County Fire Standard Operating Guideline. Category: Communications SOG# Issued by: Communications Sub Issued on:

Transcription

1 County Fire Standard Operating Guideline Category: Communications SOG# Issued by: Communications Sub Issued on: Committee Revised by: Revised on: Page of 0 REVISIO # ITEROPERBILITY Purpose: Te purpose of tis guideline is to provide a uniform means for interoperable radio communications trougout te County in Mutual id Situations. Background: Individual fire departments in te County operate on locally licensed radio frequencies on eiter VHF (HI) or UHF bands. Eac department as a dispatc and operations frequency and a number ave additional fireground or utility frequencies. During Mutual id responses, communication can be complicated or impaired by te necessity of all departments aving to program teir mobile and portable radios wit all te potentially usable frequencies in te County; in some cases, were responding apparatus/portable radios are on a completely different frequency band, it is necessary for mutual aid companies to utilize two (2) radios in order to communicate wit te ost community. Furtermore, it is noted tat even witin eac community, tose departments aving only one dispatc/operations frequency at teir command are under significant limitation to maintain command and control of more tan one incident at a time or to respond to a "May Day" declaration by sifting to an alternate radio cannel to maintain incident command wile activating and inserting te RIT team for firefigter rescue operations. Interrupting Fireground Tactical Communications to announce extra alarms (including paging tones, box tones, etc) or to dispatc oter emergency responses on a common cannel is a distraction to te Incident Commander and firefigters engaged in te incident and can prevent critical communications being eard. In general, it can be stated tat as a General Practice, sifting to a Fireground Operations Cannel wenever "ll Companies re orking" (orking Fire or better) is recommended. Tis practice ensures against confusion on te fireground from oter dispatc activity simultaneously occurring in te community during te prosecution of a working fire. In common practice, some departments sift to a fireground cannel immediately after dispatc and upon arrival at te incident scene for any incident involving multiple apparatus response. Incident Commanders (IC's) sould establis te practice of utilizing two (2) radios at te Command Post: one radio sould be tuned to te Fireground Frequency and one radio sould be tuned to te local Frequency. Use of scanning features sould be discouraged as tese can allow messages to be missed. Tis procedure will ensure tat bot routine and emergency messages from fireground

2 personnel will not be interrupted or missed by te IC. 2. Mutual id Response Safety: ll mutual aid response "To Cover" sould be conducted in "Code C" mode wit apparatus proceeding wit caution and witout warning ligts to te destination coverage station. en apparatus reaces te ost town (city) limits, te officer sould contact dispatc to announce tat (Town/Unit/umber) is in te community responding to its cover assignment. Mutual id apparatus sould remain on te cannel for te ost community until assigned oterwise by local dispatc. Host communities sould avoid reassigning Mutual id apparatus to te fire until tey reac town (city) limits if possible. Once reassigned "to te fire", mutual aid apparatus sould utilize warning ligts and siren and proceed wit usual caution/emergency response procedures. Te ost dispatc sould warn responding apparatus to use caution as tey are responding "off prescribed routes" to avoid interference wit oter responding apparatus. Responding apparatus are reminded tat communities troug wic tey pass wile en route to teir assignment may not be aware tat an emergency exists nearby and will not be alert to emergency responses troug tat community. Observance of te County ccountability SOG is mandatory in Mutual id Response. Officers of mutual aid companies must maintain teir company 'Collector Rings' wit ccountability Tags. en assigned "to te fire", mutual aid companies must sift to te assigned Fireground radio frequency and tereafter all members refer to temselves on te radio by teir Town (City), Unit umber, and Seat umber. Example: "Command, tis is Peabody Engine 02". Seat number designations sall be te commonly accepted practice as follows (using example above for Peabody Engine ): Cauffeur Officer Engine 00 Engine First jump seat (L) First jump seat(r) Engine 02 Engine 0 2 nd jump seat (LI 2 nd jump seatflo Engine 04 Engine 03 Incident Commander will contact company leaders on te fireground using te Community/ pparatus designation from te ccountability Collector Ring: Example: "Peabody Engine, Command Calling". Tactical Communication Units (TC COM): Te County as provided four (4) mobile Cross- Band Repeaters or Tactical Communication Units (TC COM) wic enable te use of bot UHF and VHF (HI) mobile and portable radios on an incident scene under certain conditions. Tese units utilize county licensed fireground frequencies in te respective bands so tat responding companies need only sift to te county fireground frequency in teir radios upon arrival and are ten able to communicate seamlessly wit one anoter and te Incident Commander. Te TC COM will be

