Jersey city Fireground

[ansky]

I get a kick out of guys who say, regardless of the issue, "I could do it..." or, "That never happened to me....," so, therefore, EVERYONE should have to do it, or be able to do it.

It all comes down to luck, and some people are just not as lucky as you are, as I say above about the guy in the fire building on the wrong channel.

And because these guys avoid a problem, doesn't mean that the system should be made more complicated than it has to. The fact that JC has all these frequencies, SPECIFICALLY designated based on the TYPE of run a company is on (and not on immediate tactical needs), and having four firemen changing radio frequencies on each run, is really ludicrous....not to mention dangerous....especially when it's totally unnecessary.

I agree there is definitely a downside to having too many frequencies. At the other end of the spectrum, I can't figure out how a town like Livingston can share Police, Fire and EMS all on one single frequency. Imagine a firefighter trying to call a mayday but he can't get through because the PD is performing a traffic stop. I can't pick up Livingston from my location but I'm curious as to how that works.

 

[APX8000]

I get a kick out of guys who say, regardless of the issue, "I could do it..." or, "That never happened to me....," so, therefore, EVERYONE should have to do it, or be able to do it.

It all comes down to luck, and some people are just not as lucky as you are, as I say above about the guy in the fire building on the wrong channel.

And because these guys avoid a problem, doesn't mean that the system should be made more complicated than it has to. The fact that JC has all these frequencies, SPECIFICALLY designated based on the TYPE of run a company is on (and not on immediate tactical needs), and having four firemen changing radio frequencies on each run, is really ludicrous....not to mention dangerous....especially when it's totally unnecessary.

It is not ludicrous and dangerous. It moves everyone off the main dispatch frequency to free it up for other calls so they don’t get stepped on and gives everyone operating on that scene the same frequency to work off which is also monitored by the IC and a dispatcher. It’s done all the time down here in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade etc and they run a hell of a lot more calls then Jersey City.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ansky]

It is not ludicrous and dangerous. It moves everyone off the main dispatch frequency to free it up for other calls so they don’t get stepped on and gives everyone operating on that scene the same frequency to work off which is also monitored by the IC and a dispatcher. It’s done all the time down here in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade etc and they run a hell of a lot more calls then Jersey City.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think he's saying all fireground operations should be conducted on the fire dispatch channel. They shouldn't, although that is common in small to medium sized cities and towns that have a low volume of calls. But I think he's saying there is a tipping point when you have too many channels which can pose a risk to having someone on the wrong channel during an emergency.

 

[APX8000]

Again taking my Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward County as an example...all have multiple dispatch channels split between north, central, south, west, major airports, etc. PLUS multiple Tacs they are assigned depending on the call type/number of responding units. For example a structure fire will be assigned a tac. These are three huge busy countywide departments. How many news articles can you find where something went wrong with the firefighter being on the wrong channel? Regardless of how many channels you have, the knob can get bumped. It’s user error. A simple voice announcement set to the knob selector can fix that. But saying limiting the numbers of channels will fix that issue isn’t really a valid point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KC2zZe]

Doesn't Livingston have a fireground channel (159.1500, 179.9) that they switch to once on scene, to avoid interference from law enforcement and/or EMS?

 

[ansky]

Doesn't Livingston have a fireground channel (159.1500, 179.9) that they switch to once on scene, to avoid interference from law enforcement and/or EMS?

That frequency is listed in the DB as Police Mutual Aid. I can't hear Livingston from my location so I'm not able to confirm.

 

[ten13]

It is not ludicrous and dangerous. It moves everyone off the main dispatch frequency to free it up for other calls

If you have a dedicated fireground frequency (preferably simplex) or two, you can use one frequency for everything else.

How do you think urban FDs...especially the FDNY...did it during the "War Years"?

The solution then was good dispatchers, preferably those who had a background in fire department operations.

Something seriously lacking today.