPR".
- Priority and nature, if you choose to apply them.
Responding units see all of it in the call comments on their MDT while they are still driving.
Scene prep is not logged
The post-dispatch instructions (unlock the door, put the dog away, meet us at the entrance) are housekeeping for the caller, not something a responding unit acts on, so they stay off the call log. The pre-arrival instructions, the hands-on ones, are logged.
Applying it to the call¶
When the interrogation finishes you can push what it established onto the call. Each field is a separate tick box, so nothing you typed gets overwritten without you saying so:
- Priority: set from the determinant's severity letter. It moves in both directions, and the change is written to the call log naming the old and new priority.
- Nature: the determinant's plain-English label.
If you ran it from the New Call form or a 911, the nature only fills in when you have not already set one, so picking a call type still wins.
Picking it back up¶
Every run is kept on the call's Pre-Arrival tab. Click one to reopen it: an unfinished interrogation resumes at the first question you had not answered, and a finished one comes back on its determinant with the instruction cards ready, which is how you carry on reading a CPR script you had already started.
A second dispatcher opening the same call sees the same thing. A second caller on the same incident gets their own run, and both are kept.
What is covered¶
74 protocols across four services, and you choose which packs to load.
| Pack | Protocols | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Medical | 33 | Abdominal pain through cardiac arrest, chest pain, stroke, childbirth, overdose and unknown problem |
| Law enforcement | 20 | Alarms, burglary, domestics, shoplifters, robbery, weapons, welfare checks, barricade and hostage |
| Fire | 15 | Structure and vehicle fires, gas leaks, CO, hazmat, explosion, collapse, downed wires, water rescue, extrication |
| Tow and DOT | 6 | Disabled vehicles, recovery and heavy tow, crash tows, roadway hazards, abandoned vehicles, lane closures |
The instructions differ by service because the work does. Medical is life support. Fire is evacuation: get out and stay out, close doors behind you, what to do if you are trapped upstairs. Police is caller safety: get somewhere that locks, do not confront them, do not follow the vehicle. Tow is roadside survival: never stand in front of or behind the vehicle, and if you cannot get out safely, stay belted in with the doors shut.
Protocols claim the call types they cover, so choosing SHOPLIFTER or THEFT offers you the same protocol.
Setting it up¶
Admin → Dispatch & CAD → Pre-Arrival.
- Load a protocol pack: pick a service pack and load it. Loading again updates protocols it already knows and leaves your other services alone.
- Turn protocols on and off: anything switched off stops appearing in the dispatcher's picker.
- Response settings: the priority each severity letter maps to, the compression pacer rate (100, 110 or 120 per minute), and whether the apply-to-call boxes start ticked.
Loading a pack overwrites your edits to those protocols
A pack load updates every protocol it contains, so anything you reworded in one of them goes back to how the pack has it. Export first if you want to keep your version.
Editing protocols¶
Every protocol can be rewritten, and you can add your own. Edit on any row opens it.
- Details: service, number, title, and the call types that preselect it.
- Key questions: add, reorder and remove them, set the type (text, number, choice, address, phone), give a multiple-choice question its options, and set an input mask. Each has an id, which is what the determinants refer to.
- Determinants: the code, the plain-English label, the conditions that select it, and which instruction cards it shows. They are checked top to bottom and the first match wins, so the most specific goes first.
- Instruction cards: post-dispatch or pre-arrival, the title, the steps read aloud, the phrase the call log uses, and whether it carries a compression pacer.
Any question can also be made a send-now trigger, which is what puts the dispatch bar in front of the call-taker mid-interview.
The last determinant must have no conditions
That final catch-all is what guarantees an interrogation always ends with an answer. Without it a call-taker could finish every question and be left with no code to dispatch on, so a protocol saved without one is rejected.
If you delete a question or a card that a determinant was pointing at, the reference is removed and you are told which one. The protocol stays usable rather than quietly breaking mid-call.
Export downloads every protocol as a file; Import reads one back, updating anything matching an existing service and number. That is how you move protocols between communities.
Plan
Running Pre-Arrival is part of every plan. Writing your own protocols is a Pulse Pro feature; during the public beta it is open to everyone.