3 assigned by te respective District 5 or 5 Control Point to respond on a Second larm to te ost community according to te directive on te County 0-alarm response card in te following manner: en a community advises te Fire Control Point of a "orking Fire" declaration, te Fire Control Point will contact te assigned TC Com by cellular pone to place tat unit on lert; 3. If te assigned TC COM is not available, te backup TC COM will be alerted. Upon notification tat a 2 n alarm as been declared by te ost community, te TC COM will be deployed by te Fire Control Point. Upon arrival in te ost community, te TC COM will report to te Incident Commander as follows: "Command, TC COM (number) on scene, located at, repeater is activated and manned". Te office in carge of te TC COM or is autorized designee will remain wit te veicle and monitor all Fireground transmissions as a backup to te Incident Commander. In te event a communication appears to ave been missed by te IC, te TC COM officer will immediately alert te IC in person of te missed contact. (Future: ll fireground communications will be recorded automatically in te TC COM and a permanent record maintained.) Primary and secondary TC COM assignments will be maintained on te County 0-larm cards to be used by te Fire Control to dispatc tese units. TC COM units will be tested and availability maintained daily along wit all community mutual aid status. Only one () of tese veicles need be at te Incident Scene and if more tan one is present, only one () sould activate its repeater. Tactical Communications Units are strategically deployed in te County as follows: TC COM : mesbury Fire Cief TC COM 2: Danvers Fire Cief TC COM 3: Georgetown Fire Cief TC COM 4: Reab 5 Te Cross-Band Repeaters are only operable wit te respective county licensed fireground frequencies for VHF and UHF radios (see listing of tese frequencies below). o oter frequency will function wit tese units. Communication Guidance at various level responses: Level : Standard response (still or box alarm) witin te community wit O mutual aid response. Standard practice will be to utilize te local cannel or a fireground cannel as fireground operations cannel according to local SOP/SOG. Level 2: Response involving one () Mutual id company only (eg. Line Box). Operate as in Level ; Mutual id company will select te ost community dispatc cannel or fireground cannel in accordance wit standard practice.

4 Level 3: Multiple mutual aid responses at orking Fire or iger in accordance wit te County 0- larm card. LL companies (ost and mutual aid) sift to county fireground frequency at te Incident. Mutual id covering companies sift to ost community dispatc cannel and report to cover assignments. TC COM unit reports to incident, activates te cross-band repeater. Te exception to tis practice would be wen te ost community is a larger department wit multiple licensed radio cannels. In tose cases, standard practice wit common mutual aid companies would prevail. 4. ote: Te ost community may request te TC COM at any time by contacting te Fire Control point. of te TC COM sall be automatic upon declaration of a 2 nd larm by te ost community even toug Pase II Mutual id Response may not be effective until greater alarms ave been declared. Level 4: Major incident involving Unified Command and multiple agency response. Under tese conditions, te county Cross-Band repeaters are limited to te county fireground repeater function. It will be necessary to contact Department of Fire Services and oter agencies troug te respective Fire Control communicators to obtain te more compreensive fire communications resources to link all agencies. vailable resources include FCM Regional Communications Unit (Lowell Field Comm 60), DFS Comm Unit, Seriffs units, etc. During Level 4 events, it will be necessary to sift radio cannels to universal tactical cannels (VTC or UTC)... see County Cannel Plan. Special Concerns: Tere as been concern expressed regarding te fact tat te fireground frequencies are not repeaterized and tat te local dispatc may not be able to ear/record fireground messages. It as been demonstrated tat direct cannel operations are more tan adequate for operations up to one-alf mile from te Cross-Band Repeater veicle. In addition, te veicles will be equipped wit event recorders wic will record LL fireground communications traffic PERMETLY to enable post-incident review as necessary. Furter, te arriving cauffeur of te Cross-Band Repeater will be assigned to monitor all radio traffic during te incident as a backup to te Incident Commander. It is recognized tat some communities are surrounded wit mutual aid support wic all sare a common frequency band. In all likeliood, te first five alarms of mutual aid response will not require te cross band repeater capability. n addendum to tis SOG provides guidance regarding tose communities wic ave a lower level of interoperability concern. In all cases, te need for and assignment of te TC COM as a standardized Mutual id response will be controlled by te Fire Control Point in accordance wit preassigned 0-larm Card procedures. Eac community will be assigned TC COM coverage according to a consensus of need. OTE: benefit of universal adoption of tis SOG to LL Mutual id situations, even in te larger communities or were UHF/VHF interoperability is OT an immediate concern would be te presence of te TC COM unit on scene, wit repeater and recorder activated and a ET officer monitoring all fireground activities PLUS te seamless addition of special units to te scene using

