York county EMS setup???

[Phillipsc84]

As I look through and listen to the york county EMS channels I am very confused. it appears that dispatch is on 155.385 but also listed to be on 453.0375 and there are about 6 additionsl freqs. used but the use and numbering is not clear and only dispatch can be hear but not the actual EMS units themselves. Any help??

 

[qball]

YC EMS

*ch1 155.175 Lancaster county EMS ch3
*ch2 155.340 is the hospital (only used on the way to the hospital)
*ch3 155.385 is dispatch (primary)
*ch4 155.265 is where they give patient reports and general chat (secondary)
*ch5 155.280 mutual aid with NC
*ch6 155.160 is used for rescue operations/searches (portable only)
*ch6 155.220 is used ems admin (mobile only)
*453.0375 is a control link to dispatch....no field units actually use this frequency as it links the dispatch center with the base station.

The other channels are used, but only when the situation warrants. ch2,3,4 are used daily...with 3 being dispatch. also, i am not sure you understand that the their is no repeater on the ems channels. communications between units is direct....from me to you and nothing to help extend the range of the communications. you are hearing dispatch from an antenna atop the hospital. you are hearing the units from the antenna atop their vehicle or hand held.

rock hill police, and all other law enforcement in the county use repeaters. that is why you can hear both sides of the conversation. when a officer is talking to dispatch or anyone else, he is actually talking to the repeater with antenna on top on a high tower. everyone, including you, is listening to the tall tower....not the antenna on top of the patrol car or hand held.

simplex/direct = good range for dispatch...very short range for portable

repeater = greater range for everybody



As for Rock Hill Police

*ch2 154.755 is now primary (repeater)
*ch1 155.610 is now secondary (repeater)
*ch3 154.890 actually belongs to the county but is used by all l/e agencies (simplex)
*tac 4 is a special events channel (simplex)
*tac 5 is a special events channel (simplex)
*tac 6 is a special events channel (portable repeater...not always on the air)
*mobile data is used for exactly that
*narcotics is used for exactly that, but is almost always encrypted so there is no reason to attempt to listen to it.

Okay, that should answer all of today's questions. and remember, if it is listed as simplex, then you may not be able to hear any unit traffic where you are located and all of YC EMS is simplex. tac 4, 5, 6 is are almost always used on portables only...so if you are more than a mile away, you probably won't hear anything!

 

[jeffmulter]

QBall - Was there a particular reason for moving "dispatch" to channel 2 ?

And, can Rock Hill dispatchers listen to channel 2 in a "direct" mode (over-the-air, as opposed to a wired or wireless connection from the repeater) ? Toccoa, Ga Police also use 154.755 / 127.3, and I'm curious whether they might sometimes be a distraction to RH dispatchers on the dispatch channel.

Thanks.

 

[qball]

They changed over theire main operations to ch2 because of the enhanced coverage they got from the ch2 repeater site.

As far as I know, they are using wireline control of the station and would not have to listen to the skip.

 

[Phillipsc84]

Thank you. That does answer my question. I was not aware that this wasn't a repeater system. Interesting that it went that way as opposed to the repeater method. I guess the privacy from everyone being ble to hear peoples personal medical information over the radio is the plus but I can't see anything else that makes their method good.

 

[qball]

Medical information security was not the issue. Many years ago (20 to 30years) repeaters weren't allowed on those frequencies. So they wentwith what was allowed....simplex. The regulations have changed in the last 10 years or so to allow repeaters, but the county's plans were to move to a trunked radio system. The county is implementing the trunked system now. That will change EMS communications from here on out!

 

[Phillipsc84]

True. Though I will miss york countie's VHF system when its gone. I can't say I'm a fan of the new stuff. The simplicity of it is nice.

 

[jeffmulter]

Thanks, QBall, for the RHPD additional info.

 

[brian]

Which frequency is used as Rock Hill PD Channel TAC 6? It's referenced in a post above but not identified in the database.

Thanks

Brian

 

[jeffmulter]

I noted the updates to the York County information in the database.

It should be noted that, although Flint Hill VFD used 154.070 / D054 as a tac channel, they are not licensed for the frequency. The license expired several years ago.

Lancaster County Fire is now licensed for the frequency. The county will use this as a tac channel, and could be put into use in the penninsula (north end of the county).

Essentially, local monitors could hear traffic from either agency on the frequency.

