Patched Talkgroups

[EJB]

Do dispatchers at OPP comm centres decide which talkgroup is used for patches?

Case in point; Niagara & Burlington are always patched. Tonight 5C and 5G (and 5 tango) action was on 8736. There was an 'occasion' that popped up that required 5Bravo units and 407 Units to talk with 5C units.
The dispatcher mentioned that they would join Burlington's talkgroup and voila; the talkgroup on my scanner changed from 8736 to 8672.

And all of a sudden Aurora units 5B started to appear on 8672.

 

[slicerwizard]

I would imagine that a supervisor makes the decision and the dispatcher presses the appropriate buttons on her console.

 

[jellotor]

Sounds about right. I think the supervisor is usually referred to as the 'comm centre sergeant.'

 

[Forts]

It seems to be dictated by events that are occurring and simple things like manpower shortages in the comm centre too. Lots of times in this area you will hear talkgroups get patched together for the duration of a major incident like an accident or pursuit. In the London area, Chatham, Elgin and HWY01 are almost always patched together so they can hear whats going on thru the 401 corridor. I've also noticed how the patch is setup varies from dispatcher to dispatcher, especially on the London EMS talkgroups. Typically when an ambulance patches to a hospital, the Tac channel shows as the talkgroup in use. There is one dispatcher that always seems to do it the other way around... and the hospital talkgroups shows as the one in use.