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A call for service (also known as a job, hitch, incident, callout, call-out, or simply a call) is an incident that
A call for service (also known as a job, hitch, incident, callout, call-out, or simply a call) is an incident that emergency services
Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal w ...
or public safety organizations (such as police
The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
, fire departments
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
, and emergency medical services
Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...
) are assigned to resolve, handle, or assist with. Operationally, a call for service is any incident where emergency services are a third-party intervener, regardless of whether their presence was requested or they came across it in the course of their duties.
The term "call" originates from the telephone calls
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ...
made by the public to emergency numbers to report the incident to dispatchers and request an emergency service response. There are two types of calls for service: ''dispatched calls'', which are made by members of the public through emergency number calls; and ''self-initiated'', ''self-generated'', or ''directed calls'', which are made by emergency services personnel.
After a call for service is received, it is given a basic "call type" and designated response code by the dispatcher for transmission and assignment. The call types issued by dispatchers can often be vague due to predefined types issued by their agency or jurisdiction's legal code, such as "Alarm" and "Unknown Trouble".{{Cite journal , last=Simpson , first=Rylan , last2=Orosco , first2=Carlena , date=2021-12-08 , title=Re-assessing measurement error in police calls for service: Classifications of events by dispatchers and officers , url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0260365 , journal=PLOS ONE , language=en , volume=16 , issue=12 , pages=e0260365 , doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0260365 , issn=1932-6203 , pmc=8654180 , pmid=34879080
As it pertains to police work, when the call for service is broadcast over the radio, it is assigned to an officer who patrols the specific sector or beat within which the call for service originates. Once assigned, the officer must respond and issue some type of finality back to the dispatcher indicating the action taken in order to essentially "finish" that particular call and prepare the patrol shift for the next call. Multiple calls for service may be assigned at once to several patrol beats and, depending on the severity or urgency of the call, multiple calls may be assigned to one individual officer or pair of officers, to be handled in a "queue" of priority.
References
Emergency services Jargon