User talk:Zackmann08/Palm Beach

How incidents are received and transmitted
When a person dials 9-1-1 in Palm Beach County, it goes to the local Public Safety Answering Point, which is usually the local Sheriff Office or police agency. If the call is of a fire or medical nature, and is in PBCFR's jurisdiction (or one of the agencies that is dispatched by PBCFR), it is transferred to the PBCFR Communications Center located in the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. A calltaker will ascertain the location and nature of the emergency, enter it into the Computer Aided Dispatch system, and give the caller medical instructions if needed. Meanwhile, another dispatcher, who received the call via the CAD system, verifies that the closest unit(s) are available for the call.

In July, 2006, the PBCFR Communications Center switched over to a new CAD system, made by Intergraph as well as a new Enhanced 9-1-1 telephone system, made by Positron Public Safety Systems.

Once the unit response is verified, the call is sent to a printer in the fire station and a computerized voice announces the call both in the firehouse and on the radio, alerting the crews to the call. The calls are also sent to the crews via an alpha-numeric paging system and in some units to their Mobile Data Terminal (laptop computer in their vehicle). In July, 2006, this computerized voice dispatch system, which is made by Locution Systems, Inc. was put into service. This system notifies the units via a computerized voice over the dispatch channel as well as their fire station directly via the computer network. This system cuts down the time it takes to dispatch a unit to a call, especially if there are other calls holding. The old two-tone paging system is still in place as a backup in the event the computerized system fails.

Alarm Levels
An Alarm Level is a representation of how many units are assigned to an incident, and indirectly, the seriousness of the incident. All incidents are initially dispatched at an alarm level of "1". Working fires that require more resources than the first due units can provide are upgraded to a second alarm, which send more units to the scene. Subsequent alarms dispatch more units to the scene. The amount of units being dispatched is dependent on the type of call.

Example:

NIMS and "Signals"
Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue follows the National Incident Management System (NIMS) format for all radio communications. All communications are done in "Plain English" with certain standard terminology specific to the department used as well. Only two "signals" are in use: "Signal 4", which is a motor vehicle accident, and "Signal 7", which is a deceased person. These are holdovers from the "signals" used by the police agencies statewide.

Countywide Dispatch
In 2004 the County Commission approved a resolution allowing for funding for the Fire-Rescue Communications Center to come out of the General Fund instead of the Fire-Rescue budget. This change meant that now any city that wanted to be dispatched by Fire-Rescue could do so without having to negotiate a price and a contract, since all taxpayers were paying for it anyway. The concept behind this was to create a "Regionalized Dispatch Center" where the closest unit could be dispatched to a call, regardless of municipal boundaries. This was initially met with opposition from a few cities, citing that this construed "Double Taxation", as they were already providing dispatch services to their own departments yet their citizens were being taxed for the Countywide system. Recently, more and more cities are coming into the new system.

Municipal Fire Departments currently participating in the Countywide Dispatch System
 * Greenacres Public Safety
 * North Palm Beach Public Safety
 * Palm Beach Gardens Fire-Rescue
 * Tequesta Fire-Rescue
 * West Palm Beach Fire Department
 * Riviera Beach

Advanced Life Support
From its inception in 1984 to today, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue has been able to maintain at least one Advanced Life Support unit in every station, whether it is a Rescue or an Engine. Initially, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue only provided non-transport ALS (fly-cars) utilizing modified ambulances and "squad" type utility trucks. A private ambulance service provided BLS assistance and transported the patient. If the call was a call that met ALS criteria, the Fire-Rescue paramedic would take the ALS gear and climb into the back of the ambulance along with the EMT from the ambulance service. The other Fire-Rescue paramedic would then follow the ambulance to the hospital. This setup was very similar to the one depicted in the 1970s TV show Emergency!.

Today, there are only two private ambulance providers left in Palm Beach County: American Medical Response and Medics Ambulance Service. In November, 2007, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue started a pilot program to transport all BLS patients in certain areas (see "BLS Transport" below).

ALS Transport
In 1996 the County Commission enacted an ordinance allowing Fire-Rescue to transport their own ALS patients to the hospital. The county is divided up into zones and in some of these zones PBCFR now transports both ALS and BLS Basic Life Support patients. In other zones BLS patients are turned over to a private ambulance service for transport to a hospital.

BLS Transport
In November, 2007, Fire-Rescue started a pilot program to begin transporting all patients, regardless of whether they are ALS or BLS for "Zone 1", which is the area bordered by Martin County to the north, 20-Mile Bend to the west, split down the middle by the Florida's Turnpike. The area between the Turnpike west to 20-Mile Bend is bordered on the south by Lantana Road in suburban Lantana and Lake Worth. The area between the Turnpike and the Atlantic Ocean (or the eastern border of our jurisdiction where it does not reach the ocean) is bordered on the south by 45th Street in suburban West Palm Beach.

ALS Engines
When a request for a medical problem is received by Fire-Rescue, the closest Rescue truck is dispatched. If the closest Rescue is not available, an ALS Engine or ALS Quint is dispatched. The crew on the ALS Engine carries full Advanced Life Support gear and can initiate the appropriate care until another Rescue unit arrives to transport the patient. If the patient does not require Advanced Life Support, a BLS ambulance can be requested from American Medical Response or Medics Ambulance Service, depending on the location of the incident, to transport the patient in those areas where Fire-Rescue does not provide BLS transport.

Emergency Medical Dispatch
When Fire-Rescue consolidated, the different fire districts also consolidated their dispatch into one central office. The Palm Beach County EMS Dispatch (also known as "MedCom", who was responsible for dispatching the private ambulance services) expanded their facility on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach and started handling dispatch functions for the newly created department. This facility was renamed the "Alarm Office". Initially, a firefighter-paramedic would be stationed at the "Alarm Office" to give pre-arrival instructions to callers that needed them. With the introduction of Emergency Medical Dispatch certifications, Fire-Rescue purchased a license to use the "Medical Priority" system and certified all of their dispatchers as "Emergency Medical Dispatchers", a certification given after a 16 hour class is given on using their system. The system utilized a "flip-file" where the dispatcher would go to certain marked cards in the file based on the answers given by the caller to some standardized questions. Instructions would be given to the caller directly from the card. Around 2000, Fire-Rescue dispatch moved from the "Medical Priority" system to the APCO EMD Program. Fire-Rescue is still currently using the APCO system. Response determinants are not used in the current system.