Fairfax County Fire Automated Dispatch (noob question)

[W3MAL]

Hi there,

I've been listening to the Fairfax County dispatch a bit recently. There's a part of the fire automated dispatch that I don't quite understand. Here's an example clip:

OpenMHz

www.openmhz.com

I can't tell if they're saying "box" or "vox" but it sounds like the number following whatever that word is will usually be one of the unit numbers plus some other number - like "?ox 437-02." What are they saying and what does that mean?

Thanks

 

[smwincva]

Although I did not hear the term on the transmission on the link provided, perhaps you were referring to the "knox box" Emergency Key Box - Knox Rapid Access System

It's a box that holds a key (or keys) important to gain access within a building that is not otherwise occupied. This could include checking the building when an alarm is sounding or there is a light haze.

Some 20 years ago certain firefighters would have a master key to open the boxes as needed. Today, it's mostly done with a firefighter telling the dispatcher he needs knox box # x opened. From there the knox box is opened by radio.

Steve

 

[n3obl]

Some 20 years ago certain firefighters would have a master key to open the boxes as needed. Today, it's mostly done with a firefighter telling the dispatcher he needs knox box # x opened. From there the knox box is opened by radio.

Ive never seen a system that can remotely open a building box. What the dispatcher is doing it sending a command through the radio that a keysafe connected to in the rig has a key locked into it. The command releases the key and they take to building and unlock the box and do what needs done.

Knox boxes on the building can be tied into the burglar alarm to trip the alarm so usually when the 911 center gets the alarm call they just advise the fire dept is there.

 

[fredva]

Stafford uses the same kind of "Box" dispatching on every call. I don't believe it has anything to do with building keys but rather map grid locations within the county, numbered based on the nearest station.

 

[Webodisk]

it's map grid from CAD Hence the Box number 415-10, some cities use Zone's or Zone Box

 

[covert53]

Its Box. In the fire service the municipality or county often slice up the area into a grid to help with assigning units and help responding units find the location. Some places call them map pages. The term Box dates back to pre-911 systems and all that existed was a mechanical pull box on the street corner to alert the dispatchers. each pull box covered a couple square street blocks and was assigned a number. since no information was being transmitted the dispatcher assigned the closest company and they litetally responded to the box and hoped they found the fire or the person who "pulled the box". Thats how it was done in New York City. I cant comment on how or why Fairfax does it. But i do know that boxes or addresses in a company's"first due" begin with that company number as you noticed. Thats pretty common but not how its done in New York City. Hope that helps.

 

[W3MAL]

Thanks everyone! Makes sense, and it's an interesting bit of history. I wonder where I could find a copy of such a map.

 

[Webodisk]

Some cities post it on their websites

 

[W3MAL]

Some cities post it on their websites

With some digging, once I knew what I was looking for, I found a bunch of interesting stuff, including box maps and 4 and 8 minute response time maps.

https://fairfaxcountyfrd.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html

 

[n3obl]

Yes I stand corrected yes the box alarm system. Not a Knox Box system.

 

[Mr_Boh]

Box Areas in the MWCOG (Metropolitan Washington Conucil of Governments) region (aka NCR) were historically four digits where the first two were station and the second two were the box number. I.e. 0404 meant station 4's box #4. This is announced as "Box Four-oh-four" or "Box area zero four zero four". These are what make up the "run cards" for a call. In the old days, a dispatcher would have to find the box card (yes it was an actual index card type of system) for the address of the call. On a typical EMS call you may only get a single ambulance but something like a structure fire gets a multi-unit response and the run card dictates what units and in what order. This is why even though the system is digital, the term "run card" is used. This is typically determined by a calcualted drive time, and software like Deccan BARB (Box Area Response Builder) use more complex ways to determine what order that is, such as factoring in actual response times from previous calls. This is how you get the terms "first due" and "second due". Station 04 would be "first due" to box 0404 assuming they were in service. The second two numbers are usually just assigned by whoever draws the map so there's rarely a significance to the second two. I know some departments wanted to do things like assign Box "00" to the station itself since some places don't assign a unit first due to a fire at it's own station (assumption is trucks are unavailable) but not aware of any like that actually happening.

With the advances in computers and networking, in the NCR there have been some big changes in recent years.

• First, the NCR units changed unit numbers to have what is a "COG" number. This was the unit that proceeds all unit numbers for the jurisdiction so responders know where a unit belongs without having to announce jurisdiction. So instead of having to say "Fairfax Engine 1" and "Alexandria Medic 2" you can now say Engine 404, Medic 202, and know what cities/counties and stations the units came from. DC is the exception to this rule - they are technically "0" but it's more they just don't use COG numbers. In the rare instances DCFD responds outside of the district, some dispatchers (typically uniformed personnel) will just say "Truck 20" as opposed to "DC Truck 20" but there's no consistency there.
• In the NCR, there is a CAD2CAD network where the CAD systems for the individual jurisdictions continuously send unit status and location to a centralized location for distribution to all member CAD systems. This combined with automated vehicle locaiton (AVL) technologies means the NCR has moved from "static" run assignments to many of the jurisidictions opting for "closest available unit" based on the most recent reported location of a unit. This combined with MDTs has sort of rendered announcing box areas useless for most things other than annouincing whose "first due" units are responding to. While most FF/EMTs will know the general location of a first due, such as the area that station 4 would cover, it's rare to find guys who know what the actual box area covers, however some stations use those individual boxes for their map books. DC again an exception to this - that's how you got stories of Arlington and Alexandria driving through DC past fire houses to respond to calls in Prince George's County.
• With the two above changes, jurisdictions (especially Northern Virginia ones) are now attaching the COG number in the front of the box area. I bring that up to mention most of what you will hear on Fairfax 4A Dispatch will start with "4" since that's Fairfax's COG number. So the automated voice will now say "Box Area Four Oh Four Oh Four" So now you know it's in Fairfax, Station 4's First Due, Box Area #4. If Fairfax goes to Loudoun or Prince William as they do frequently now with CAD2CAD, you will hear the box area start with the COG number so the dispatcher (or Computer) doesn't have to say "Loudoun Box Area 06 06", rather "Box six oh six oh six".