5 fireground cannels only. 3. Experience will dictate weter te current placement and quantity of Cross Band repeaters is adequate for continuing operations. It is possible tat some relocation of assets or an increase in numbers will be required. n example may be te City of Lawrence were UHF/VHF interoperability is a necessity at early stages of Mutual id. It may be advantageous for Lawrence to adopt an in-city TC COM unit for teir exclusive use. 4. It is recommended tat periodic exercises be eld to train personnel in te deployment of te Cross-Band repeaters and to verify te effectiveness of te Interoperability Plan. DDED: 5. COMMUITIES HVIG COMMO FREQUECY MUTUL ID RESPOSES: (Tese communities need not be assisted by te Cross-Band Repeater Mobile units until an incident reaces greater tan five (5) alarms). District 5: Lynn Lynnfield aant Swampscott akefield District 5: mesbury Georgetown Merrimac ewbury ewburyport Rowley Salisbury COUTY FIREGROUD FREQUECIES: (ESSEX COUTY RED) FUCTIO MK RX R Q RX PI IX KRKO IX PI, modi: Foreground ESSEX RED nalog Fireground ESSEX RED CSQ nalog COUTY CHEL PL: Te County Cannel Plan is te recommended minimum cannel arrangement to be included in all mobile and portable radios of eac department. It is recognized tat a totally identical cannel

6 arrangement is not feasible given te wide variety of equipment in use in te County. Consequently, it sall be te responsibility of eac department to bot arrange te programming of teir radios to include te minimum cannel requirements of te County Cannel Plan, D to ensure tat Mutual id companies responding outside te local community be informed of te "" cannel of te community to wic tey are responding. Te responding companies sall report "Sifting to dispatc" upon departing teir own community and "In your community and on your dispatc frequency" wen arriving in te ost community. 6. Cannel Plan (first sixteen cannels)*: *Discussion of Cannel Plan: Cannel plan as been recommended for first sixteen (6) cannels only as some communities are limited to only 6 cannel radios. For tose aving greater numbers of zones and cannels, additional cannels may be programmed to include dispatc cannels in oter communities, DP, water district and oter agencies. It must be remembered tat te local will be responsible for advising responding apparatus as to te location of a specific communications cannel. During dispatc for mutual aid response, it sould be te LOCL dispatcer's responsibility to inform te responding apparatus as to were to find te mutual aid community's dispatc cannel (by zone and cannel in te apparatus and portable radios). Having te local dispatc cannel programmed in te first and last cannel of te portable radios is recommended to minimize confusion under local operating conditions in locating te cannel for an emergency message; turning te selector switc all te way in eiter direction will connect te user wit te ome cannel. Having LL County Mobile and Portable Radios programmed in common, wit Cannel 5 in te Main Zone will simplify instructing responders to sift to te Fireground Cannel (Essex County Red) wen responding or at te scene of a Mutual id event. * Having LL County Mobile and Portable Radios programmed in common, wit a Universal Tactical Frequency (UTC or VTC) in Cannel 4 in te Main Zone will simplify instructing responders to sift to a Level 4 Response wen necessary under Unified Command. OTE: Specific frequencies will be publised and distributed as part of te "arrowbanding Guidelines on Reprogramming". * Members sould be cautioned concerning te use of "Emergency" buttons on radios if so equipped. Tese features typically default to te primary cannel on te individual radio and as suc may not be capable of reacing te desired recipient wen operating at a distance from te ome receiver. Declaration of a "MY DY" on te Fireground Cannel during an emergency situation is te preferred and more reliable procedure. OTE: Universal Tactical Frequencies are nationally licensed frequencies in eac band wic are autorized for use by emergency responders. In general use, tese are and sould be simplex (not repeaterized) cannels. In some cases, were local systems exist, repeaterized tactical cannels are available for special events, large incidents, etc. gencies outside Essex County are developing capabilities for compreensive cross banding and complex interoperability needs. Te advantage of UTC and VTC cannels is tat tey are in common nationwide and terefore enable

7 communications for responders outside Essex County or Massacusetts. References: llegeny County 9-- Communications Center, Standard Operating Guidelines for Fire Communications, Standard Operating Guidelines for Interoperable Communications witin Grant County,, October Improving Interoperability troug Sared Cannels, Dept. of Homeland Security, Version 2 Te Interoperability Callenge, David Bibo and Leslie Tornton, Penobscot County Fire Ciefs Interoperability Communications Plan, Commonwealt of Massacusetts, Statewide Interoperability Process, December Essex County Fire Ciefs - Communications Sub-Committee Survey,.200. E C F C D i s t r i c t 5 U H F C a n n e l P l a n COMMUICTIOS RESOURCE VILBILITY ORKSHEET Frequency Band UHF RGE 2 ( MHz) '". - ; ',-, <. ' *. < ^ '' ' * ** ' V*V.. ' V-V Description ESSEX COUTY (D-5) CHEL PL - UHF

