Portable Radios

[LCFD77]

I am a member of a career FD that currently does not allow everyone to carry a portable radio. Here is the kicker though, we have extras at each station sitting in the chargers. I am gathering some information to support our need to have these radios for safety reasons and am wondering if anyone has any documentation to share. I have already read some of the NIOSH reports and pulled some info from there. Just wondering what else there might be.


Stay Safe
Lance Tryggestad

[Weruj1]

All our Officers have radios and assigned numbers, each rig has at least 2 portables on it. We dont allow every member a portable radio, as there is really no need for it.

[blancety]

There is a FEMA/USFA document that stresses each firefighter, or team of firefighters should have a portable radio assigned to them/it. If I find it I'll post it. One of the keys to many policies about this is insuring that the radios are used for emergency purposes, avoiding every member with a radio from talking non-stop about everything.

Contact Providence, RI..they have a very good policy about radios and radio use that covers what you are talking about.

Dave

[nmfire]

Here, we have set the trucks up so there is a portable for each air pack plus the driver. No one goes interior without a portable radio. This does NOT mean that everyone interior has to use it. This is the important part. Only one person on each team needs to talk to command, usually an officer, whatever. Everyone has them so if you get lost or fall through a floor you can call for help. People need to get this "We've always done it this way" mentality out of their thick skulls. Just because you have a radio doesn't mean you have to use it. You have it for when you NEED it. Stress that point when training on them and it won't be a problem.

[Pride373]

1 per team. 1 on each firefighter equals lots of feedback, and having one per team promotes accountability and discourages freelancing.

[nmfire]

Originally posted by Pride373
1 per team. 1 on each firefighter equals lots of feedback, and having one per team promotes accountability and discourages freelancing.

Umm. Right.

[KVFDCAPTAIN21]

Our Dept Chiefs,1st and 2nd D/C,Capts,Lt's,Safetys and Constables All Have Portables With Them At All Times...We're Vollie By The Way...Plus We Got About 20 More Portables At The Hall For All Interior Crews,Operators etc..

[firefiftyfive]

My Dept. is all volunteer. So all the chiefs (3) have radios and all the captains (4) have radios. Our engines have 2 radios on them. Usually only one gets taken off by a lieutenant (sp?). As for our truck company we have 6 portable radios. The officer and driver each get one. The roof man gets one and the OV gets one. Sometimes the Irons and Can man will take one but not all the time because they are usually with the officer. I always take a radio no matter what my position may be. However like some have already mentioned it does not have to be used. I very rarely use my radio. But it is very important to listen to what is going on. For example you (as a truckie) want to know if the engine is having trouble getting water, u don't want to start venting if they don't have water (obviously). Plus if your are a roof man or an OV you want to be able to report certain conditions to the IC or your officer. Unfortunately as an all volly company some times exceptions are made and you may not have an OV or a Can man. But as a guide line that is what we prefer to do. And as guys arrive at the scene we send them were the are needed. For example we might send an extra man to the roof.

[blancety]

Originally posted by Pride373
1 per team. 1 on each firefighter equals lots of feedback, and having one per team promotes accountability and discourages freelancing.

1 per team should be the minimum standard. Feedback can be addressed as with freelancing. What happens when your the one without and you get separated?

Still searching for the FEMA report....

An Good Paper from the FEMA site

[Fire40man]

At the very least 1 radio per every 2 firefighters. A radio in everyones pocket could cause feedback, lots of chatter, but that is what training is for. We currently do not have enought radios for all firefighters, just the Chiefs have them. Some people have bought there own, which is ok if approved. All just need good training on proper use.

[CrossBro1]

In my department everyone on the truck has a radio.

We dont allow every member a portable radio, as there is really no need for it.

Anyone else see a problem with this? If you are inside you should have a radio! What happens if you get trapped, separated, etc. To say there is no need for everyone to have a radio is dangerous!

