Data - Performance Targets

Performance targets, or benchmarks, define the standards your department measures against — whether they come from NFPA guidelines, local bylaws, or internally set goals. These targets are essential for evaluating your performance and for modelling how operational changes might bring you closer to your goals.

We ask for all applicable response time targets and standards of cover. This often includes:

• Targets for each stage of the response sequence (call handling, turnout, travel)
• Different targets between urban, suburban, and rural areas
• Variations in targets for between different call types
• Effective Response Force (ERF) targets for high risk incidents

We understand that a department’s priorities and performance targets may evolve over time. The Darkhorse Platform is designed to be flexible, allowing us to tailor dashboards, metrics, and reporting views to match your current goals. Our platform allows you to evaluate the same incident to different benchmarks.

We are always happy to adjust these targets in the future as your service area, resources, or strategic priorities change.

Why It Matters

Performance targets allow the Darkhorse Platform to:

• Compare your actual performance against the benchmarks you’ve set or adopted
• Identify where performance shortfalls occur (e.g., turnout vs. travel time)
• Support “what-if” modelling to predict the impact of operational changes on meeting targets
• Customize dashboards so your KPIs reflect your exact definitions of success

By incorporating your response plans and targets into the platform, every metric, chart, and simulation is evaluated in the context that matters most to your department.