Baofeng used to call in medivac helo

[bharvey2]

I shake my head every time I hear a story like this. Coordination ahead of need is critical. If they knew that this air ambulance provider was on their list of potential medevac providers, they should have had the communications plan figured out. The ground ambulance guy with a Baofeng saved their bacon.

What I think is equally problematic is stories like this are what encourage the whackers to program the public service xmit/receive freqs into their radios "just in case". At least the responder with the Baofeng had a legitimate reason to be present. Can't say that about the whackers.

 

[eorange]

I think a Baofeng would be better than smoke signals , if that is all you got .

When the Baofeng self-destructs, it could be said smoke signal.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Had a wreck yesterday that required 4 air evacs. Three came in from our region, one from out of region. All were on our regional P25 system. Pretty much any bird in the state is guaranteed to have VHF and 7/800 onboard as those are what are in common use. Typically we coordinate on designated talk groups for helo ops. It's pretty rare if we have to use VMED28 for coordination.

 

[buddrousa]

It all boils down to Training and being prepared for the Job.
Lack of Training and you are Cheating the Taxpayers out of what they are paying for be it PAID or VOLUNTEER it does not matter.
Supervisors not knowing SOP's should not be in those positions.

 

[chrismol1]

If you didn't watch the whole video, don't be confused.
He said
Fire captain/command in DFW area says the local medevac was unavailable requiring out of area/not typical helo they work with.
Fire radios are 700/800 APX6000
Fire does have NIFOG freqs but only 700/800
Helo dispatch told fire dispatch they did not have 800 system programmed
Fire asked EMS for a VHF radio with VTAC and was handed a baofeng
EMS guy had baofeng pre-programmed with VTAC/UTAC freqs
After incident, plan worked out with dispatch to patch VTAC/UTAC freqs from their system
He says now he will also carry his kenwood D74 with NIFOG freqs

 

[Falcon9h]

I felt a great disturbance in the Force as if all the radio Karens and FCC cult worshippers screamed as one.... 🤣
As far as I'm concerned... great story!

 

[buddrousa]

Then go see the surgeon that uses a kitchen knife and paper towels because they are cheap.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

If you didn't watch the whole video, don't be confused.
He said
Fire captain/command in DFW area says the local medevac was unavailable requiring out of area/not typical helo they work with.
Fire radios are 700/800 APX6000
Fire does have NIFOG freqs but only 700/800
Helo dispatch told fire dispatch they did not have 800 system programmed
Fire asked EMS for a VHF radio with VTAC and was handed a baofeng
EMS guy had baofeng pre-programmed with VTAC/UTAC freqs
After incident, plan worked out with dispatch to patch VTAC/UTAC freqs from their system
He says now he will also carry his kenwood D74 with NIFOG freqs

I'm going to still call the IC out on this. All command vehicles in Texas should be equipped with VHF and 7/800 MHz radios regardless of what the system the agency is running especially since Texas has additional statewide interoperability channels that do not follow NIFOG but are directed to be in common use (8TAC85D, TXCALL1D). It's too easy, especially when the SWIC office has a very easy to to fill out MOU specifically so all agencies can run on state licensed interoperability channels...you literally just fill the form out (I had to renew it for my county about three months ago) and in nearly all of those cases swapping single band mobiles out for the multiband equivalent is a quick and easy task.

There should be absolutely no reason for a personal radio to be needed (regardless of brand) when there is a minor issue like we are receiving a helo in form out of area and they aren't equipped with 7/800 MHz.

 

[MTS2000des]

They should have used the 8TAC's then, even in just talk-around, assuming it was in their radios.

That ruins the fantasy for the prepper/whacker ARES crowd who justify their bandolero of Bowelturds, illicitly programmed trunking radios, and flashing lights who are always there to SAVE THE DAY.

 

[mmckenna]

The 6 "P's":
"Poor Planning Produces Piss Poor Performance"

Any contract with a helicopter ambulance company should have addressed this long before it was signed. Someone could have died because of this and that would have been a very expensive lesson.
Glad someone figured this out, even if it was using the wrong tool for the job.


Seems like the IC guys should have an appropriate radio with VHF, UHF and 7/800MHz capability.
Patching through dispatch is an option that they should have been aware of, but it shouldn't rely on that. One of the benefits of simplex is not needing that infrastructure. The right tools for the job should have been in place. Kind of embarrassing that an agency of that size didn't have this sorted out beforehand.

