The New York City Fire Department expanded its Modified Response pilot program into Brooklyn and Staten Island, following a successful pilot program in Queens that reduced accidents involving FDNY apparatus by 32%. Under Modified Response, firefighters refrain from using lights and sirens while responding to certain non-fire and non-life threatening emergencies. Commissioner Salvatore Cassano spoke to FIRE CHIEF about the program.

When did you begin to develop a modified response program for the FDNY?
We’ve been thinking about this for a very long time. Some people call it responding in a silent mode. I had an idea of trying to get it done. So what we did was, we gave it to a group of chiefs who were going to a management course and told them we wanted to look at a modified response policy. They did an intensive study with cities all of the country — some that did it some that didn’t. We gave it to a high-level management group. They came back with a terrific report to look at and digest.

When I became commissioner a year ago, this was one of the first initiatives I started because I thought it was that important. It had nothing to do with closing companies. It had all to do with safety and saving some money. They came back with a report on its success and the facts were there.

What in the report convinced you that implementing a modified response program would improve safety and save costs?
The biggest thing was the safety aspect of it. We would reduce accidents and when I saw that it really sold me. The side affect was the cost savings of fuel, wear-and-tear on apparatus and stress on the firefighter. Every time you respond, adrenaline is running and when you get to the scene and it’s nothing it comes back down. That wears and tears on your body over the years. So it’s less stress. But it also reduces accidents. … We knew we would reduce accidents somewhat. But when we did the pilot in Queens, we had a 32% reduction in accidents. We went from 77 to 52 accidents. That’s a pretty dramatic drop. If we can have that same drop throughout the city it’s going to be such an improvement in the way we respond.

Now, our world has changed. We are not going to as many fires. But the emergencies we go to every year are through the roof. We’ve probably gone to 300,000 emergencies last year and that’s a tremendous amount of responses. If we can go to a good number of those in modified response, there’s no doubt in my mind that accidents would be reduced throughout the city, with less injuries, saving the city money. We are very excited about it. We hope that sometime in the summer we will go citywide.

What are the steps other fire chiefs should take to implement a similar program?
I think the most important thing is that you have to inform the members in the field about why you are doing it so that they understand it is about safety, No. 1. You have to educate them about the ultimate goal of the pilot. Once you lay that out, then you tell them that the amount of emergencies in the last 20 years has doubled — to say that we are going to more emergencies that really could be handled by an electrician or plumber. If we are going to them, we have to get to them as safely as we can.

I also would explain to them how we are preserving their health. I recall as a young chief where we had one unit responding to an emergency by themselves, and they got into an intersection accident where someone was killed. That planted a seed in my head then that it didn’t seem the best way to do business. Explain that to them. And then I would show them the results of the pilot.

Was it an easy sell to firefighters?
Even though we provided the data we had a little trouble with the buy in within the department. This department is built on tradition and dedication. And they asked, "How can we not be responding, this is what we do?" Yes, but all these emergencies can be handled by one unit or maybe two units. And that’s why we want the other units to respond in modified modes. You have to sell it and you have to get people to understand why you are doing it and how they will be providing better service by doing it.

How do you sell it to government officials?
I report to the mayor and explained to him about the new project. He asked if it was safer without compromising service. I explained it to him that yes, it was and showed him the report. The data spoke for itself.