6. INCOMING EMERGENCY CALLS, ALARMS AND
INCIDENT DISPATCH
6.1 TELEPHONE
ALARMS
6.1A On
incoming calls,
6.1B Incoming telephone calls are
answered with the following greeting message:
Non
Emer. Lines- “
6.1C Under
normal conditions all calls are to be dispatched within 90 seconds of
disconnecting from a caller.
6.1D
6.1E Follow-up incident information
requests needed from the
6.1F At no
time will emergency personnel telephone the
6.1G Should
a station receive a report of an incident from sources other than the
1. If you are due on the incident, advise
the
2. If you are not due on the incident,
telephone the
a. Location of Incident / Municipality
b. Call back information
c. Conditions
6.1H Adjacent
The
following procedures will be used by the
1. Incidents received by the
2.
Exceptions:
a.
Borough of Shippensburg - incidents in the
b.
3. Incidents occurring in
Exceptions:
a. Company 34 - Shermans
Dale Fire Company (Perry County Company 12) shall be dispatched automatically
to calls in which this company is listed as part of alarm response in Middlesex
Township or any other area in Cumberland County.
b. Company 54 - West End Fire & Rescue
Company (Franklin County Company 15) shall be dispatched automatically to calls
in which this company is listed as part of alarm response in Shippensburg
Borough, or any other area in Cumberland County.
6.1I Incident Priority System -
1.
a. Formal system of interrogating caller
for
b. Medical pre-arrival instructions prior
to the arrival of trained
c.
d.
2.
An "Emergency
EMD Conditions" declaration by the Communications Center
Supervisor/Shift Leader will temporarily suspend formal EMD intervention by the
Center's staff. This declaration will be
enacted during periods of extremely high radio/telephone traffic to ensure
timely receipt, processing and dispatching of public safety needs. This action, when enacted, will be clearly
documented by the Communications Center Supervisor/Shift Leader in their daily
shift report record. Documentation shall
include conditions, which prompted this action, actual time duration of
declaration, and a record of those incidents that were affected by the
declaration.
6.1J Incident
Priority System - Fire Incidents
1. The
The
priorities are defined as follows:
a. Priority
I - active incidents involving an immediate or potential threat to life
and/or property. This would also include
situations in which incident conditions cannot be confirmed but potentials may
exist.
Priority
I Examples: Fires involving structures, vehicles, wildlands,
unattended trash or "controlled" burns or any other fire situation
not specifically mentioned; hazardous materials spills or releases; fires
reported extinguished by the general public; smoke odors; lockouts with food on
the stove; utility services with potential danger; motor vehicle accidents
(confirmed, suspected or potential for injury); industrial accidents, rescues;
emergency service requests; apparatus transfers; and any other call deemed
necessary by the Communications Center Supervisor.
Priority
I incidents are dispatched in accordance to procedures defined in Section
8 of this Communications Procedural Manual.
b. Priority
II - non-active Incidents - not involving an immediate threat to life.
Priority
II Examples: Animal rescues; water problems (could be upgraded to Priority I); fallen tree removals;
non-hazardous storm damage assistance.
c. Priority
III - Routine or administrative needs.
2. Dispatch procedures for prioritized
incidents are as follows:
a. Priority
I - Active Incidents - relayed by radio dispatch.
b. Priority
II - Non-active Incidents - telephone call to appropriate service contact;
or radio dispatch, whichever is deemed appropriate based on current internal
c. Priority
III - Administrative Needs - relayed by telephone to appropriate service
contact.
3. Incidents will be dispatched by
priority, with Priority I being the
highest priority.
6.1K Investigations
Incident
reports received by the Communications Center which, based on the judgement of the Supervisor/Shift Leader, do not warrant
the dispatch of Fire and/or EMS equipment (odor, smoke scares, apparent
malicious false reports, reported accidental activation’s of automatic
detection devices) may be referred to the appropriate Fire and/or EMS Chief for
action. Even though police or other services may be asked to check the
situation, the event responsibility remains with the appropriate Fire or EMS
Chief. In the event the
6.2 UPGRADE/DOWNGRADE
AUTHORITY
At
the discretion of the Communications Supervisor/Shift Leader can upgrade or
downgrade of incident response can occur.