[nmfire]

"Hundreds of years of tradition uninhibited by progrss"

This quote was told to us the first day of my FF-I Class. It is perhaps the most true statement one can find regarding the fire service and technology. Saying there is "no need" for portable radios is a prime example.

[cmjones]

Every member in our department has a radio. We are an all-volunteer department and instead of buying a $500.00 radio and a $350.00 pager we purchase radios that have the paging module built in. Also, because we are all volunteer our members will sign on enroute so that our dispatch will know someone is responding. If no one signs on they begin toning mutual aid stations out. We have strict guidelines as to who actually "signs on" enroute to calls, etc. We have told our members that 2-3 people should sign on as responding to our dispatch and that's it.

On fireground as said above, only one member should communicate to command on each team but I believe it is essential for safety reasons that both members have a radio incase they get separated or entrapped. Also what if one radio fails? Having two radios is at least a backup.

[Weruj1]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh the power of taking stff right out of context .........CrossBo and MN...I meant that everyone DOES NOT just have a portable radio to carry around. They are on the trucks, if the offcier remembers to bring theirs then every person riding HAS a radio ........thats what I was trying to convey ....

[ullrichk]

How's this for a short answer: It's hard to call a Mayday if you don't have your own radio.

We have one radio for each riding position and a few spares.

Too much chatter is not a radio problem, it is a training / discipline problem.

Feedback can be controlled by turning the volume down on everyone's radio except for the officer / leader radio. Even if the other radios are off, you could still use them in an emergency provided you have trained to use them with gloves on and in total darkness.

Bone conduction or throat mics also offer an engineering solution to the feedback problem.

There's probably more than one solution to any of these problems except for the one where a firefighter NEEDS a radio but doesn't have one.

[blancety]

Originally posted by ullrichk
Too much chatter is not a radio problem, it is a training / discipline problem.

BING-FREAKIN-O

Originally posted by ullrichk
Feedback can be controlled by turning the volume down on everyone's radio except for the officer / leader radio.

Although being able to hear what is going on around you ain't a bad idea either....

[nmfire]

Using compact radio instead of a pager is quickly picking up popularity, especially if you are on VHF or UHF. Low band isn't really practical as most people don't want a 16" antenna jabbing them in the abdomen all day. The shorter antenna lengths of VHF and especially UHF make it a very good option. You multi-channel, scanning, and paging all in one. Many of the "compact" radios aren't really designed for harsh envirments but or the "routine" stuff, it is fine. Ironiclly, they tend to be cheaper than a pager and work better.

[firedawg803]

At our city- paid dept. there is a radio available for everyone on duty to use while there. They are required to take one each time they leave the station, whether it be on trucks, or on an ambulance. Simply for the reason that if they have a call while out and about, all of them will know about the call. While off duty, they have pagers. Our vol. dept. is also issued radios as well as pagers. It is rather expensive to have both, but communication is very important. In regards to the original issue, if a firefighter is on-duty, out of the station, and not with an officer, he may have trouble responding to a call.

[Cellblock776]

Each Department vehicle has a portable mounted in the cab. The Chief and Assistant Chiefs each have portable radios. "Active" members, those that run more than 25% of calls per year, can also get a portable. The Chief and Assistant Chiefs and any members who are reserve/aux Police/SO have Police and Sheriff channels programmed into their radios in addition to the standard Fire and Fire Ground Channels.

[toddman]

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant guidline for portable radios is one per seated position on apparatus. So what does that tell us? If each firefighter has a radio, you better have strong protocol for their use and good planning for large opperations or disasters.

One other thing to keep in mind is the reoccuring expenses of keeping the radios running. My department is small and our budget is tight, the expense for batteries is an issue... lets see in my dept. what uses batteries? portable radios, flashlights, cordless tools, trucks and hopefully a TIC after the 2004 grants. 25 men, 45 run per year, $13,000 budget and we spend $1,500-$2,000 annually for batteries...I guess we will never get a new truck. My point is, radios are great but if you are replacing pagers with radios make sure you can afford it. Our pager batteries cost $7.00 each, portable radio batteries are $60-$75 each.