How to Write an Executive Summary:
The executive summary is a document that fits, preferably, on one page and tells the decision maker everything he or she needs to know.
The title is, simply:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The
city commission requested an estimation of the number of fire trucks needed to
make a truck immediately available for 98% of incoming 911 calls.
Next comes the recommendation, otherwise
known as the punch line.
Based
on data on 911 calls and fire department service times, we recommend four trucks:
Next we review the alternatives and the consequences of each:
Alternatives
explored included:
Number
Probability
Average
Utilization
Annual
Wait
Wait
Rate
Cost
2
20.28%
80.342 min.
45.3
440,000
3
5.26%
20.043 min.
34.3%
660,000
4
1.46%
3.458
sec.
25.7%
880,000
5
0.29%
0.122
sec.
21.3%
1100,000
6
0.04%
0.043
sec.
18.2%
1320,000
Four
trucks would meet the commission's criteria of having a truck available immediately 98% of all
911 calls. The average wait for a
truck would be 3 and a half seconds. Each
truck will be idle 74% of the time. Additional
trucks would only slightly reduce, but not eliminate, the chance an 911 call
will have to wait and the average waiting time.
Adding extra trucks, however, would greatly increase costs.
Continuing our mutual aid agreements with neighboring communities would
be a more cost effective way to provide extra trucks for those rare instances
when all our trucks are busy.
Attachments
The
data and computer output on which this recommendation was based is attached.