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Discovery Data Hub – Frequently Asked Questions

Funded by a grant from the FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program

Which browsers are supported?

The following browsers are supported. Use the latest version for best performance.

  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Safari

Only WebGL-enabled browsers are supported. To test whether your browser has WebGL enabled, see get.webgl.org. To troubleshoot WebGL-related issues, see WebGL troubleshooting. Also see the Scene Viewer requirements for additional information.

Please note that the use of plugins or extensions may also impact your performance. If you are having issues in one particular browser, you may want to try a different one.

Where does Discovery data come from?

Discovery’s datasets for the graphical maps come from a variety of sources. 

The information for the Demographics map is gathered from the latest U.S. Census Bureau data available.  

Incident data is from the latest dataset available from National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and we realize that this data lags for a period of three years which is consistent with analysis and reports from the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  

Vision 20/20 is exploring new and innovative ways to incorporate the latest datasets through our Statewide Collaboration & Engagement Framework (SCEF) to bring you the latest data from your State.   To learn more about the SCEF and to get your State involved, please visit www.strategifire.org/scef 

Datasets for additional risk for Heart Disease and U.S. Stroke Mortality Rate maps come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

How do I know what level of the map I am examining?

While using the Zoom feature to drill down in the maps for Demographics, Fire Incidents, EMS Incidents and Non-Fire/EMS Incidents you will notice the map legend changes when you move from a County level to a Census Tract level.  The dialogue boxes also contain information on which level the data is compiled.

How do I get the information from Discovery into my Community Risk Assessment document?

When users explore geographical locations within the Discovery data maps and click on a specific area, a dialogue box opens on the page that displays the data associated with that map.  Highlight the information in the dialogue box and use the copy (CTRL-C) and paste (CTRL-V) function to insert the information into your risk assessment document.  You will need to do some additional reformatting to make the pasted text look similar to your document.

Why does the EMS Incident data not provide additional detail on presenting problems for medical response?

This is a limitation of the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) which uses incident codes in the 3xx series.  We acknowledge that there is a significant limitation for analysis on how that information is provided and will continue exploring new avenues for reporting as things change.  If you are interested in learning about methods to get additional detail on EMS related responses within your jurisdiction, we encourage you to read the next FAQ question on finding additional ways to work with your data.

How can I find additional ways to work with our local incident data and demographic information for our Community Risk Assessment?

Vision 20/20 has developed a new Data Collection & Analysis (DCA) training course focused on the outcome of completing a Community Risk Assessment (CRA).  This 2-day course helps to develop the skills necessary to gather, analyze and use local risk and demographic data and directly incorporate it into your CRA.  The feedback from this class is the best measurement that we have ever seen from our training portfolio and it is exciting that we are helping to build the necessary data skills for current and future fire department leaders.  

We are currently working on developing a virtual offering of this course that will be pilot-tested in the first quarter of 2021.  

If you are interested in learning more about Vision 20/20’s Data Collection & Analysis training please contact us at info@strategicfire.org