Fire Protocol Calltaking and Dispatch (EFD)
What this domain tests
The Fire Priority Dispatch System (FPDS) portion of the EFD exam checks whether you can process a fire, rescue, or hazardous-materials call in a fixed, auditable order - Case Entry, protocol selection, Key Questioning, determinant assignment, and Post-Dispatch Instructions - without letting the caller's urgency reorder the script.
Entry and address control
Callback number and incident address are confirmed before anything else; a wrong address invalidates every later decision. Cross streets, building name, floor, and unit number belong in the location field, not buried in narrative notes. Asking "Tell me exactly what happened" surfaces the chief complaint, which selects the protocol.
Key Questioning
Key Questions are read as written, in order, and skipped only when already answered. Fire Key Questions typically establish whether flames or smoke are visible, what is burning, whether anyone is trapped or injured, and the occupancy type. Those answers, not the caller's tone, drive the determinant.
Determinants and response
FPDS determinants run ECHO (highest - immediate life threat such as persons trapped or imminent collapse), then DELTA, CHARLIE, BRAVO, ALPHA, down to OMEGA (no emergency found, referral, or non-emergency). The determinant sets the apparatus assigned and whether the response runs hot (lights and siren) or cold.
Post-Dispatch Instructions
Delivered before release: get out and stay out; close doors behind you if safe; do not re-enter; stay clear of hydrants and the scene; call back if conditions change.
Worked example
Caller reports smoke with people shouting upstairs. Key Questions confirm flames are visible and one person is trapped on the second floor. Trapped occupants plus active fire escalate to ECHO, hot response, full structural assignment. Had the same caller reported only a sounding alarm with no smoke and no flames, the protocol would support a far lower determinant and a cold response.
Traps
Upgrading a determinant because a caller is screaming, or downgrading because a caller sounds calm, both cost marks - the protocol, not emotion, sets the level. Never skip Post-Dispatch Instructions to save time, and never improvise around an Axiom.