Communications and Interoperability
The communications and interoperability resource page is designed to help firefighters keep up with the latest communications gear and best practices in mutual-aid and interoperability.
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In Pierce County, Washington, five 911 centers unified into South Sound 911, streamlining emergency communication and inspiring nationwide public safety improvements
Anne Arundel County Fire Chief Trisha Wolford is one of seven new members supporting the nationwide public safety broadband network
Personnel from three towns worked on their response to a school shooting in Manchester-by-the-Sea
Built-in redundancies allow these three to work when communication lines go down
Dispatchers are trained to ask firefighters for details about a situation; the fire chief said questions can be heard publicly over radios and exacerbate the situation
Here’s what you need to know when specifying a new truck or bringing an old rig’s communication into the 21st century
The suit claims the newly installed digital radios repeatedly knocked firefighters off the air, forcing them to use hand signals
There were 1,147 abandoned 911 calls in 2015 due to busy call takers; about half of those calls were bounced to other numbers while workers tried to call back the others
Dispatcher Mary Beth Pazaras sued for discrimination after investigators blamed her for a delay in sending firefighters to a blaze that killed an Army veteran
More than 5,600 emergency calls failed during the 6- hour April 2014 outage
The apartment building burned unattended for as long as 12 minutes; no one was injured
Radio issues on scene prevented crews from spreading the word to other firefighters that there was a hole in the first floor
An FDNY spokesperson said EMS radio communications work about 70 percent of the time
A department memo issued by Chief Brian Byrd said every firefighter is to leave a burning building if their radios no longer work
The department was awarded $218,850 to buy 43 radios that will allow the fire department to continue communication with area police and aid partners
No firefighters were on the tracks and no one was injured, but crews said the minor incident could have turned deadly with bad communication
Three firefighters were treated for burns after the fire and five residents were displaced
Among the communication failures outlined in the report was a revelation that the command officer didn’t hear the first two mayday calls made during the fire
The funds will help 20 organizations adopt interoperable health IT tools and services
Epic 3 Radio Interface Voice Communication System allows communications between on-scene firefighters and incident commanders, remote dispatchers and other radio users
The radios will allow better collaboration among counties
Factors that contributed to their deaths included heavy winds, personnel accountability and communication problems
Next Generation 911 combines mission-critical public-safety information and leading-edge technology to improve fire, EMS, and police emergency response
They are the mortar that holds emergency response together, and knowing how to work with dispatch will boost firefighter effectiveness and safety
Officials said the situation will be corrected when the 911 system is fixed
They were commended for firefighting improvements, but 13 agencies providing fire protection to the backcountry have not entered into agreements
The fire chief said that it could compromise public safety and cost fire departments millions of dollars in grants
Jennifer Green submitted her resignation after criticism following the Metro smoke incident in January
The move lifts an earlier suspension of the $156.6 million grant for a new interoperable communication system
We have more information available at our fingertips than ever before
Firefighters were told to stay in station unless a fire was reported during the outage that lasted from 1 to 7 p.m.
Same virus that attacked a nearby police department, which encrypted data and demanded a ransom to provide the decryption key
Issues in the Yarnell Hill Fire included not being able to locate one another; FLASH can track fire locations and command units
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