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firefighter communications
what are your opinions about individual firefighters having radios? i believe they are a great enhncement for safety and communicating critical information. i have heard the arguments about cost and chatting issues. When i had one i remember being told i could ony talk for two reasons, acknowlodging an order and reporting an emergency. With everyone going to 800mhz radios, the VHF & UHF radios are still around and don't cost much. I know truck folks benifit more than engine folks but i still think everyone having a direct communication ability is a safety enhancment that cannot be denied
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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This is a pure straight forward issue... All firefighters need and should have their own assigned radio. To not do this opens the door to other safety related problems.
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Permalink Reply by Russ on
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thanks chief, the biggest NO comes from the cost and from what i see an 800 portable costs 4grand. a vhf or uhf radio costs 200 and in some cases double digit. the latest argument is that IC's dont want to have to monitor 2 radios. i say that dispatch does not need to monitor tactical communications, thats OPS's job. thanks for the input
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Crowell on
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I agree with Capt. Busy. Each firefighter should have there own assigned radio, safety issues alone make it worth it. At both my paid and volunteer departments we are assigned one to be carried on calls. Your individual department should have S.O.G.'s on the "chatting" issues. I personaly have never seen much of a problem of too much talk on the fire ground, not to say it can't happen.
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Powers on
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Nail on the head.
I carry a radio in case my partner gets in trouble, and he had damn well have his in case I get into trouble.
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Permalink Reply by Rob on
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In my area every firefighter has a radio when on scene, even the juniors. Everyone MUST know whats going on, warnings, tactical changes, emergencies, reports, whatever. Now, some departments do not issue radios to every member, but every seat on the rigs has a radio assigned to it. There is no pov response around here.
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no offense against your IC's not wanting to monitor more than one radio... maybe they should reconsider whether they can do the job then... even crew bosses have more than one radio routinely. You have to have more than one with a wildland incident for example because the IC has to monitor and transmit on both air ops and the boots on the ground to get the job done. This is called multi-tasking and it's just a part of the job... take a look at radio harness holders... they fit two... and for a reason, it's what IC's are supposed to do... and as far as dispatch not monitoring tactical communications... this is nonsense!
My wife, who worked for 20 years as a 911 dispatcher recanted a situation where she was monitoring the tactical communications and was the only one that heard a firefighter go down... no one else heard it because of the inherent problems associated with wearing a SCBA and listening to the radio coupled with background noises.
Everyone needs to be vigilant, including ops and dispatch. To not do so put people unnecessarily at risk.
And just for the record Russ, I only placed #6 on the battalion chief's list... never did go gold...
TCSS,
"Captain" Busy
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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I also agree that every FF should be assigned a radio. But sometimes budgets don't allow for it so they have to make due with what they have for now. For us, each idividual going interior has a radio. Outside, maybe one in three will have one.
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Just a thought, and I do NOT disagree with the idea of everyone having a radio, BUT, just remember, when the chips are down and you need to call a MAYDAY, the more radio chatter the more difficult it might be to get through. On the back side of that, the more radios, the more chances to hear the mayday. I know very little emphasis is placed on training in communications. That would be a great way to ensure that comms training gets a bit more attention. As long as the rules are clear, and not everyone on scene is yipping at the same time or for no good reason, the more radios would be a good thing. Similar to PPE, and part of it.. Could get a tad conjested for the IC, but everything is fixable. Interesting topic to be sure.
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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
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Every firefighter on the fire ground should have a radio assigned to them. With saying that, training on communications is a must! Unnecessary chatter can disrupt a scene. SOG's should be in place for communications.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Meadows on
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I think everyone should have one but they should have to take a commucations class or be briefed on procedures at the very least. It is a safety issue nothing more nothing less. Last I heard the fcc was pushing out the digital requirements until 2018 at the earliest mainly because of the cost issue. I keep up with it not only because I'm a firefighter but I'm also licensed as a ham operator and I need to know those things.
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Permalink Reply by Ron King (Fire Chief) on
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All of our members have radios after thier 6 month probation. It has worked out fine for our department.
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