TUSCALOOSA CITY FIRE

[medic9351301]

does anyone know if they are still on vhf p -25 154.400.
Or have they moved to the airs network
thanks and happy day of turkey

 

[ac4rw]

It is no longer on the air. All of TFD's operations are now on AIRS.

 

[medic9351301]

ok thanks . do you have any ids for them on airs?

 

[ac4rw]

Everything in Tuscaloosa County on AIRS is encrypted.
I do not have any further information that I can share.

 

[medic9351301]

even the fire department.
come on man thats total bs

 

[ac4rw]

First of all, it's not my decision - I tend to agree, but in fairness, it's not as simple as we'd like it to be.
A modern trunked system is essentially passing digital data over an IP network. Some parts of that network are RF while others are not.
Some of that data is protected PII.
Put yourself in the shoes of the radio sysadmin for a bit. You can implement an unencrypted dispatch talkgroup and one or more encrypted talkgroups for e.g. medical info, and then you have an education/training problem in which "the way we've always done it" is going to keep rearing its ugly head. Alternatively, you can make everything encrypted and everybody (fire, law, etcetera) can keep doing things the way they've always done it and you can sleep easy at night knowing that nobody's PII has been compromised because of your radio system.

 

[medic9351301]

i have been in the fire/ems game for over 38 years.
not once have i given any hipia information over the radio .Thats why they have cells, mdt's etc.
i do agree enc has a place on narc/swat and other le stuff.
but not on fire dispatch. makes you wonder what they are trying to hide.
could it be like the old ambulance wars and scared that the calls might get jumped.
Whats next enc the sewers and garbage pickup .
just my 2 cents .

 

[TomServo]

I'm sorry, but I think the attitude that it's easier to encrypt everything is a cop-out, if you'll pardon the pun.

Fire and EMS ran in the clear in analog for decades, including after HIPAA was a thing. Protocols for handling patient information would have been in place long (1996) before digital radio technology made encryption easier. There are hundreds of fire and EMS agencies across that run in the clear while sensitive police ops are encrypted on the same system, so it can't be that complicated. Several agencies around me run partial encryption and seem to manage just fine after decades of simple VHF analog repeater work.

It's understandable that certain police functions like investigations (including FD investigations), records checks and detectives would be encrypted, but for the fire departments and EMS to be in that as well reeks of either laziness or having something to hide from the public. I don't really blame the radio techs or even the big radio companies; it is the local agency's prerogative so I think the blame lies solely with them.

 

[medic9351301]

I'm sorry, but I think the attitude that it's easier to encrypt everything is a cop-out, if you'll pardon the pun.

Fire and EMS ran in the clear in analog for decades, including after HIPAA was a thing. Protocols for handling patient information would have been in place long (1996) before digital radio technology made encryption easier. There are hundreds of fire and EMS agencies across that run in the clear while sensitive police ops are encrypted on the same system, so it can't be that complicated. Several agencies around me run partial encryption and seem to manage just fine after decades of simple VHF analog repeater work.

It's understandable that certain police functions like investigations (including FD investigations), records checks and detectives would be encrypted, but for the fire departments and EMS to be in that as well reeks of either laziness or having something to hide from the public. I don't really blame the radio techs or even the big radio companies; it is the local agency's prerogative so I think the blame lies solely with them.

Tom, your 100 percent correct .
Even when the h.e.a.r. system was 100 in use your never heard any sensitive info relayed over it.
Now every ambulance has a cell phone for the unit and the medics have personal cells.Plus most major city departments have a form of a mdt in the units. I hate to say it but a lot has to do with the sales people trying to get a bigger cut of the pie. I can say from personal exper. people looking to upgrade a radio system have told me. That john doe with xxx told them that the fcc/ homeland security mandates full encryption.
I just shake my head and laugh at that statement . 0

 

[TomServo]

I hate to say it but a lot has to do with the sales people trying to get a bigger cut of the pie. I can say from personal exper. people looking to upgrade a radio system have told me. That john doe with xxx told them that the fcc/ homeland security mandates full encryption.
I just shake my head and laugh at that statement . 0

This doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm sure there's a "license fee" for encryption worked into contracts!