 

[qball]

Which frequency is used as Rock Hill PD Channel TAC 6? It's referenced in a post above but not identified in the database.


154.115 is tac 6

 

[brian]

Thanks.

 

[Phillipsc84]

What are the remaining three freqs for assigned to RHPD?

154.935/153.905
155.715
453.0875/458.0875

I got everything from 1-6 just don't know what those last few are.

 

[k4gps]

Correct me if I am wrong but if you are in range though of 453.0375 then you too will be able to hear whatever dispatch uses ? Sounds like a simplex link to the remote base on the hospital.

SNIP>>

YC EMS

*453.0375 is a control link to dispatch....no field units actually use this frequency as it links the dispatch center with the base station.

Also for those of you that have been here for some time can someone fill me in on what the Rock Hill Rescue Squad exactly is? I did EMS myself in the mid-late 80's in NJ and worked at a Motorola shop in the 90's in FL. Looks as if EMS/Fire is done quite differently here than both in NJ and FL. In NJ "First Aid" was EMS, Rescue was usually part of the FD and in addition to doing fire duties they may or may not do Heavy Rescue, often First Aid Squads also did the Heavy Rescue. In Florida 90% of everything was County "Rescue" who are paid Firemen and Paramedics doing Fire, EMS, Rescue and quite often "Public Safety" who did Police, Fire, EMS, and Rescue which we joked abot "3 for the price of one!".

Not sure what Rock Hill Rescue does or who dispatches them on what frequency. They seem to be a small group of volunteers out here in the Leslie area. Done a google search on them but turned up nothing other than Comporium donating a old truck to them. I do not know if I will end up buying a home in this area but if I do I may be interested in getting back into EMS as a volunteer. Right now I am renting a home till' I sell off at least one of my Florida homes and I don't want to join a group if I end up moving to Van Wyick or Newport. I am looking for property at an affordable price, may even end up as far as McConnels or Hickory Grove if need be.

Rich

Rich

 

[jeffmulter]

To enhance mobile / handheld coverage on 155.385 in the western end of the county, a remote receiver is used. What that remote is hearing is passed back to dispatch on 453.0375 .

If I am having a problem hearing the EMS trucks toward York and beyond on VHF, I can often hear them by listening to the 453.0375 fixed link.

 

[rescuecomm]

What the rescue squads are depends on where they originated. When paid EMS was in its infancy, some areas had a volunteer rescue squad that was the ambulance service. Later, when the call volume got too great for all volunteers, the county/citys started a paid EMS service that was county wide unlike most fire depts, which had city areas or rural areas to cover. The rescue squads sometimes stayed around in various form such as first reponders or still ran a BLS ambulance backup service. In Anderson County SC, most of the county is covered by rescue squads that have paid and volunteer Parametics and EMTS.
Greenville County SC uses fire depts to back up the EMS, but does have several Rescue trucks that the shift supervisors drive. Pickens County has paid EMS, volunteer rural FD's and paid city fire departments and county rescue squads that can first respond and do specialized rescue.

Bob

 

[k4gps]

What the rescue squads are depends on where they originated. Bob

SNIP>

Hey Bob,
What I had asked is what the Rock Hill Rescue Squad is, not rescue squads in general. I done my time, both volunteer, paid and as a EMT and Heavy Rescue instructor.

Rock Hill has fire and paid EMS, surrounding communities have VFD's. So again I am not exactly sure what Rock Hill Rescue does, all they have are 2 utility trucks and I do not hear them mentioned on the radio very much if at all. They came by asking for donations but I was not home and they were not in the truck my wife stated. We always did door knocking in our truck so residents knew we were really who we said we are.

Rich

 

[jbstahr]

From what I remember from when I lived in York County, the Rock Hill Rescue Squad is a vollunteer organization operating in the unincorporated sections of York County in the Rock Hill area. I mainly remember them being dispatched to river rescues on the Catawba and vehicle extrications. I don't think they operate any ambulances, but are solely a "rescue" agency. That differs from Fort Mill Rescue which provides 24-7 ALS ambulances as well as rescue services.

 

[k4gps]

That appears to be the case. Maybe we have not needed any river rescue's recently and I may have missed if any extrications over the radio. Unless they have any other stations burried in a part of town I have not visited it appears they only have 2 older utility trucks over in Leslie in a warehouse.

Who knows if I end up buying property in the area I may just look into joining up a squad again.

Rich