8 # Cannel Configurati on District Cannel Interop Cannel Firegrou nd Red Cannel ame/ Trunked Radio System Talkgroup "D-5 COTR OL" "UTC42 D" "ESSEX RED" Eligible Users RX Freq or RX Tone/ C FIRE LL USERS FIRE TX Freq or Tx Tone/ C CSQ D Mode, D or M Remarks 8 Digit display - "D-5-CTL" 8 Digit display - "ESSX-RED" Te convention calls for frequency lists to sow four digits after te decimal place, followed by eiter an "" or a "", depending on weter te frequency is narrow or wide band. Mode refers to eiter "" or "D" indicating analog or digital (e.g. Project 25) or "M" indicating mixed mode. ll cannels are sown as if programmed in a control station, mobile or portable radio. Repeater and base stations must be programmed wit te Rx and Tx reversed. ICS 27 Excel ug-0 E C F C D i

9 s t r i c t 5 V H F C a n n e l P l a n COMMUICTIOS RESOURCE VILBILITY ORKSHEET Frequency Band VHF HIGH BD (36-74MHz) Description ESSEX COUTY (D-5) CHEL PL - VHF # Cannel Configurati on J i Cannel ame/ Trunked Radio System Talkgroup Eligible Users RX Freq or RX Tone/ C TX Freq or Tx Tone/ C Mo de, D or M Remarks

10 _ District 3 Cannel Interop Cannel Fireg round Red "D-5 COTR OL" "VTC4 " "ESSEX RED" FIRE LL USERS FIRE CSQ CSQ D Digit display - "D-5-CTL" Digit display - "ESSX-RED" Te convention calls for frequency lists to sow four digits after te decimal place, followed by eiter an "" or a "", depending on weter te frequency is narrow or wide band. Mode refers to eiter "" or "D" indicating analog or digital (e.g. Project 25) or "M" indicating mixed mode. ll cannels are sown as if programmed in a control station, mobile or portable radio. Repeater and base stations must be programmed wit te Rx and Tx reversed. ug-0 COMMUICTIOS RESOURCE VILBILITY ORKSHEET Frequency Band UHF RGE 2 { MHz) Description ESSEX COUTY (D-5) CHEL PL - UHF # Cannel Configurati on Cannel ame/ Trunked Radio System Talkgroup Eligible Users RX Freq or RX Tone/ C TX Freq or Tx Tone/ C Mode, D or M Remarks

11 District Cannel interop Cannel Firegrou nd Red "D-5 COTRO L" "UTC4 2D" "ESSEX RED" FIRE LL USERS FIRE CSQ D Digit display-"d-5- CTL" 8 Digit display - "ESSX-RED" Te convention calls for frequency lists to sow four digits after te decimal place, followed by eiter an "" or a "", depending on weter te frequency is narrow or wide band. Mode refers to eiter "" or "D" indicating analog or digital (e.g. Project 25) or "M" indicating mixed mode. ll cannels are sown as if programmed in a control station, mobile or portable radio. Repeater and base stations must be programmed wit te Rx and Tx reversed. COMMUICTIOS RESOURCE VILBILITY ORKSHEET ECFC District 5 VHF Cannel Plan Frequency Band Description VHF HIGH BD(36-74MHz) ESSEX COUTY (D-5) CHEL PL-VHF! i^'k '*' *' ', - *"»**" " <+. s i'v' - ' ''!i jij in i # J annel ame/ =i ri. i i RX Freq or RX TX Freq or Tx Mod Remarks Configur Trt-n"- Radio Tone/ Tone/ e, ation System C C D or Talkj. v L r M

12 District Cannel Interop Cannel Firegrou nd Red "D-5 COTR OL" H VTC 4" "ESSEX RED" FIRE LL USERS FIRE CSQ CSQ D Digit display-"d-5- CTL" Digit display - "ESSX-RED" Te convention calls for frequency lists to sow four digits after te decimal place, followed by eiter an "" or a "", depending on weter te frequency is narrow or wide band. Mode refers to eiter "" or "D" indicating analog or digital (e.g. Project 25) or "M" indicating mixed mode. ll cannels are sown as if programmed in a control station, mobile or portable radio. Repeater and base stations must be programmed wit te Rx and Tx reversed. ICS27Excei