How is your Brigade Dispatched?

[MATTE]

I am not 100% sure but i heard some brigades are using a system that still involves pagers but includes a PA system in the station. Apparently the PA boradcasts the Call througout the station immediately and at 1m 30s intervals for 7 minutes. ]
I think Morphett Vale use this system and i would be interested to hear how well it works and its effectiveness.

[Good times]

Thats a home made system, everyone else just gets the pagers and siren, if you are clued up enough you can make it your self, but I am not one of those clued up people.

[corocfs]

aaawww c'mon mate, you seem pretty cluey!!!

[strikeathird]

Nothing beats the good ol' "EMERGENCY" series dispatch tones!

[nomex_nugget]

I heard the Morphett Vale system was installed for the full timers when they move in.

[strikeathird]

:lol:


Hows that for striking controversy in there first post!!



**Thinks about motives**  :P

[mattb]

The Morphett Vale system is actually based around a paging decoder program that is connected to our station P.A. system. Upon receipt of a response message it plays a wav file which consists of an alert tone and a voice over detailing the type of incident.  

When we receive a response to a neighbouring brigades area the alert system activates approximately 10 - 15 seconds before our pagers.

Crank - maybe, but it works well and the guys seem to like it...

[strikeathird]

Very nice little system!

I take it the computer system talks in the typical "drone" voice that most Computer simulated voices seem to have ?

(Would laugh if it sounded remotely human)  :D  - Now that would be nice!

[corocfs]

my brothers fiance is a retained met in pt. pirie, and before they were given GRNs all members theyre (they have a full-time/retained staffing) had VHF (???) pagers that could recieve but not send.

anyway.... upon reciept of any call for pt. pirie mfs to attend the comms boys would send a message over the pagers that said (for example):

*beep beep beep* ATTENTION ATTENTION: PT PIRIE RESPOND DOMESTIC, BLAH STREET BLAHSVILLE, (OTHER INFO)

bad system if your in the shower and perhaps dont hear the message properly or whatever... but pretty cool nonetheless..... now they have the same system as us, and just get responded by adelaide mfs

p.s.

the PA system sounds really cool... but for some reason the computer animated voices always make me think of that benny bennasi song - satisfaction..

[mattb]

If you are prepared to download a 2.4 mb wav file for 13 seconds of audio then have a listen to http://users.chariot.net.au/~mattb/Files/CAR%20FIRE.wav

That should give you an idea of what we have setup.

[MATTE]

Is the system effective? and how much did it cost to setup?

[mattb]

This system didn't cost us anything, we already had a spare computer running our weather software which stays on all the time and a spare scanner that we use to feed the paging software. The audio is taken out of a soundcard into a spare input on our station PA system.

Just took a bit of time setting it all up to do what we want, now it works fine.

[JamesGar]

I thinks it sounds a bit gimmicky, however if it saves a significant amount of time for a turnout then I'm all for it.

There is a bit of a delay with paging via GRN system, I've been a MFS city station and heard 202 responded to a house fire at mitcham and the page for Belair was sent simultaneously, but I received it a good 90 seconds later. This probably isn't a concern in regional areas, but the fringe stations may benefit from patching into the MFS's voice over response messaging system, which I think still works on the old VHF radio network (may be wrong there).

If it safes time then go for it

[Good times]

I don't usually have a problem, its sent at the same time, I think you will find that the voice turnout is not related to the MDT/Pager message, it all depends when the operator hits send. If the operator starts the broadcast before hitting send then you will get a delay.

I have the SAMFS dispatch channel on my scanner on VHF and all I usually get for calls we are responding to is the tones and the "Attention , Attention" and the pager goes, so its not really any advantage. Its gives you a minor heads up, eg: you might get the brain thinking fire call, before the pager goes.

[Mike]

I know it sounds crude, but the phrase "wank factor" comes to mind.

~~~Why~~~
The system may get you thinking a few moments before a call comes through, but in the end the stations have to be manned for it to work effectively..... Hence why it works for MFS..... Dont know many (if any) CFS stations that are manned full time!

Now in saying all that, each brigade has its individuality, and if it wasnt for people experimenting with these things there would be a huge lack of forsight and fun involved. Plus there are a lot of brigades that are busier than us, so the comments are a little "blind" as such........

[mattb]

Mike, the Morphett Vale system was actually setup after we had a couple of instances where people were at the station for a firecall but had left their pager in the car or at home, then we received another call whilst the truck was still out and the guys at the station didn't know.

It also works well because our station is the group base and has meetings and other things going on most nights of the week, other people (not all CFS members) get a heads up that something is going on and stay clear of the engine room.

As I said it didn't cost us anything and it has actually saved us time in the past. You might think it's wanky, thats fine, we found a use for a piece of software that no one else had, someone else might call that clever..

[Mike]

I have no doubt that its clever..... I still think its wanky.... but definately clever!  :D

The fact that problems have arisen when the station is manned and calls are recieved.... and that a cheap and interesting solution has been found is a credit to the designers, after all, the aim is to make our lives easier and safer isnt it!!

[corocfs]

Mike, the Morphett Vale system was actually setup after we had a couple of instances where people were at the station for a firecall but had left their pager in the car or at home, then we received another call whilst the truck was still out and the guys at the station didn't know.

hate to sound like an idiot... cos it sounds pretty cool, but i will neway (be an idiot)...

surely the point of having a pager is to carry it EVERYWHERE with you...
i mean obviously you cant wear ity into the shower so dont take me too literally.. but you shudnt be going to a call withoput your pager on you for that exact reason.. what if you get a second call en-route???

[CyberCitizen]

I have no doubt that its clever..... I still think its wanky.... but definately clever!  :D

I Think Its A MFS Wanna Be.  Don't Get Me Wrong I Like It, I Mean Its A Good Idea If Your Already At The Station (Manned All The Time).

I'm Thinking Ladder 49.  All I Am Waiting For Is The Gong To Go Off & Then Some Guy On The Radio Reading The Job Out :D.

It Would Be Good If The Pagers Had A Little Speaker In Them.  Eg The Pager Drop Tone Sounds, Then A Voice Read's The Pager Job.

[Firefrog]

Let's not get tall poppy syndrome, Good on them if they have found a way to use technology in an a unique way. It may not suit your station or how you do things. It sounds like it does suit them.

[CFS_Firey]

It Would Be Good If The Pagers Had A Little Speaker In Them.  Eg The Pager Drop Tone Sounds, Then A Voice Read's The Pager Job.

Hahaha! That would be gold if you forgot to put in on vibrate in a meeting or concert etc... It'd just be that much more embarrassing... but it would be good for when you're in the shower and get a call... :P

[strikeathird]

^^  Nothing sh!ts me more, than throwing on clothes while dripping wet becasue u have had to jump out of the shower at the sound of the pager!   :lol:  :P

[CyberCitizen]

That Seems To Happen Alot You Get In The Shower & The Pager Drop's.

One Of Our Members Rocked Up For The Job, Hair Wet & A Bottle Of Shampoo In His Pocket.

He Didn't Realise That He Had The Shampoo Until He Was In The Truck On The Way To The Job