11.14 FIREFIGHTER DOWN / DISTRESS COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURES
A. General Information
Emergency Button Functionality
Depressing the emergency button on an emergency capable talk group will cause the following to occur within the radio system.
There is no “Hot Mic” (dedicated open mic after activation) for Fire Service radios. Upon activating the Emergency Button, fire fighters must depress the mic and transmit the appropriate information. There will be a 10 second “Hot Mic” for the EMS and Fire Police services.
Dispatchers will receive audible and visible notification of the emergency, including assigned radio ID.
A second or subsequent emergency button activation on a talk group already in emergency status will only audibly alert on the radio declaring the emergency. Other radios on the incident and the communications center will not receive an audible alert. It is imperative a firefighter who is in a situation that deems emergency button activation on a talk group already in an emergency active state to verbally hail “Mayday-Mayday-Mayday” to capture attention of command and the communications center.
Mobile Radio Functionality:
Audible alert and visible indicator display will occur on the radio declaring the emergency, and all radios that contain the affected talk group in the profile loaded at the time. The talk group that the emergency is declared will display an asterisk at the end of the alpha/numeric name. If a mobile radio has the talk group in emergency in the loaded profile, but not selected, the audible and visual indicators will activate. To find and participate in the emergency, the user wishing to join must scroll through the talk groups to find the one displaying the asterisk.
Portable Radio:
Audible alert and visible indicator display will occur on the radio declaring the emergency, and all radios that contain the affected talk group in the profile loaded at the time. The LED indicator blinking in orange will denote the talk group that the emergency is declared. If a portable radio has the talk group in emergency in the loaded profile, but not selected, the audible and visual indicators will activate. To find and participate in the emergency, the user wishing to join must scroll through the talk groups to find the one displaying the blinking orange indicator.
Emergency Activation Talk Group Defaulting- Non Defaulting
Any activation of the Emergency Button for the Fire Services will cause the radio to immediately default to the Fire-EMS Emergency default talk group which is talk group 16 in the radios. The exception to this are the Ops talk groups two through seven (2-7) where the emergency will remain on that talk group.
Any activation of the Emergency Button for EMS Services and the Fire Police will cause the radio to immediately default to their Emergency default talk group which is talk group 16 in the radios.
EMS will default to the Fire-EMS Emergency talk group and Fire Police to the Fire Police talk group.
B. Incident Guidelines
Fire Incident Mayday Declaration
If a fire fighter is in distress or in need of assistance due to a life-threatening situation, the firefighter will activate the emergency button and transmit “Mayday-Mayday-Mayday” and provide a brief situational status report if possible using the following guidelines using the acronym LUNAR -
L – Location
U – Unit
N – Name
A – Assignment at time of Mayday
R – Resources/Help needed
The Emergency Responder shall then activate their Personal Alert Safety System device.
Headquarters will confirm with Command that they acknowledge the emergency and copied the information unless it is obvious Command has acknowledged the event and understands the message provided.
Incident Command will communicate with the firefighter and initiate necessary actions.
Units operating on the scene will immediately cease transmitting unless they have urgent traffic related to the distress call. Units will await instructions from Command.
If needed, Headquarters will intervene and announce
“Attention units operating on Box _____, clear the air for mayday transmissions”.
Specific rescue operations will remain on the assigned operational talk group. Additional talk groups may be requested if needed for
suppression activities to assure clear communications for any rescue operations. Caution needs taken due to potential VTAC actions which may jeopardize the victims and rescue operations with regard to obtaining additional talk groups for non-Mayday operations. Portables which may be attached to a VTAC may lose connectivity if an associated VTAC is moved to another talk group.
Upon conclusion of the situation, Command will notify Headquarters and advise of updated talk group requirements. At that time, Headquarters will clear the emergency from the system.
Fire Incident Activations that occur without a verbal transmission for help
Activations during an incident that are not followed with a plea for help will be immediately checked by Headquarters.
“Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters, verifying your emergency?”
If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and
respond appropriately as the conditions require by either clearing the emergency or verifying Command has copied if an actual emergency is occurring. If no contact is made, Incident Command will be contacted.
EMS Only Incidents
If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during an
EMS event, the Com Center will do the following if an emergency message is not provided:
Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency.
“Unit Designation or Alias from Cumberland Med, verifying your emergency?”
If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and
respond appropriately as the conditions require.
If no contact is made, the Com Center will page the unit.
If the unit fails to respond, the Chief of the unit will be paged and apprised of the activation. The local police will also be made aware of the situation and requested to respond to verify the safety of the unit.
Accidental Incident Activations
Should a responder accidentally activate the emergency button, the user must verbally advise that it was an accidental activation. Headquarters will clear the emergency from the system. The field user is capable of clearing the emergency after verification with Headquarters of their status. This is accomplished by pressing and holding the side lower button (button has bump sticking out) in and then pressing the emergency button at the same time until the emergency is reset.
C. Non Incident Related Fire and EMS Activations
If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during a non
dispatched event, the Com Center will do the following:
Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency.
“Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters/Cumberland Med, verifying your emergency?”
If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and
respond appropriately as the conditions require.
If no contact is made, the Com Center will page the unit and
Notify the Chief of the unit if no contact is made.
. Fire Police
Fire Police Activations
All Fire Police radios will default to their Fire Police Emergency Talk Group for any activations of the emergency button. This Talk Group will only be monitored by the Communications Center during emergency activations.
Fire Police Incident Activations
The same procedures will be followed for fire police operations as is followed for other users. Incident Command will be contacted if the emergency activation is legitimate or no acknowledgement is received when the unit is called for verification.
Fire Police Non Incident Actions
If a unit or portable activates the emergency button during a non
dispatched event, the Com Center will do the following on the appropriate Emergency Fire Police Talk Group:
Make radio contact with the unit to confirm the emergency.
“Unit Designation or Alias from Headquarters, verifying your emergency?”
If contact is made, verify if an emergency is occurring and
respond appropriately as the conditions require.
If no contact is made, the Com Center will contact the Fire Police Captain or other officer of the unit. The Com Center will accept further instructions at that time from the contact person.
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