“Things get done only if the data we gather can inform and inspire those in a position to make difference.” Mike Schmoker

When it comes to the subject of delivering emergency services, it is not uncommon for discussions to become deeply emotional. In the fire service, these conversations typically revolve around people who die from fire and the persistent threat of fire to our communities. However, the fundamental challenge with emotional arguments is that they are frequently driven by personal agendas and individual perspectives. What that ultimately means is that decisions end up being negotiated not upon solid, verifiable facts, but upon subjective viewpoints.

For years, the law enforcement community has successfully utilized data to drive their messaging and garner public and financial support for their mission. They can quickly present clear statistics regarding crime rates, drug usage trends, and traffic accidents. When standing in front of elected officials and city managers, police leaders base their operational justifications on solid numbers rather than emotional appeals. This data-driven approach is one of the primary reasons law enforcement has been so successful at advancing their strategic agendas on a national level.

By contrast, the fire service has historically relied on emotional arguments to justify its operational needs and budget requests. To build sustainable, high-performing organizations, the fire service must transition toward a consistent, disciplined usage of data relative to the critical issues impacting our industry.  Whether it’s a fire department or any business / Non-profit environment it doesn’t pay to be all flash and no substance.

The Reality of Modern Emergency Response

Data analytics does not diminish the fire service’s mission; rather, it provides clarity on where the true workload lies.

In many agencies across the nation, fire calls account for only one to two percent of total incident volume, while the vast majority of calls involve emergency medical services (EMS), false alarms, or varied community service calls. Yet, marketing and recruitment campaigns frequently brand the organization around high-frequency structural firefighting.

Operating under false pretenses, individually or organizationally, creates false expectations and a false sense of security when it comes time to account for taxpayer dollars. The issue is rarely a lack of tools to measure performance, but rather a tendency to be seduced by pomp, circumstance, and traditional paradigms instead of doing the grinding work that produces measurable results.

Looking at National Data

To understand how national trends compare to local operations, fire service leaders must engage with comprehensive data reports rather than relying on tradition alone:

• ESO Annual Reports: Records management platforms like ESO gather data points from thousands of fire and EMS departments across the United States. Reviewing these types of benchmark reports allows leaders to evaluate operational efficiency, response metrics, and patient care outcomes against national standards.
• The Wingspread Conferences: Beginning in the 1970s, the historic Wingspread Conferences were convened to evaluate the true impact of fire in the United States and map out strategic solutions for the profession. Examining historical and modern reports—such as Wingspread VII and the archives preserved by The National Fire Heritage Center—provides essential national context on how community risk reduction, firefighter safety, and operational models have evolved over decades.

Systems, Progress, and Strategic Leadership

Progress in emergency services has never come from clinging strictly to tradition; it comes from examining objective data and evaluating performance. Every major safety advancement, from SCBAs and thermal imaging to advanced EMS protocols and data analytics, emerged because leaders challenged comfortable assumptions.

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear notes, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Goals provide direction, but data-backed systems create progress. When emergency service leaders ground their strategic plans in actual data, they shift from passively reacting to operational issues to proactively building sustainable solutions for their personnel and the communities they serve.

It is time for fire service leaders to step up to the podium armed with facts, objective data, and clear operational analytics. Aligning agency messaging with true operational reality isn’t just good management, it is essential for long-term organizational success.

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes