What does "responding with traffic" mean???

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Jacob99

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I know this might not be the right place to post, but I couldn't find any place else. What does that mean?

Example: After being sent to a call, ambulance says: "Medic 31, 10-4 responding with traffic"

Thanks!
 
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rwier

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Hi Jacob,

Traffic = radio traffic = words transmitted or words to transmit..

That being said, I have never heard "with" traffic. Some standard uses of traffic:

Unit 2, switch to channel 7 for your traffic.
Unit 2, standby for traffic.
Unit 2, do you have traffic?
Unit 2, what traffic are you referring to?
Unit 2, we didn't copy, repeat your traffic.

Now that being said, I can think of a situation where your "with" quote would make sense:

Medic 31 is travelling back to his quarters and has reported AIV (available in vehicle).
A call is put out for Medic 31.
As Medic 31 listens to the call details he passes in front of a house that is showing light smoke from the eaves.
He acknowledges the traffic with the words "Medic 31, 10-4 responding with traffic" (your quote)(meaning he is responding but has more to say).

Logical continuation of the exchange:

10-4, Medic 31, go ahead with your traffic.
Medic 31, reporting a house fire at 1234 Oak Street.
10-4 Medic 31, will dispatch Fire Units to 1234 Oak Street.

All of the above is predicated on your "with traffic" being an EXACT quote. If it was actually "to traffic" instead, there is no long explanation necessary.

Also, I don't know where you heard this, but they may have a standard for wording that is not universal in nature.

Rob
 
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Jay911

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I would imagine "responding with traffic" means not using lights & sirens. Going with the flow of traffic.
 

GTR8000

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Most likely one of two things: Either what Jay said, that it's a non-emergency call and they're driving along with the normal flow of traffic -or- they're advising that there's heavy traffic on the road and their response might be delayed.
 

jcm87jm

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In my area here in Washington state the fire department usually goes in route and says "Engine 44 responding, copy the 'short'." Which means they have the information for the call and do not require dispatch to give them the run down or the address because dispatch knows they don't have MDTs in their trucks. Kinda sounds the same to me as responding with the traffic. Hope this helps!

- Jon
 

rwier

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Wow! Must be my area that is the "non-standard", lol.

45 years of monitoring radio traffic in my area probably resulted in my hearing the word "traffic" as part of the transmission more than 10,000 times. A wild guess (because it would be so unusual here) is that they were referring to vehicle traffic on the roads no more then two or three times.
 

GTR8000

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45 years of monitoring radio traffic in my area probably resulted in my hearing the word "traffic" as part of the transmission more than 10,000 times. A wild guess (because it would be so unusual here) is that they were referring to vehicle traffic on the roads no more then two or three times.

Have a listen to any of the FDNY feeds on a weekday during rush hour...you'll hear "We're delayed due to traffic, K" more times than you can count! :D
 

Jacob99

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Thanks for the responses, I think, at least in my specific situtation, Jay is right. The medic says that right as they're leaving the station. I'll listen more closely to make sure I heard right, though.

And rwier--I think you're right in reagrds to my local PD. They will also say "with traffic", but the dispatcher will then say go ahead and the PD will ask a question or give more info to dispatch.

Thanks again!
 

16b

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I'm sure what Jay said is right in your case. Not sure what part of the state you're in, but here in the Columbus area I hear "responding non-emergency" and sometimes "flow of traffic," meaning the same thing. Some departments make a strict distinction between "responding" and "en-route." The former means with lights and siren, and the latter means with traffic.
 

rwier

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16b said:
..............................................................The former means with lights and siren, and the latter means with traffic.

And here (Maricopa County, AZ), in my memory, all LE, Fire, and Rescue have used only Code 3 and Code 2 for the same.
 
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rwier

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This thread has been a surprise to me, to say the least. Never lived anywhere else and I naively assumed this stuff was universal across the USA. It looks like a person who moved (State to State) often with their scanners would always be "starting over".
 

Rob_K

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"respond with the flow of traffic" is a pet peeve(sp?) of mine....

That is our county standard but we use "emergency" and "non emergency". It is very clear and is less words to say on the radio. Some have argued that "respond against the flow of traffic" (I.e. We've closed a lane and you should travel on the wrong side of the road) could confuse things even more.
 
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