![]() The last idea I wanted to talk about is a very inventive idea that I had the pleasure of taking part in a number of years ago with the Providence Fire Department at one of their annual Firefighter Safety conferences. If you are unable to carry out a command you need to let command know that you are unable and why. ![]() The officers and crews need to understand that the IC is tracking you based on the orders you are given so as far as command knows if something goes wrong like a backdraft or collapse, Engine 1’s last known location was the basement. When the officer is finished with the task he will notify command “Engine 1 to command gas is shut off”, “Command has that Engine 1”. Once the order has been accomplished, you will notify command that it is completed like “Command to Engine 1, go to the basement and shut off the gas”. An officer that is given a radio assignment from command over the radio need to do the same thing in that telling the incident commander I have the order, repeat it and then get the crew to carry it out. ![]() ![]() The officer and firefighters should practice basic radio communication like requesting a 2” hand line to the 3 rd floor “B/C” corner bedroom and have the firefighter acknowledge the message with a repeat of the order. You have the ability to use your own radios to practice on a fire ground frequency that should not interfere with regular radio operations. That will help you to give a solid radio traffic training to firefighters. It will give your crews the feeling that you are losing your control and the one thing you want to have on a fire ground is the feeling that the person that is running this incident is in control and can do the job.įor your training classes, you can go on websites like YouTube and find videos of fires with the radio traffic on them. An officer shouldn’t yell when he gives an order. If you yell, the radio will distort your voice and no one will be able to understand what you are saying so you are going to have to say it all over again and waste time. You will keep your radio messages short and to the point and keep in mind that yelling is not allowed. When you talk on the radio, you need to keep it professional no matter how stressful the situation can become. Remember, the radio is not a telephone and it is governed by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Firefighters should take some time to learn and listen to the radio communications so they can get a feel for the types of conversations that happen over the radio. Next would be what their call sign is on the radio and again for the firefighter riding on Engine 1 in the jump seat behind the officer his call sign could be Engine 103, E 1 “Charlie”, Engine 1 jump 1, so you get the idea what I am talking about. For this reason, make sure the firefighters all understand the common terminology of the ICS terms that they will be using. I have heard it called the “ A”, Alpha side of the building, Side 1, and the front to name a few. Terminology like “what side of the building are you standing” differs between departments. Unfortunately, a lot of the terminology is not covered in the training academy but a good officer will make sure to learn the nomenclature. Fire officers need to understand that some of our new firefighters may not have grown up in a house with a fire department scanner on all the time and may not have any idea what all the terminology means. Now that you have taken the time to learn what all the bells, buttons and dials do on your radio, you need to understand how to make it work. The next thing I wanted to cover is the use of the radio and radio training. The radio lifetime is only as good as your treat it and if you keep it clean, charged and protected it should be the partner you need in the most critical situations. In part 1 of this article, I talked about the things you need to do to keep your portable radio in top operating condition.
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