Ch 4 - Fire Department Communications

Who's standards must the communication centers conform to?

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) (49).

In terms of communication centers, what is essential to save both lives and property?

Accurate reporting, dispatching and effective responses by fire companies (49).

Public Safety Communications Center

A unique and complex operation that is referred to as a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). It is a stand-alone facility that operates 24/7, under all conditions and circumstances. It is built to NFPA standard 1221 (50)

Joint Powers Agreement

Communication centers that provide service for multiple agencies and jurisdictions.
"A contract between a city, county, and/or special district in which the city or county agrees to perform services , cooperate with, or lend its powers to" (50).

Communications Center Manager

The position that oversees the center's entire operation staff. Operations staff reports to the Center Manager. May also be the sworn Chief. Responsibilities include:
-Ensure the budgetary needs of the center's operation are met
-Make policy decisions
-Id

Assistant Center Manager

May also be a Deputy Chief if it's sworn personnel. They share responsibility with the Center Manager. One would handle day-to-day operations and the other would manage administrative work (50).

Administrative Support Staff

Staff that supports the operations of the communications center. May include information technology staff, payroll and accounting department, hiring and recruitment department. Depending on the size of the agency, they report to either an immediate superv

Telecommunicators (Dispatchers)

Telecommunicators are unique, highly skilled individuals who have the ability to multitask. Must use a CAD system, operate an extensive telephone system, obtain information from citizens and alert the appropriate resources.
Trained and responsible for rec

Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) System

CAD is an automated, integral part of dispatching process. Ability to add a call location, identify the type of incident the units will be responding to, and recommend the appropriate equipment for response to the identified incident type. CAD then identi

CAD System - Additional Functions

CAD also includes:
- Contact information
- Duty Rosters
- Paging system for mass notifications
- Messages can be sent to firehouse printers
- Automatically turn on lights, open apparatus doors, and turn off stoves and ovens (in some CAD systems) (52)

True or False - CAD systems are unique in that no two systems are programmed exactly the same way?

True (52).

What has changed the face of information technology, in terms of communications?

Advanced radio and computer equipment. This new technology is vital for timely responses and efficient, effective use of personnel and equipment (51)

Card System

Cards are used to determine a predesignated response to an emergency. Card systems still exist in smaller agencies (51).

Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999

Took effect in October 1999, its purpose is to improve public safety by encouraging and facilitating the prompt deployment of a nationwide, seamless communications infrastructure for emergency services. The FCC made 911 the universal emergency number for

9-1-1

By law, 9-1-1 service is provided to everyone that needs it, without cost, from any hardwired or wireless telephone. It's the best and fastest way to get help in emergencies (52).

How many 9-1-1 calls are made every year?

200 Million calls are made to 9-1-1 ever year, according to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) (52).

Conventional Hardwired 9-1-1 Systems

There are two versions of 9-1-1 with the conventional hardwired system- basic and enhanced.
Basic - a single answering point for all emergency calls. Callers must provide information about their location and phone number.
Enhanced- enhanced equipment and

Which version of 9-1-1 reduces the risk of lost calls?

Enhanced 9-1-1, because the caller's location and phone number transfer to the telecommunicator, regardless of a disconnection or if the caller is unable to speak (53).

Wireless 9-1-1 System

Calls made from a wireless phone may not go to the closest answering point. The telecommunicator doesn't have the caller's number or location with wireless. Most calls that are lost due to hang-ups or disconnection are lost forever (53)

What are the three phases of the wireless implementation process?

