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200-010 No Fire Department Acknowledgement Response Guidelines Effective Date: 12/21/11 Reference: Next Review: Modified Date: 04/23/2025 Issued By: Michael Biviano, County Chiefs President Scott Roman, Fire Coordinator Preface: This policy is to be adhered to by all fire departments operating in Cortland County and is a part of the Cortland County Department of Emergency Response and Communications Fire Service Mutual Aid Plan pursuant to section 209 of the General Municipal Law. Objective: Available personnel shortages on occasion are affecting Cortland County Fire Departments abilities to respond to requests for assistance. This policy is intended to insure that no alarms for response from any fire department go unanswered. This policy is intended to insure assistance is started from a secondary fire department approximately 10 minutes from time of alarm which is also the common 3rd Activation Time Stamp for reactivation. Policy: 1. The following sequence for activation of a fire department shall be used for all calls in Cortland County except for where a run card is already in place for said alarm being dispatched: TIME RESPONSE STEP PROCEDURE Time of Alarm Not applicable – Initial Alarm Activation of Host Department Host Department, Tones and Message 5 Minutes after time of alarm No Apparatus Enroute or Department Acknowledgement Reactivation 2nd Activation: Host Department, Tones and Message 10 minutes after time of alarm No Apparatus Enroute or Department Acknowledgement Reactivation and activate mutual aid 3rd Activation: Host Department as well as closest available mutual aid department as chosen by the DOERC and Coordinator tones ---PAGE BREAK--- 2. The City of Cortland shall not be used as a mutual aid agency for any EMS call except on the SUNY campus for campus rescue when dictated by a response plan. 3. It is acknowledged by all 12 fire departments in Cortland County that this is the acceptable means for providing assistance to their departments in times when absolutely no response is generated by its inclusion in the Cortland County Department of Emergency Response and Communications Fire Service Mutual Aid Plan. 4. It is also acknowledged by all 12 fire departments in Cortland County that the insurance will be picked up by the host department that fails to respond just as in any mutual aid instance as defined in section 209 of the General Municipal Law. 5. It is also acknowledged by all 12 fire departments in Cortland County that the mutual aid department that responds on the 3rd Activation will be afforded all powers and responsibilities to request any assistance they need to mitigate the situation. 6. It should be noted that when any member or unit of the host department contacts the Cortland County 911 Center, ownership of that incident rests with said individual who makes contact with the 911 Center. At that point the parameters of this policy cease. Any and all additional requests need to come from individual / host department taking ownership of said incident. ISSUED BY COUNTY CHIEFS PRESIDENT ISSUED BY FIRE COORDINATOR MICHAEL BIVIANO SCOTT ROMAN