Relying on this guy carrying a D74 that's been hacked to work on Part 90 frequencies shouldn't be the answer. Again, an embarrassment to the agency.

But, glad it turned out OK in the end, that's what matters.

What's a shame is that this will get used by amateur radio operators as justification to program radios for these channels and further whackerism.

Amateur Radio Guy pulling out the NIFOG was pretty high on the cringe-o-meter.

 

[mmckenna]

But, glad it turned out OK in the end, that's what matters.

I'm sure there are some that would say: "If it was you who had stopped breathing, you would be glad that a Baofeng saved your life!".

Yes, yes I would.

I'd profusely thank the first responders for doing the right thing and saving my life.

When I recovered from that horrible experience, and someone either showed me this video, or told me what happened, I'd still be thankful.
I'd then want to know why the HELL a public safety agency of this size was relying on an $18 Chinese POS radio to save a human life. With the amount of taxpayer dollars that get spent on public safety communications, I'd probably go to whichever board oversaw that agency and start asking some very difficult question that would require some very careful answers. I'd want to know who overlooked this scenario and how it wasn't going to happen again. A seasoned pubic safety official relying on a hacked amateur radio is not the answer.

I'm really surprised the local news media hasn't picked up on this. This really has the potential to make the agency look pretty bad.

I'm willing to bet that someone at Motorola has caught wind of this and the sales guys are already on task. This is too good a sales opportunity for any radio manufacturer to pass up. The tools exist to fix this issue, and price isn't an issue anymore.

 

[motorcoachdoug]

Yes this really does sound like the 6P's and no one thought about this before hand. At least the Pt survived and is ok as well. Multiple people dropped the ball on this as they had become almost robot like when it came to com usage and they never thought outside the box you might say or play the game of what if? if they had to work with an agency that was outside their area and I dare say never trained with that crew before as well. This could have turned into a total cluster f@@@ but someone thought ahead..

 

[Falcon9h]

Ummm.. can't you own a CCR and not be a wacker?

 

[nd5y]

Then go see the surgeon that uses a kitchen knife and paper towels because they are cheap.

Then call the volunteer fire/EMS dept that made their own SCBA out of propane bottles, built their own defibrillator out of a microwave oven power supply, reuses IV bags and syringes and gives you meth and fentanyl because they can't afford real equipment and drugs.

 

[chrismol1]

I wonder if the dispatcher knew how to patch before this incident was brought to surface. I had the cringy experience of listening to an ambulance on a mutual aid call out of county to tell dispatch they didn't have the other counties radio yet so they needed a patch of each others tac channel, to which dispatch told them they didn't have, ambulance replied - well that's what we did last time.

 

[mmckenna]

Ummm.. can't you own a CCR and not be a wacker?

For some the temptation can be a bit too strong to resist.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

I wonder if the dispatcher knew how to patch before this incident was brought to surface. I had the cringy experience of listening to an ambulance on a mutual aid call out of county to tell dispatch they didn't have the other counties radio yet so they needed a patch of each others tac channel, to which dispatch told them they didn't have, ambulance replied - well that's what we did last time.

I can't speak to how interoperability patching is performed on NTIRN or what training dispatchers receive about it but I certainly have some large concerns because us regional system managers talk and I know of a system merger in the talk/planning stages that involves multiple bands on the system to be merged into NTIRN.

I can speak to how we do things on another system since I also happen to sit on the interoperability committee for the system and how we've been working to address some of those issues between VHF and 7/800 MHz and patching resources for incidents involving responders that may not be setup on our system.

 

[motorcoachdoug]

Is there a statewide standard for dispatcher training? and what about how to make a patch between vhf and 700/800 if needed? It sounds like to me dispatcher training was lacking for that agency plus having the proper radio equipment by all units who operate out in the field. What happened to the incident commander who should have had VHF 700/800 capability as well. To me it was a total failure across the board but that one person saved everyone tail feathers by having a radio that was not Part 90 certified.

 

[krokus]

When I watched this video, a couple days ago, I figured it would be an interesting thread on here. It has gone about how I figured.

As they say on a YT channel I watch, "Success is a helluva deodorant." They also say "Luck counts, but you can't count on luck."

I do wonder why the helicopter had no 800 MHz capabilities, even if just the analog NIFOG stuff.

 

[mikepdx]

Baofeng...
When all else fails.