Basic Wildland Fire Management Radio Communications

Objectives Upon completion of this section, you will be able to: 1.State 5 main rules that must be observed when operating radio stations 2.Recall priority for radio communication messages 3.Name 3 emergency signals 4.Describe how to initiate an emergency signal Basic Wildland Fire Management

Radio Communications Systems Simplex requires line-of-sight –Transmit and receives on 1 frequency Duplex transmits via radio repeater –Transmits on 1 frequency and receives on another –Requires line-of-sight to repeater –Delay during transmission Basic Wildland Fire Management

Use of Radio Communications Is radio message absolutely necessary? Is it as brief as possible? Are you in the best location for transmitting? Are you using the appropriate channel? Is your battery low? Basic Wildland Fire Management

Federal Regulations 5 main rules when operating radios: –Don’t deliberately interfere with another station –Don’t transmit unnecessary signals –Don’t transmit a message containing profane language –Don’t divulge or use information you may overhear –Don’t transmit a false distress signal Basic Wildland Fire Management

Priority of Messages Priority of communications is: –Distress (e.g. MAYDAY) –Urgency (e.g. PAN PAN) –Safety (e.g. SECURITY) –Aircraft –Smoke –Fire –Routine messages Basic Wildland Fire Management

Phonetic Alphabet Basic Wildland Fire Management LetterWordLetterWordLetterWord AALPHAJJULIETTSSIERRA BBRAVOKKILOTTANGO CCHARLIELLIMAUUNIFORM DDELTAMMIKEVVICTOR EECHONNOVEMBERWWHISKEY FFOXTROTOOSCARXX-RAY GGOLFPPAPAYYANKEE HHOTELQQUEBECZZULU IINDIARROMEO

Words & Phrases Basic Wildland Fire Management Word or PhraseMeaning AcknowledgeLet me know you received and understood message ConfirmMy version is … is that correct? CorrectionAn error has been made in trasmission. Correct version is … OverConversation ended and response expected OutTransmission ended and no response expected Read BackRepeat all of message back to me exactly as received Say Again[Don’t use word repeat] WilcoYour instructions are received and will be complied with Words TwiceCommunications difficult, please send each word twice

Signal Check Procedure for signal check: Jasper Dispatch THIS IS 972 SIGNAL CHECK 1,2,3,4,5. HOW DO YOU READ? OVER Basic Wildland Fire Management

Emergency Signals MAYDAY indicates personnel in grave and imminent danger and require immediate assistance MAYDAY spoken 3 times THIS IS … spoken 3 times Short, plain language description of location and emergency OVER PAN PAN indicates urgent message regarding possible jeopardy to life SECURITY indicates message regarding safety (i.e. navigation, road alerts, weather warnings) Basic Wildland Fire Management

Cancelling MAYDAY When station is no longer is distress: MAYDAY spoken 1 time ALL STATIONS spoken 3 times THIS IS … Filing time of original distress message Call sign of person in distress Short, plain language description of why distress is cancelled SILENCE FINISHED OUT Basic Wildland Fire Management

Conclusion Radio communications critical component of safe and effective fire management operations Is your radio message necessary, clear and concise? In the event of an emergency, do you know how to initiate an emergency signal? Basic Wildland Fire Management

Objectives Upon completion of this section, you will be able to: 1.State 5 main rules that must be observed when operating radio stations 2.Recall priority for radio communication messages 3.Name 3 emergency signals 4.Describe how to initiate an emergency signal Basic Wildland Fire Management