0) When you dial 9-1-1 from your cellular phone and a call taker at a PSAP answers.
1) The wireless 9-1-1 call will come into the PSAP with the wireless phone backup number. Important if the call is dropped (however, does not speak to location).
2) Call t

Call Taker

The first person to receive the information in a communications center and who then passes it on to the telecommunicator. The call taker may be a state highway patrol dispatcher at a PSAP in a remote area from the caller, or it could be a local agency, de

Answering Points

There are 6,100 primary and secondary PSAPs in the U.S. The difference between a primary and secondary PSAP is the ability to handle different law enforcement events or incidents.
Law enforcement is typically the primary PSAP, who will determine the type

Walk-ins

When a walk-in patient enters a fire station, the firefighter needs to understand that vital information must be obtained and transferred to the communications center and rapidly and efficiently as possible. Firefighters must follow SOGs for information g

Municipal Fire Alarm Systems

Municipal Fire Alarm Systems, or street boxes, are used for notification of emergencies within their community. The coded signal is either sent to the communications center or hard-wired to fire stations and other monitoring buildings. The coded signal in

Auxiliary Boxes

A type of municipal fire alarm system that is tied directly to a specific building. If the fire alarm in the building is tripped, the auxiliary box will notify the fire department (1077). They are often identified with a white diagonal stripe on the top o

What type of fire alarm is prone to false alarms?

Municipal Fire Alarms, or street boxes. Many communities have elected to remove them from the streets due to high false alarm rates, the high cost of maintenance, and the development of alternative reporting systems (54).

Private Fire Alarm Systems

Automatic detection devices, such as heat and smoke detectors, monitor increases in areas. These, along with water sprinkler systems, send an electrical signal to the monitoring company indicating a water flow problem. Some alerting and monitoring systems

Central Station

A monitoring station that monitors a private residence or commercial building and will notify the local public safety jurisdiction as to the type of emergency (54).

Call Boxes

A direct communication device that puts the caller and the telecommunicator in direct voice contact. This allows the caller to request a specific type of assistance and the telecommunicator to gain valuable information about what type of incident is occur

What is the last thing a communications center wants to hear or experience?

A single point of failure (55)

What is NFPA 1221?

Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems (50/55)

Need for Redundant Systems

Redundancy in 9-1-1 systems are necessary in case failure occurs with equipment, people or structures of communications centers. Redundancy can be as simple as a secondary device in place in case the primary method of operation fails. It can be as complex

What is the minimum number of telecommunicators on duty at any given time?

There must be at least two telecommunicators on duty at any given time, and they must be knowledgeable of the operating standards of the communications center and able to perform their duties and responsibilities with the adopted standards (55).

Direct-dial phones

Direct-dial phones are used for point-to-point contact with two or more predetermined points. Typically used with Communication Centers, fire, EMS, law enforcement (55). A direct-dial telephone can also be mounted to the exterior of a fire station for pub

What is the most common method of reporting calls for assistance?

Conventional phones (56)

What percentage of the population in the U.S. was covered by some type of 9-1-1 service in 2009?

96% (56)

Cellular Phones

Cell phones are the new trend in communication. The ability to use global positioning system (GPS) technology has made identification of caller's location to a geographical area possible, but not with the pinpoint precision that is possible with conventio

Nonemergency Telephone numbers

Generally used for daily business operations or numbers that are assigned to a specific task, such as general information (2-1-1). This number has free access to health and human service agencies' information.
3-1-1 is the nationwide dialing code for non-

Text Telephones or Teletypes (TTY) / TDD

Teletypes are devices that assist people with hearing or speech impairment in using a telephone. TTD is telecommunication device for the deaf. The caller can respond on their computer.
Caller uses special abbreviations. 'SK' means stop speaking and is use

What are calls for assistance generally classified as?

Emergency or non-emergency (57).

Examples of non-emergency calls

Assist people with animal rescues, help individuals off a floor, string a halyard on a school flag pole (57).

Halyard

A rope used to raise and lower a flag as well as ground ladders (57).

Still Alarms

Non-emergency calls that require a less urgent response and are usually handled by one company. These types of responses are quite common and help continue the good name of the fire department organization and their role in the community they serve (57/11

What pieces of information must a dispatcher obtain during an emergency call?

- Location
- Nature of the problem
- Caller's name
- Contact phone number
- Condition at caller's location (58).

Size-up

A systematic process of gathering pre-incident information and current incident conditions including factors that impact the development of strategy and tactics, including factors which many impact firefighter safety (58/1103)

What would be included in a status report?

