Phx CAD Mutual Aid Calls

[rpgaun]

Just a quick question to those in the know. The Phx CAD does not post medical calls do to "privacy". So, what's the difference in Medical Mutual Aid calls that are posted? Are Medical Mutual calls not afforded the same "privacy" as those in the Regional Dispatch System? If it's not that, then the "privacy" issue is really not an issue. All calls should be posted. All addresses are rounded to the nearest 100 and no names are posted. Thus no "privacy: issues. Just saying.....

Rich

 

[AZ165]

Just a quick question to those in the know. The Phx CAD does not post medical calls do to "privacy". So, what's the difference in Medical Mutual Aid calls that are posted? Are Medical Mutual calls not afforded the same "privacy" as those in the Regional Dispatch System? If it's not that, then the "privacy" issue is really not an issue. All calls should be posted. All addresses are rounded to the nearest 100 and no names are posted. Thus no "privacy: issues. Just saying.....

Rich

It was probably a medical response for a crash.

 

[KB7MIB]

I think he's referring to EMS calls where Tempe or Chandler goes into Mesa or Gilbert, or for Daisy Mtn calls in Black Canyon City. (Technically, Black Canyon City is now a part of Daisy Mtn's district. Old BCC station 331 is now Daisy Mtn station 143, but the CAD has not yet been updated to reflect that.)

Right now there's a stroke call in BCC that has a hundred block on E. Queens Way as the address.

Why do certain mutual-aid calls outside of the PFDRDC area show up on the incident page, that wouldn't show up if they were in the PFDRDC area?

John
Peoria

 

[WIS262]

I think he's referring to EMS calls where Tempe or Chandler goes into Mesa or Gilbert, or for Daisy Mtn calls in Black Canyon City. (Technically, Black Canyon City is now a part of Daisy Mtn's district. Old BCC station 331 is now Daisy Mtn station 143, but the CAD has not yet been updated to reflect that.)

Right now there's a stroke call in BCC that has a hundred block on E. Queens Way as the address.

Why do certain mutual-aid calls outside of the PFDRDC area show up on the incident page, that wouldn't show up if they were in the PFDRDC area?

John
Peoria

It’s not that CAD hasn’t been programmed yet. Until the radio infrastructure is in place to bring BCC into the PFDRDC system they are acting as a separate agency thus following all of the mutual aid policies.

Mutual Aid calls are using the MA nature code which is used for ALL mutual aid calls regardless of medical or hazard calls.

Calls when PFDRDC units go into the MRDC system that state “automatic aid” are nature codes that Mesa uses that aren’t used by Phoenix. This those will show.

Becareful what you ask for, it may all get taken away...

 

[Foresigt]

WIS262 You beat me to your last comment.

Perhaps this discussion should stop before someone notices and turns off the website. Then we loose everything!

 

[kmrounds]

I don't think Phoenix will shut anything down. They are pretty good about transparency and are big into public information. And it isn't showing anything that you couldn't learn from listening to channel 1. As far as the Black Canyon thing, we (RMFD) still dispatch for them on the old VHF system there. We call Phoenix for a medic unit, unless its up north of Sunset Point. We will generally start a Mayer rescue (R23) automatically since they are much closer. These calls pop up in CAD sometimes as mutual aid, but generally use the normal nature codes. WIS262 is right on. Even if it is a call that does not require "mutual aid", we will still let Phoenix know so that they can build a call to send to their MCT. We have Phoenix CAD terminals in the RMFD alarm room so we can monitor their statuses and change it in our CAD. There is also a statistic and records management aspect of having it on Phoenix CAD as well, for their administration.

 

[WIS262]

I don't think Phoenix will shut anything down. They are pretty good about transparency and are big into public information. And it isn't showing anything that you couldn't learn from listening to channel 1. As far as the Black Canyon thing, we (RMFD) still dispatch for them on the old VHF system there. We call Phoenix for a medic unit, unless its up north of Sunset Point. We will generally start a Mayer rescue (R23) automatically since they are much closer. These calls pop up in CAD sometimes as mutual aid, but generally use the normal nature codes. WIS262 is right on. Even if it is a call that does not require "mutual aid", we will still let Phoenix know so that they can build a call to send to their MCT. We have Phoenix CAD terminals in the RMFD alarm room so we can monitor their statuses and change it in our CAD. There is also a statistic and records management aspect of having it on Phoenix CAD as well, for their administration.

ANY/ALL calls in Black Canyon City that require response from any PFDRDC unit are considered and enter into CAD as Mutual Aid using the MA nature code. The incident taker will override the nature description from Mutual Aid to represent what the actual call is. (I.e. Chest Pains or 962). Even if RMFD is requesting just a DSY medic unit for transport.

We do this for MED2-1/MED3-1 and Working Fires as well Overriding the nature description (what you see only) to better reflect what is actually happening. We’re limited by a certain number of characters, of course.

 

[kmrounds]

WIS262 Good to know! Thanks for the info!

 

[radiochuck]

I've seen "Altered State of Consciousness" calls on there. You'd think that would fall under HIPPA protection. Guess not.

 

[KB7MIB]

I believe that as long as the name of the patient is not given, there is no violation.

John
Peoria

 

[radiochuck]

I believe that as long as the name of the patient is not given, there is no violation.

John
Peoria

That makes sense. They give the address, but don't name names.

It's funny how seriously our privacy is taken in some instances, when it's so willy nilly in others. But I digress.

 

[KB7MIB]

There is a written exemption in HIPAA that states that radio communications do not need to be secure when giving medical information, which a lot of people seem to be unaware of.
Departmental policies may be stricter than this exemption, however.

HIPAA Didn’t Kill the Radio Star

John
Peoria