Paging Procedures

[fjbfour]

Does anyone have a protocol or standard SOP on paging format? We are having some issues with inconsistent paging... sometimes some info is omitted, other times it is given out of order. There's no clear "template" for how it is done, so everyone has their own "style". We all have unique opinions on how it should be done, but I'd like to get a feel for other areas and what works best wherever you are. Reply to this or email me at fjbfour@yahoo.com, thanks very much!

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Frank Billington, #11
Town of Superior Fire Online

[scc911]

Through personal experience, I believe the best policy is:
Who,
What,
Where,
Who,
What,
Where.

Who goes, what the incident is and where it is - then repeat it.

This is much better and easier to remember than the "script" method: "Station KAA111 announcing an alarm of fire in the town of Goober, a signal 10-45 activated fire alarm..." In all that time it takes to say that, you only know you have an activated fire alarm call and nothing more. The script method just takes up airtime.

Steve Makky, Sr., ENP

[FFCode3EMT]

_____ Department Fire/Rescue Call
_____ Department Fire/Rescue Call
Nature of the Call
Location
Additional Information

_____ Department Fire/Rescue Call
Nature of the Call
Location
Additional Information



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**The preceding comments in no way represent the views of my department, its members, or associations that it may belong to.**

[FD111]

We dispatch everything as follows:

Unit(s) to respond-
type of call-
address-
key map grid-
fire map page-
what channel to respond on-
then repeated

[FirefighterReed]

Who goes
What it is
Where it is
Cross streets
Additional info
then all that is repeated.

Then two minutes after the first page we have a second page with the same format.

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Fire Fighters job is never done

I fight what you fear!

[Brian Dunlap]

My Department is dispatched from a central county communications center. This Center is responsible for Dispatching Fire/EMS Calls to Approximatley 87 Fire Companies and 90 to 100 EMS Units County Wide --- We utilize a 9-1-1 System --- A Call is received from the emergency location and is routed through a 9-1-1 Call taker who gets the nessessary information and relays it via computer to either the Fire or EMS Dispatcher-- Dispatcher then then Activates the Tones for that municipality and Dispatches in the following manner:

"Station/Squad" ___
Address of call is announced
Cross Streets are then announced
Nature of the incident is announced
The same Procedure is then repeated

Our Communications Center also broadcasts the time every hour and half hour with a dispatcher ID # Not quite sure why but it is helful once and awhile

Hope some of this information helps you....

[Bob Snyder]

Ours works as follows...as long as the dispatchers follow it, it works pretty well...


<< Transmit single pre-alert tone >>
give municipality
give location
give type of emergency

((dispatcher looks up run cards))

<< Transmit pager tones for companies due >>
give list of companies/apparatus due
give municipality
give location
give type of emergency

<< Transmit siren tones (if any) for companies due >>
give list of companies/apparatus due
give municipality
give location
give type of emergency

((if no siren tones apply, dispatcher simply repeats the call information))


The "pre-alert" sequence is used to get anybody who happens to be monitoring the channel and knows they are due on the call rolling as fast as possible. It allows at least some personnel to get moving as much as 2-3 minutes faster than they would be if they had to wait for the dispatcher to enter data and look up run cards. This is the part that some dispatchers don't seem to want to follow, and I don't know why.

[fit610]

we go


What Equipment:
The Address:
Type of Call:

Then repeat...

[HFDPOST321]

Address/Location
Type of emergency
Unit or company due to respond
(dispatched once for EMS call, twice for fire call)

after the appropriate units have marked responding on the air, headquartes give the address/location again, the type of emergency once again, and the units responding. immediately following is patient information or information about the incident

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Deputy Chief James Ulrich
Hagerstown Fire Department Explorer Post 321

The opinions expressed here are my own and may not be those of my department.

[RDWFIRE]

fjbfour, whatever you do, and however you set up your proceedure, do it consistantly. There are a lot of good ideas expressed above. In my experience, inconsistancies in dispatch are from poor training and a lack of good SOG's, and quality "run cards".

BE safe. The dragon lurks!!!!