Conversations with RedNMX clients and insights from NFA research papers reveal that departments consider various factors, beyond the most common ones, when seeking to lower their ISO score.
A failed attempt to lower your ISO score can have a detrimental effect on your department’s morale. Even if successful, the amount of strain placed on your staff may not be worth it (Buchanan).
Improving your ISO score may mean closer proximity to constituents, more hydrants, more equipment, more training and more people. Maybe property taxes went down, but your budget went up. Several NFA papers didn’t necessarily find a correlation between ISO score and safer residents (Buchanan).
Several clients have told us that you don’t always have to wait 3-5 years to get a new ISO score. More on this in another post.
One RedNMX client recently told us that they didn’t change much at all about how they run their department. They changed how they documented what they were already doing. You may already be taking actions that result in a lower ISO score. If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?
Any additional insight? What did we miss? Are you trying to lower your ISO score?
