Getting back to this hobby after a long time away..everything is so different.
I really like to dedicate FL 0 to just Dispatch. I turn all else off and park there. I have one alarm type and color set for Fire (red) and a different one for EMS (white). I'll probably add Law (blue) at some point but I'm mainly interested in Fire/EMS.
When a call goes out I note the Station and TAC channel and address. I pull up the destination address on Google Maps and the Station address on another map. If it's a Fire Station I pull up yet another browser window and note the appliances at the station, and the distance of the station to the destination.
I then turn off my Dispatch FL and turn on my FL dedicated to the TAC channels (Raleigh OPS 1-12 and PS 13-39; once I get around to it I'll create ID's for each of these so I can go straight to the active TAC). I listen to see how quickly the station says "on the way," and then again "arrived." I'll listen for any activity (usually very little), give it a minute or two and then switch on my next FL - "Hospitals" - and switch off my TAC FL. Then I continue to track the event via the paramedic talking to the hospital.
I find this immensely enjoyable and my favorite part of the hobby so far. I'm also able to say a prayer for the people involved while it's happening, so I'm grateful to be a kind of spiritual First Responder.
I heard a call out for Morrisville Ladder 1 the other day, and didn't find it listed as an appliance on the web site I use. I see via Morrisville's web site that it was added in to service during the summer of last year, so I sent the FDMaps web site an email and told them of the addition.
If anyone has comments or suggestions on my workflow, I'd be interested in hearing them. There are some gaps in my workflow, for example I have to scan all Hospitals to wait for the responder in the ambulance to call the Hospital and guess to see if it was related to the event.
It would be fun to write some software to be able to quickly plug in the station number and event address and automatically have it mapped, keeping track of which appliance is out of the station.
Mark
I really like to dedicate FL 0 to just Dispatch. I turn all else off and park there. I have one alarm type and color set for Fire (red) and a different one for EMS (white). I'll probably add Law (blue) at some point but I'm mainly interested in Fire/EMS.
When a call goes out I note the Station and TAC channel and address. I pull up the destination address on Google Maps and the Station address on another map. If it's a Fire Station I pull up yet another browser window and note the appliances at the station, and the distance of the station to the destination.
I then turn off my Dispatch FL and turn on my FL dedicated to the TAC channels (Raleigh OPS 1-12 and PS 13-39; once I get around to it I'll create ID's for each of these so I can go straight to the active TAC). I listen to see how quickly the station says "on the way," and then again "arrived." I'll listen for any activity (usually very little), give it a minute or two and then switch on my next FL - "Hospitals" - and switch off my TAC FL. Then I continue to track the event via the paramedic talking to the hospital.
I find this immensely enjoyable and my favorite part of the hobby so far. I'm also able to say a prayer for the people involved while it's happening, so I'm grateful to be a kind of spiritual First Responder.
I heard a call out for Morrisville Ladder 1 the other day, and didn't find it listed as an appliance on the web site I use. I see via Morrisville's web site that it was added in to service during the summer of last year, so I sent the FDMaps web site an email and told them of the addition.
If anyone has comments or suggestions on my workflow, I'd be interested in hearing them. There are some gaps in my workflow, for example I have to scan all Hospitals to wait for the responder in the ambulance to call the Hospital and guess to see if it was related to the event.
It would be fun to write some software to be able to quickly plug in the station number and event address and automatically have it mapped, keeping track of which appliance is out of the station.
Mark