-Building type
-Exposures
-Fire conditions
-Progress of the firefighting efforts
-Additional resource requests
-Rescue efforts (59).

What additional scene activities are many communication centers required to monitor?

- Incident time sequence
- Company accountability
- Rescue notifications
- Primary/Secondary search activities
- All-clears
- Emergency traffic requests
- Evacuation requests (59)

What type of radio traffic takes precedence?

When communication centers are dispatching apparatus and staffing to emergency incidents, all normal communications must cease, and the emergency traffic takes precedence (59).

What is the communication process of a unit when dispatched to a call?

- Receipt of a request for service
- Dispatch
- Information delivery to the responding units
- Delivery of any supplemental information while enroute
- Arrival information of the first company (size-up)
- Additional resource request based on needs
- Progr

'Emergency Traffic', 'Urgent Traffic' and 'Mayday'

These terms signal the immediate need to clear the radio and transmit critical information. Used in which there is an immediate threat to the lives of firefighters (60)

Personal Accountability System (PAS)

A system that provides for the tracking and inventory of all members operating at an emergency incident using passports consisting of Velcro and plastic cards attached to various apparatus and status boards to track assignments of divisions, groups, compa

What is NFPA 1561?

Standard on Emergency Service Incident Management System (61)

What are the PAS levels?

Level 1 - most basic activation, takes place at shift change. Each firefighter attaches his personal ID tag to the apparatus accountability passport.
Level 2 - Activation is in place for all working fires with more than one apparatus and in hazmat situati

Personal Alert Safety System (PASS)

PASS is a personal device worn by every firefighter that when activated, sounds an audible tone that alerts others that a firefighter is in distress (61).

Personnel Accountability Report (PAR)

PAR is a polling system used by the incident commander or accountability officer to ascertain that all personnel operating at an emergency incident are safe and accounted for. Company officers must visually verify that the personnel assigned to them are a

What are the trigger points to determine the need to conduct a PAR?

- There is a report of missing or trapped firefighters
- Operating modes are altered: offensive or defensive
- Dramatic changes have occurred at the incident scene
- Emergency traffic has been requested due to fire ground evacuations, building collapse, o

Evacuation Signal

An audible signal that indicates that the decision has been made to evacuate firefighting or rescue operations inside a building because of excessive danger to firefighters or because the scene has become too dangerous to continue tactical operations. Dif

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The FCC regulates radio operations for the fire service. They regulate the design, installation and operation of the typical two-way radio systems used by fire departments throughout the U.S. (62).

Radio Frequencies

VHF - assigned in 100 MHz (megahertz) span of the radio spectrum. This is equal to 1 million cycles per second.
UHF - assigned in 1 GHz (gigahertz) span of the radio spectrum. This is equal to 1 billion cycles per second.
Public safety radios typically tr

Analog versus Digital radio signals

Analog signals - continuous pulses that are uniform in intensity and that use computer chips to create the communications you hear.
Digital signals can provide crystal-clear communications, but the signal can be corrupted by close background noise, such a

Radio Systems

Conventional radio systems provide radio communications for designated users in a geographical area. As long as the frequencies are the same, the brand of the radio doesn't have to be the same (63).

Simplex/Direct Radio system

Simplex or Direct is the simplest form of radio system. It has one channel both for initiating and receiving traffic. Only one person can talk at a time. This many be ok for smaller agencies but larger may need a half-duplex radio system (63).

Semiduplex Radio System

Semiduplex radio system allows multiple users to transmit at the same time. The base station (dispatch center) can transmit and receive at the same time. Only one user can be on a frequency (63).

Full Duplex Radio System

This allows users to transmit and receive simultaneously. Uses two frequencies that can be active all the time. Units can transmit and receive anytime. Repeater systems, normally on mountain peaks, can strengthen the signal (63).

Radio Repeaters

Repeaters are a combination of radio receiver and radio transmitter that receives a weak or low-level signal and re-transmits it at a higher level or power. As a result the signal can travel longer distances without degradation (63).