6.2A Upgrade - If incident reports
from the public to the
6.2B Downgrade - during
thunderstorms, adverse weather conditions or localized power outages, the
Communications Center Supervisor/Shift Leader may consider downgrading first
alarm responses for automatic detection devices. Downgrades may occur in
localized areas of the county where obvious conditions exist and multiple
automatic alarms are received. This
downgrade would preferably be a single engine company dispatch for
investigation purposes. This would help prevent the depletion of resources for
actual emergency situations. Upgrade to
full alarm response will occur if the conditions or situation warrants. Downgrade conditions will cease upon the
conclusion of the adverse weather conditions.
6.3 INCIDENT
DISPATCH
6.3A Announcement
Procedure
The
following format will be utilized in announcement of Priority I incidents:
1. If a company due is at another
incident, but has apparatus on station which is due, they must be notified of
the second incident.
2. Activate encoder "pager"
tone(s) of company(ies) due
and/or, if applicable, municipal "pager" encoder tone(s) per
municipal pre-planned fire and/or
Should
apparatus of the first due engine company be
out-of-service or otherwise committed, their encoder "pager" tones
shall also be activated for informational purposes.
3. Appropriate number of "alert"
tones sounded:
-One
for
-Two
for non-structure fires, motor vehicle injury accidents, rescues and transfer
assignments.
-Three
for any call involving a structure
4. Announce municipality (borough, township,
city).
5. Announce location (street address,
landmark, other pertinent information).
6. Incident conditions (house fire, car
fire, auto accident, fire in wall, heart attack). The general terms of
"structure fire, vehicle fire and wildfire" will not be used if
possible.
7. Announce Box Number (N/A on Medical
Emergency).
8.
Announce Patient Response Class (EMS/QRS Dispatches
only).
9. Announce Companies/Units Due:
-Fire/Rescue/QRS
Apparatus on Channel 1 Fire
-
10. Activate
house siren tones for companies due (if appropriate).
11.
Resound
alert tone(s).
12. Re-announce location.
13. Re-announce
incident conditions.
14. Re-announce box number, if appropriate.
15. Re-announce Patient Response Class, if
appropriate.
16. Re-announce companies (units due as in
item #9).
17. Announce time of incident.
6.3B Transfer
Dispatch Format
1. The following format will be utilized
for transfers of apparatus (Fire or
Example: Pager tone, beep-beep, transfer to Company
65's quarters, Engine Co. 66 . . . siren tone . . . beep-beep, transfer to Company 65's
quarters, Engine Company 66 is due, 1516 hours.
(Siren tone may not be required on ambulance transfers depending upon
individual procedures)
6.4 DISPATCH CHANNELS
6.4A Fire
Incidents
All
Fire and Rescue companies will be dispatched on Conventional Fire 1 and 800
Fire 1.
All
BLS/ALS EMS units will be dispatched on MED Channel 10 and on 800 Med Dispatch.
6.4B
All
BLS/ALS EMS units will be dispatched on MED 10 and on 800 Med Dispatch. QRS will also be announced on MED 10 and 800
Med Dispatch if response is required under regional response criteria.
Medical
Assist/QRS units will be dispatched on Conventional Fire 1 and on 800 Fire 1.
6.4C Auto
Accident/Rescue
All
BLS/ALS EMS units will be dispatched on MED 10 and on 800 Med Dispatch.
All
Fire and Rescue companies will be dispatched on Conventional Fire 1 and on 800
Fire 1.
6.5 INCIDENT DISPATCH
PROCEDURE
A
primary and secondary incident dispatch procedure will be used to determine
priority of dispatch. Primary dispatch
announcement shall occur before secondary dispatch (whenever practical and
appropriate). Dispatch of secondary
services shall be delayed a minimum of mid-dispatch (house siren phase) of
primary services.
The
Incident Type Primary Dispatch Secondary Dispatch
Medical
Emergency
Fire/Rescue(if
required)
Motor Vehicle
Accident
Fire or Other Fire EMS (if applicable)