[matthewtomek]

Originally Posted by wa8pyr

Whoever dreamed up that 31 Delta 1 stuff for dispatching a run has A) never been a dispatcher, B) never been a medic in the field and C) needs a good swift smack upside their fool head.

I've been both a dispatcher and a firefigher/EMT for many years, and that stuff would drive everyone I know stark raving mad. The constant need to either look up the nature of the run on a cheat sheet or ask the dispatcher for clarification would far outweigh any time savings gained by using the codes.

For a variety of excellent reasons, most agencies do not use codes, but instead stick to plain language, at least on the radio.

There has been a push on for many years, which gained momentum after 9/11 and even more with the new Federal interoperability standards, to exclusively use plain language. This is not just for Fire/EMS but law enforcement as well.

A couple of years ago the Feds (FEMA, specifically) decreed that all agencies switch to plain language, or face the loss of Federal grant monies. After an outcry, this was amended to "plain language during mutual aid incidents." However, fire and EMS use mutual aid nearly every day, so in general plain language is the order of the day.

When you start hearing the codes over and over, you know what they are without having to look the up. I don't think this has anything to do with FEMA's request for "plain language."