Trunked Radio Systems

Trunked Radio systems are a better use of radio frequencies and channels available. They readjust the frequencies for conversations. It's a more efficient use for limited frequencies because each conversation does not require a dedicated channel (63).

Talk Groups

Predefined users in a trunked system are called talk groups (63).

True of False: Radio systems, talk groups, and radio channels have individual frequencies?

True. However, in a trunked system, talk groups are not assigned an individual frequency (64).

What are Talk Groups known as in the fire service?

Fireground signals, Tactical Channels, Talk-around channels (64).

Radios

There are 3 different radios that firefighters use:
-Portable Radios
-Mobile Radios
-Base Station Headset (64-66)

Portable Radios

Portable radio (or Handheld Radio) - powered by a battery with a limited capacity. Can change channels and even the capability to change talk groups. Have a built in feature to eliminate squelch, which is a knob that can be manipulated. These radios allow

Squelch

A high noise level when no or very weak signal is present (64).

Mobile Radios

Units that are permanently mounted on the apparatus. Powered by the electrical system of the apparatus. Has the same features as the portable radio. Radio speakers are mounted outside the radio in a convenient location inside the apparatus. This can be us

Radio Headset

The headset allows the crew to be in direct verbal contact with each other. Headset allows for noise reduction. The headset provides hearing protection required by the NFPA and OSHA (65).

At what noise level is a fire department required to provide adequate hearing protection?

Noise levels in excess of 90 decibels (65).

Base Radios

Are more powerful than both portable and mobile radios. Mounted inside a communications center or fire station or in remote locations. They have antennas mounted to a radio tower which allow the radios to have a wide range of cover (66).

Computers

Fire departments are required to keep a daily activity log as well as all fire and medical reports. The fire dept also retains department personnel records, inventory information, and infrastructure requirements (66).

Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs)

MDTs and MCTs help meet need for a fast and accurate flow of information between responders and communications center.
MDTs are a computer-like device that provides communications and transmit information such as company status, emergency notification, an

Mobile Computer Terminals (MCTs)

MCTs are the latest step in the information process for fire department communications. This net phase of mobile data communictions will enable increased data collection and information retrieval along with fast service and up-to-the-minute availability.

Pagers

Pagers generally notify fire volunteers, paid-on-call and career to respond or to make them away of an emergency. Some are activated by dialing a phone number. Others are activated by using an Encoder, typically from the dispatch center. The information w

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Fire-prevention, fire-investigation and fire-operational information is available at the push of a button on a PDA. These devices are being used by chief officers and company officers to aid in the daily operational needs (68).

Encoder

A device at the dispatch center that transmits a coded tone that activates a radio pager and allows the pager to then receive a voice message from a dispatch center and to call back career firefighters for major incidents (68/1084).

Local Area Network (LAN)

Conventional telephones that are hardwired and used at fire stations and communication centers (68).

Direct-Connect telephones

Point-to-point telephones for contact with two or more predetermined locations (68).

10-code

Numeric codes used to assign messages to represent common phrases. Agencies have gotten away from 10-codes and are using plain language dispatching, clear text, or clear speech now (69)

When ________ is used by all entities, there is no excuse for confusion or misinformation.

Clear language (69)

National Incident Management System (NIMS)

A command system developed in the early 1970s by FIRESCOPE, used to manage large-scale disasters,
including forest fires, earthquakes, civil unrest,
etc. Used to manage massive amounts of resources that can last weeks to months, require thousands of respo

Incident Reports

Reports that reflect the actions of the companies on scene along with a completed incident report. Include the type of structure, fire origin, cause of ignition, extent of damage, fire company's participation, reports of injuries or fatalities. May also b

National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)

A reporting system used to compile and analyze incident reports (69).

Fire reports and communications center event information are considered public information under ________?

The Freedom of Information Act (70).

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

A paid service where people can report an emergency using the internet instead of a regular telephone line. They can use an analog telephone adaptor (ATA) (70).