Dallas Scannign question

[brodiebnew]

I just moved to Dallas and have been listening to Dallas FD and PD dispatch. So is the fire dispatch automated because it sounds like a computer and after every dispatch it sounds like she says something about a map then a letter, not sure what that means. also does dallas send an engine and ambulance to all ems calls. thanks just trying to figure things out here.

[soncorn]

The voice is from something like this:
What Is Computer Automated Dispatching - Locution - Locution Systems

The number followed by a letter is the "Mapsco". See the following
Mapsco - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The number is the page number of the map for the Dallas Mapsco book, the letter refers to the grid spot on that page.

[redhelmet13]

Originally Posted by brodiebnew

I just moved to Dallas and have been listening to Dallas FD and PD dispatch. So is the fire dispatch automated because it sounds like a computer and after every dispatch it sounds like she says something about a map then a letter, not sure what that means. also does dallas send an engine and ambulance to all ems calls. thanks just trying to figure things out here.

Dallas uses a station alerting system called Locution, It is a system that sends the dispatch to the staton/s and over the air, The voice is generated fro a computer.. The computer has a large amount of spoken words stored in it with a dictionary that cross references the spoken word to text (from the CAD system). The system uses a network connection to each Fire Station's Locution computer to transmit the incident. The cool thing is the ability to send out multiple dispatches at once... The old fashioned way relied on a dispatcher to dispatch one call at a time. This new method means faster response times. Someone in Big D please fill in what info is sent on a dispatch announcement please. I have been in a station in Fort Worth which also uses Locution during a dispatch, Pretty cool stuff if you ask me!

[n5ims]

Dallas Fire Rescue generally does send both an engine and a medic to a medical call. What generally happens is a call is dispatched over the DFD Dispatch channel (460.57500) using the Locution automated dispatch system (it's also sent to the appropriate MDC screens). The appropriate medic units will respond on the Rescue Response channel (453.90000) and the appropriate engine/truck/chief/etc. units will respond on the Fire Response (453.87500) channel. Once all responding units indicate that they're in route, the response channel will repeat the call (with any additional information that has been passed along) and announce that all units are in route. Once they arrive on scene, they may be told to move to the assigned simplex ground channel for that incident.

Please note that the ground channels are simplex and not heard unless you're close to the scene. There may be more than one incident working on a ground channel if sufficient incidents are happening at the same time. They space out the assigned incidents to help eliminate (or at least reduce) interference on that channel in situations where multiple incidents are sharing a channel.

They have their CAD (Computer Added Dispatch) on-line here ACTIVE INCIDENTS which may help you find out what's going on nearby if you missed a dispatch. The list may be filtered for security, but I've seen many types of incidents listed so the filter isn't very restrictive if they do use one.

[IAmSixNine]

Just to add a little bit. Unless something has changed. A general Medical Emergency is for an MICU only. IF the first up MICU is out they will send an Engine as a first responder untill the MICU arrives.
For calls like unconscious or heart attacks they send both an Engine and MICU.

[Para078]

Has Dallas dropped the power on the dispatch channel? It does not have the range that it used to have and the response channels still sound the same as they always have.

[Russell]

Originally Posted by Para078

Has Dallas dropped the power on the dispatch channel? It does not have the range that it used to have and the response channels still sound the same as they always have.

It's possible, Dispatch is used only for Station Radio and not needed for mobiles or portables. Since all the stations (bases) have tower/roof antennas, less power is needed.

[letarotor]

They may have narrow banded that transmitter by now. The other fire channels are still transmitting in wide band spacing. All the PD transmitters are transmitting in narrow channel spacing, that is why they sound weaker than they used to. First step to complying with narrow band deadline.