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Why Is Firefighter Personal Communication Equipment So Poor? How Can We Improve Something So Vital To Our Safety?
I am completely new to the Fire service, but one thing that jumps at me inmediately is how bad the communications systems available for firefighters are. Just during training, which is a controlled environment and not nearly as loud as a real fire, it is almost imposible to hear anything. And not to mention the awkwardness of operating such mentioned equipment through thick structure gloves. I was in the military and some of the communication equipment we used could be adapted to our line of work, making more compact and wearable versions with earpieces so you can actually hear the IC. What do you experienced folks think about this? Rookie looking for clue.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jim Owens on
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I agree, if a SEAL team in the mountains of Afghanastan can whisper and talk to a commander in the Pentagon, we can figure out how to have a pump operator hear a call for water! It is not rocket science. But then again if we cant get the budget to buy boots, where is the money for communications going to come from?
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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It also depends upon the military job, vs the FF job. Yeah it may be hard to feel the PTT button on the radio with gloves on, but those gloves are protecting you too. Similar types of systems may or may not hold up in a structure fire. As mentioned, budgets also play a big factor and some of those comm systems the military has probably isn't affordable to the typical FD.
Instead of depending solely upon technology, training plays a key factor in communications. Comms comes up at pretty much every PIA, but it is easy to revert back to old ways when the adrenaline is pumping. We did do an extensive training just with communications so people could learn what best works for them. We had a confined space trailer prop, with much of the stuff removed so it was more of a crawling type of training. 2 FF's would go in and every so many feet there was a scenario posted on the wall...like your partner just fell through the floor, or you lost pressure in your hoseline....and you had to make either a MAYDAY or EMERGENCY call. There was a battalion chief on the receiving end with the instructor, evaluating the comms which ranged from poor to very good. The FF's learned the best mic placement for them, how to control breathing, think out the message before talking and so forth.
While not the cure to communication problems it did help. I found that my mic placement where I initially had it before that drill was not good and I got a mic keeper which retracts back in place after talking. Our last fire, comms were actually good, I was accountability and could hear all the transmissions from the IC's vehicle.
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Permalink Reply by Manuel Ortega on
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The infamous budget reason! I heard the same answer when I brought this point up at the station, and don't get me wrong, I understand budget issues but here is the thing. I was in 3rd Ranger Bat. Fort Benning, GA. The philosophy used by the U.S. military, especially SOCOM (special operation command), is that the money, time, training and assets used to train a member of such teams is worth a lot more than the equipment they use. It becomes one of the reasons to use expensive, reliable, quality and efficient equipment in order to protect the investment made in these soldiers. Same goes for jet pilots, were they are trained to eject as soon as they feel necessary, the plane becomes secondary to the pilot. If we can finance all these tools, can anyone say that we are not worth 1/2 of that effort in order to make our jobs (which is to help everyone basically) safer and more succesful? I don't know but last time I checked I was the same person that carried that weapon and wore the quality comm. equipment, did my stock go down now that I am trying to become a FF?!!! No stock market for me!!
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John, sorry I got caught in a ramble! Thanks for the training tip on comm. The truth is that even if I am right, the right won't happen for a while, so the best we can do is do with what we have the best we can. I will put your training in my Lt.'s mind and see if we can try to learn what works better for each individual and perhaps customize a little. We have a small department, 4-5 tops for regular calls then we have to call for neighboring stations help. So we all have radios, we just need to hear and be heard better. In our case it is vital because we are so far spread apart on most calls that radio comm. is what we have to work with.
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the money, time, training and assets used to train a member of such teams is worth a lot more than the equipment they use. It becomes one of the reasons to use expensive, reliable, quality and efficient equipment in order to protect the investment made in these soldiers.
On the flip side though you have reports of soldiers makeshifting armor plating on humvees because it was more of a cost to do so from the manufacturer.
We have a small department, 4-5 tops for regular calls then we have to call for neighboring stations help. So we all have radios, we just need to hear and be heard better. In our case it is vital because we are so far spread apart on most calls that radio comm. is what we have to work with.
Radio comms have always been an issue and it does get more difficult when trying to communicate between different jurisdictions. Even departments with state of the art equipment have difficulty with some radio comms. Without some state of the art radio system or new comm technology that will hold up in fire conditions, the best route to go may be training, and that may mean an interagency drill also. Yeah, it sucks there isn't better, but a lot can be improved when knowing good mic placement, talking slow and clear (yelling because one thinks the mask hinders comms more is actually harder to hear than a slower clear voice)
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Permalink Reply by Dustin J. Millis on
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Its true, radio communications on a fire scene can range from good to poor at best. It all depends on many factors. Yes its very hard to hear what IC is saying to you while your inside a structure trying to knock back the fire, and sometimes you feel like no matter how many times you repeat your message, IC still isnt hearing you. There are a few basic things you can do like slow down, speak clearly, dont yell, and keep your mic in the right place. Other then that, there are just things that you will have to learn during actual fires because training is nowhere near like the real thing.
Yes some of our equipment is bulky, heavy, and not quite convenient but its built to survive in very high heat temperature, take the physical abuse of being knocked around, dropped, etc... and also be waterproof. And as noted in a few other posts, even if new equipment came out tomorrow, most FD's simply dont have the funds to go purchase brand new radios for all of their members.
One larger problem I have noticed is being able to communicate with other agencies. Recently we ran a call for a bomb scare in a PD car. It turned out to be nothing but started as a multi-agency event with Fire, police, bomb squad, and even the local postmaster all on scene. (the postmaster was there because the "bomb" was in a package shipped through US mail) Anyway... while on scene, none of the local agency's could really communicate other then us and local PD. County Sheriff's were there and could not talk to us, we couldnt talk to bomb squad, nobody could talk to the postmaster, etc... And when we brought out our new 800 meg radios, the sheriff's said, "oh yeah, we have em, they are in a box back at HQ."
There has to be a way for multiple agencies to be able to communicate effectivly and I think the 800 meg radios are the way to do that. The problem is they are expensive so either people dont have them or they dont want to use them so they sit back at HQ in a box collecting dust.
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Yep, definetely agree that training with what we have is the best way to improve our present comm. situation. As far as inter-agency we are fortunate here in the Eagle Valley (Vail, Co), all personnel from fire careers and volunteers to MED POOL at the ambulance district, even Mountain Rescue are assigned 800's, of course all PD's (local, sherrif and State) have them as well. The problems are overwhelming dispatch and assigning correct and efficient side channels for individual task and strike forces. This only works through a hell of a lot of training with simulated scenarios so dispatch can learn to deal with an enormous volume of traffic. But hell that is another discusion in itself. Again locally we are made up of many tiny jurisdictions so any normal event for other depts. are automatically inter-agency for us, so we get a lot of practice in this. Thanks guys.
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