Fairfax (and other COG jurisdictions) also have some special box areas if you know what to listen for. The first obvious one is the Federal Fire Departments, for example Fort Belvoir. Their station and unit numbers are in the 60's so box areas like 46301 is on Fort Belvoir base. Not sure if it's still common practice, but the highways used to be their own as well. For example, calls on I-66 or I-95 would start with 66 or 95 respectively. So in that example box area 49501 would be a response to I-95 box 1, in Fairfax county.

Very good COG reference material here on the RR wiki.

 

[W3MAL]

Box Areas in the MWCOG (Metropolitan Washington Conucil of Governments) region (aka NCR) were historically four digits where the first two were station and the second two were the box number. I.e. 0404 meant station 4's box #4. This is announced as "Box Four-oh-four" or "Box area zero four zero four". These are what make up the "run cards" for a call. In the old days, a dispatcher would have to find the box card (yes it was an actual index card type of system) for the address of the call. On a typical EMS call you may only get a single ambulance but something like a structure fire gets a multi-unit response and the run card dictates what units and in what order. This is why even though the system is digital, the term "run card" is used. This is typically determined by a calcualted drive time, and software like Deccan BARB (Box Area Response Builder) use more complex ways to determine what order that is, such as factoring in actual response times from previous calls. This is how you get the terms "first due" and "second due". Station 04 would be "first due" to box 0404 assuming they were in service. The second two numbers are usually just assigned by whoever draws the map so there's rarely a significance to the second two. I know some departments wanted to do things like assign Box "00" to the station itself since some places don't assign a unit first due to a fire at it's own station (assumption is trucks are unavailable) but not aware of any like that actually happening.

With the advances in computers and networking, in the NCR there have been some big changes in recent years.

• First, the NCR units changed unit numbers to have what is a "COG" number. This was the unit that proceeds all unit numbers for the jurisdiction so responders know where a unit belongs without having to announce jurisdiction. So instead of having to say "Fairfax Engine 1" and "Alexandria Medic 2" you can now say Engine 404, Medic 202, and know what cities/counties and stations the units came from. DC is the exception to this rule - they are technically "0" but it's more they just don't use COG numbers. In the rare instances DCFD responds outside of the district, some dispatchers (typically uniformed personnel) will just say "Truck 20" as opposed to "DC Truck 20" but there's no consistency there.
• In the NCR, there is a CAD2CAD network where the CAD systems for the individual jurisdictions continuously send unit status and location to a centralized location for distribution to all member CAD systems. This combined with automated vehicle locaiton (AVL) technologies means the NCR has moved from "static" run assignments to many of the jurisidictions opting for "closest available unit" based on the most recent reported location of a unit. This combined with MDTs has sort of rendered announcing box areas useless for most things other than annouincing whose "first due" units are responding to. While most FF/EMTs will know the general location of a first due, such as the area that station 4 would cover, it's rare to find guys who know what the actual box area covers, however some stations use those individual boxes for their map books. DC again an exception to this - that's how you got stories of Arlington and Alexandria driving through DC past fire houses to respond to calls in Prince George's County.
• With the two above changes, jurisdictions (especially Northern Virginia ones) are now attaching the COG number in the front of the box area. I bring that up to mention most of what you will hear on Fairfax 4A Dispatch will start with "4" since that's Fairfax's COG number. So the automated voice will now say "Box Area Four Oh Four Oh Four" So now you know it's in Fairfax, Station 4's First Due, Box Area #4. If Fairfax goes to Loudoun or Prince William as they do frequently now with CAD2CAD, you will hear the box area start with the COG number so the dispatcher (or Computer) doesn't have to say "Loudoun Box Area 06 06", rather "Box six oh six oh six".

Fairfax (and other COG jurisdictions) also have some special box areas if you know what to listen for. The first obvious one is the Federal Fire Departments, for example Fort Belvoir. Their station and unit numbers are in the 60's so box areas like 46301 is on Fort Belvoir base. Not sure if it's still common practice, but the highways used to be their own as well. For example, calls on I-66 or I-95 would start with 66 or 95 respectively. So in that example box area 49501 would be a response to I-95 box 1, in Fairfax county.

Very good COG reference material here on the RR wiki.

Awesome, thanks for this treasure trove of information!