Publication of LA County Fire Dispatch Procedures??

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Coolant113

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Warren County NJ
I was wondering if there was any document anywhere that anybody might have put together or even the county that is available to the public, that outlines the procedures they go thru for all of LA County Fire. i.e how they dispatch the companies, the ever so confusing Blue Channels and VHF Channels and how there assigned, to there call signs, to there mutual aid assignments. Being a radio buff listening to them is just so confusing and i would enjoy listening to them much more if i knew what was going on.
 

Kingscup

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I will try to make it less confusing but I am not sure I understand exactly what you are asking. I don't work for LACoFD so I don't know if all my info is correct.

A 9-1-1 comes into the dispatch center where a call taker answers it and asks pertinent questions. The call information is then sent to the blue 8 dispatcher which dispatches calls countywide. The dispatcher lines up who is being sent to the call and sends the call info to MDTs, station printers and the station alerting system. The dispatcher waits 5-7 seconds and then dispatches the call with the high-low tone. If there are multiple calls backed up, you will hear an abreviated dispatch (structure 59......rescue 33.... Traffic collision 76). If there are numerous calls backed up then there is no voice dispatch. There is no other traffic allowed on blue .

The call info is then sent to a tactical radio operator (TRO) which is basically a regional dispatcher that only talks with units within that region of the county. If there is a unit not in quarters or already on a call, the TRO will announce the call over the radio (rescue 36, squad 116). This means there is a medical emergency in station 36's area and squad 116 is assigned to the call. If engine 36 is not in quarters, the engine will hear they have a response. If squad 116 is responding, this means squad 36 is not available for a response in their area. This also means that squad 36 would hear it and can go available if possible for the new call. Announcing the call also allows other units to hear it and possibly respond if they are closer then the original unit.

The UHF blue channels are for dispatch and unit to dispatch communications. The VHF channels are for on scene fireground communications.

Here is a link to the response matrix.
Los Angeles County Fire Department - Special Ops - 911 Dispatch - Response Matrices
 

Coolant113

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Jul 15, 2006
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Location
Warren County NJ
I will try to make it less confusing but I am not sure I understand exactly what you are asking. I don't work for LACoFD so I don't know if all my info is correct.

A 9-1-1 comes into the dispatch center where a call taker answers it and asks pertinent questions. The call information is then sent to the blue 8 dispatcher which dispatches calls countywide. The dispatcher lines up who is being sent to the call and sends the call info to MDTs, station printers and the station alerting system. The dispatcher waits 5-7 seconds and then dispatches the call with the high-low tone. If there are multiple calls backed up, you will hear an abreviated dispatch (structure 59......rescue 33.... Traffic collision 76). If there are numerous calls backed up then there is no voice dispatch. There is no other traffic allowed on blue .

The call info is then sent to a tactical radio operator (TRO) which is basically a regional dispatcher that only talks with units within that region of the county. If there is a unit not in quarters or already on a call, the TRO will announce the call over the radio (rescue 36, squad 116). This means there is a medical emergency in station 36's area and squad 116 is assigned to the call. If engine 36 is not in quarters, the engine will hear they have a response. If squad 116 is responding, this means squad 36 is not available for a response in their area. This also means that squad 36 would hear it and can go available if possible for the new call. Announcing the call also allows other units to hear it and possibly respond if they are closer then the original unit.

The UHF blue channels are for dispatch and unit to dispatch communications. The VHF channels are for on scene fireground communications.

Here is a link to the response matrix.
Los Angeles County Fire Department - Special Ops - 911 Dispatch - Response Matrices

Answers alot of what i was looking for. Thanks!
 

fender1878

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Jul 9, 2010
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We're doing in Ventura County essentially what LACoFD does...

The confusion comes from the Countywide Dispatch Channel (Blue 8) and the Response Channels. All of the "Blue" channels are repeated UHF for the most part. All of the "White" channels are VHF talk-around and used for close proximity car-to-car and fireground operations.

Like Kingscup said, the Blue 8 dispatcher will send out tones and give the full voice dispatch. Around the same time, a "pre-alert" is given on the response channel as well. Even when busy, you'll usually always get at least "rescue 82's" or "structure 11's." Once the unit is assigned to a call, all of there radio traffic to dispatch is done on the response channel and not on Blue 8.

We do this in Ventura, all calls are dispatched on one channel and you're assigned to a "command" channel from that point on. Verdugo also does this with the "Red" channels on incidents larger than a basic medical or traffic collision.

As a radio buff, Blue 8 is where you'll get all of the call info, the drawback being, if you only want to listen to say 182's area, you're stuck having to listen to the countywide dispatch. The alternative being to monitor the response channel for the area you're interested in and risk not getting all of the details.
 
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