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Post by Box_2565 on Aug 18, 2005 22:43:04 GMT -5
A couple of folks have told me that box numbers are no longer required when a 1 alarm is transmitted. Another tradition bites the dust....
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Post by CincyFire on Aug 22, 2005 7:30:19 GMT -5
Worked 48 this weekend and box numbers were still being given out with the 1 alarm dispatch, over the main dispatch channel. The box number may not get announced EVERY time a 1 alarm goes out, but for the most part I have still been hearing it added to the dispatch information.
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Post by Box_2565 on Aug 23, 2005 14:54:15 GMT -5
Hi,
Glad to hear that box numbers are still being announced. The last time I was within distance of being able to hear the new radios (Cincinnati is silent until I install an outside antenna) I heard a couple of boxes struck where no number was announced. Maybe it's just the dispatcher that is on the radio? Thanks for the reply.
Steve
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Post by CincyFire on Aug 24, 2005 20:15:42 GMT -5
It very well could be the dispatcher. There are quite a few new voices on the radio. And then again, unfortunately it could be that it's just getting left out, what with having to annouce the address of the run, the companies responding, which is now longer with the 2nd DC, the rescue and the RAT, and also having to add the fireground channel, and for some reason they always through out the run number for fire runs, even though it's only needed on the EMS runs for the notebook computer, sheesh, now I forgot what I was talking about
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Post by Box_2565 on Feb 27, 2007 2:31:21 GMT -5
Has anyone heard that a plan is in the works to eliminate the current box number system? Larger response zones would be created. This is pure rumor from where I sit, just wondering if there was any basis for it.....
(First CFD stops buying tractor-drawn aerials, then the apparatus cabs started turning white, then the numbers on the truck companies were all wrong, running cards haven't been updated since the 70's, and now no box numbers - I can barely stand it!)
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Post by WHISTLEBLOWER on Feb 27, 2007 21:48:46 GMT -5
You're right about the change in box alarms for the CFD. It's my understanding that the # of boxes will be reduced by about 75%. I was told this has to be done in order for the new dispatching system to work. I don't know why a new system can't be configured to enhance the old.
I'm all for a system that will speed up dispatching & enable companies to get out of the house faster. If this will do it, fine. But I have doubts based on my experience. Computers and their programs have definitely made my job a lot easier in many ways. Most notably in the area of administration & paperwork. However, in dealing with emergencies, it is my experience that computers are a liability most of the time in the field at the company level. They slow things down. They cause tunnel vision in the sense that you must manipulate certain buttons, icons etc...Anyone who has the luxury of sitting in an office or at home knows how frustrating computers can be. This is an unnecessary burden en route to an emergency. These systems probably makes someone's job easier, but not the guy who's going to save your life.
Of course I have been called a dinosaur by many of the younger members & admit (with pride) to that. I know we have many talented individuals working on issues that need to be changed. My concern is that the result not contribute to the "dumbing down" of the CFD. We have a new generation of members who never knew the "old ways". I have seen instances where no action would have been taken because the computer/system didn't prompt a certain response. We have to be smarter than the computer!
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Post by George Bredestege on Mar 5, 2007 12:03:18 GMT -5
Sad but true. I heard it also. Everything in favor of a better system. Personally, I really don't see how the computers have helped things. When I ride in charge, I have to enter all the run information in the diary the same as was always done before computers (although the computers pre-date me on CFD), then it all has to be entered in the computer. The dispatchers used to just give the street address and maybe the box number for a one alarm and everyone knew if it was their box and whether they needed to get moving. Now it takes thirty seconds to just call out the run and everybody who is on it. Most guys don't even know by address if it is theirs or not. The old rule of knowing your streets and hydrants and box numbers was pretty much a goner before I got on as well. I guess it is the dumbing down of the dept. Hey why not, computers can do anything! (Except put out a fire, make rescue, or vent a roof, or drive the apparatus, or.........).
Oh yeah, word is we are getting New York style helmets in the near future, which would be fine, but the Officers will weer Red and all others will wear Black. To hell with tradition I guess.
grumpygeorge
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Post by box1352 on Mar 6, 2007 22:59:04 GMT -5
Hey George, On the CD, when some of the dispatches are pre-announced, the engine is going out the door as the companies are being dispatched on the teletalk.
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Post by AndrewKBrown on Mar 9, 2007 11:30:46 GMT -5
What is the deal with the helmet colors? It is something I have always wanted to know.
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Post by George Bredestege on Mar 11, 2007 8:53:01 GMT -5
I guess someone has come to their senses. No New York style buckets. What we have is fine, and its not too heavy. Hopefully the color change will not come about either. If you didn't know, engines wear red, trucks wear black. The squads wear red as well.
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