As a matter of fact, my brigade didn't turn out for a call that Adelaide Fire were convinced they had sent us...had our name on it, an address in our area....and it didn't get to us until many other things had occurred, and we ended up finding out 45 minutes later. The "default" for the pager also failed dismally.
I am also concerned at the number of pager messages that come out without any address details...eg Respond RCR......Anytown CFS, Anytown........ no road details, no landmarks, no description of what might be involved... Sure, you can ask for more info ASAP when you get to the station..if the operator isn't too busy with other duties. ( I know they end up with a lot of work we don't necessarily know about)
Or even some call outs today. Just one brigade sent to a reported domestic fire. 14 minutes later, the next door brigade paged. Some time later, SES paged to tarp the roof after a fire. (I am only going from the pager messages, so there may be more to this, but on first glance, it is a worry)
Don't accuse people of refusing to change, just because they criticise the format of the messages, or the way the new system is currently working.
Should people just accept change, including those examples outlined above just because it is change, and that is the way it is?
If we change, things need to be changed for the better - not go backwards.
Having poorer information in our messages, compared to what we were getting, having inappropriate resources / not enough resources being dispatched to incidents, compared to what was occurring, is certainly not a change for the better - and we need to address the issues and improve that information - and not be called stick in the muds for doing so.
Pip
PS I understand that there are many issues occurring behind the scenes in both services that have resulted in some of these issues - and the staff at Adelaide Fire are trying very hard to sort these issues out - this posting is not meant to be a criticism of them.
