1. Welcome
Welcome to the class, you’re here for 800 MHz Intro and today we’ll be talking about portable radios. My name is (your name), I’m assigned to (station/shift/LFRD name) and with me today is (adjunct’s name) form (station/shift/LFRD name).
This is a scenario-based class, in which we’ll go through all of the basics you need to know to use the portable radios in the field. It’s import to note that you should practice in the stations with your training officer or someone who’s been around for a while. We’ll remind you at the end of a couple things you should avoid doing when practicing, but otherwise you want to feel comfortable enough with them to use the radios when you need to in the field.

2. Upon completing this course, you will know how to:
Course Objectives
Upon completing this course, you will know how to:
Identify the differences between the two portable radio models used in MCFRS.
Ensure your radio is ready for use before beginning your shift.
Change to appropriate talkgroups for incident and non-incident activity.
Declare and emergency by radio and clear an accidental activation.
Use the radio in a variety of atypical scenarios.
(Cover the course objectives on the slide.)

3. We will covering the following today: Hardware Basics Shift Change
Course Outline
We will covering the following today:
Hardware Basics
Shift Change
BLS Scenarios
Box Alarm Scenario
Emergency Button
Radio Customization
What-If Scenarios
Assessment Test
(Cover the list of scenarios.)

4. Hardware Basics 7000: Unit Officers HazMat Personnel Chiefs
Command Staff
6000:
Everyone Else
Before we get into the scenarios, you have to know some things about the hardware. Firstly, there are two models: APX 6000 (show on the right) and APX 7000 (shown on the left). Here’s a simple breakdown for now, as to who’s using them:
The 7000 is used by all officers – and that includes the A2 position, so it will be coming up sooner for you than you may think – and has a slightly bigger screen. There are several important details as to how this model differs from the 6000, but we’ll cover them in scenarios.
The 6000 is used by every other riding position.
(Although the antennas aren’t shown on this slide, please point out the obvious difference between the 7000 and 6000 antennas to the class, using the radios you have in the room. You should also point out the logo differences above the screens so they can identify which is a 6000 and which is a 7000 right away.)

5. Find the Batt menu option. Press the button below the Batt menu.
Shift Change
To See the Percentage:
Find the Batt menu option.
Press the button below the Batt menu.
Press the button below the Exit menu when you have finished.
Zone
Scan
Batt
Exit
Standard operating procedure calls for you to charge the battery if it drops to 30%. Let’s take a look at what your current percentage is.
Press the button below Battery. (Guide students through the action; no one should just sit back and watch.)
As you can see, we get a percentage right on screen so there’s not much interpretation needed. We’re still above 30%, but let’s talk about how to change the battery anyway.  
Note: If a radio has not been used much (such as a training radio), the percentage may not show. If this happens on a field radio, charge your battery and use a fresh one. It is imperative that you know your percentage.

6. Radio Etiquette
Before we move on, let’s talk about how to talk on the radio.

7. I just transported you the other day. This unit is still not a taxi.
Washington Post Test
I just transported you the other day. This unit is still not a taxi. ! !
Before we go on, there’s one important thing you must remember and we call it the Washington Post Test. Never say anything on the radio that you wouldn’t want to be quoted with your name in the Washington Post.
Examples range from patient confidentiality to inappropriate language.

8. Jurisdiction Identification: COG
Zone
Jurisdiction DC 1
Arlington 2
Alexandria 3
Airport Authority 4
Fairfax 5
Prince William 6
Loudon 7
Montgomery 8 PG 9
Frederick
MCFRS is part of the DC Council of Governments (COG).
Each jurisdiction has a specific number and each organization’s apparatus uses the number for both radio use and units. We’ll talk more about this later, but here’s a breakdown of the COG numbers.

9. BLS Scenarios

10. BLS: Using EMRC
You pick up the patient and start treatment. Things seem to get beyond your scope of knowledge and you have called for a medic unit. As you’re prepping the patient for transport, he tells you that he has already taken two rounds of nitro and you give him a third. He seems better but it only lasts about five minutes. (You’ll learn about this in your EMT class.) You need to know what to do from here. For that, we use EMRC.

11. Difference Between EMRC and the Hospital Zone
Get orders
Get consults
Be recorded
Give arrival time estimates
We don’t give out patient data on the hospital talkgroups – that’s reserved for consults via EMRC. Since EMRC is not secure, though, we don’t want to say anything that could be tied back to patient identification.
No names, no specific addresses.
You may use important patient data – vital signs, symptoms, etc. Again, though, only on consults – never give patient data on the hospital zone.
OK, that’s the end of this scenario.

12. Scenario 3: Box Alarm (Listen to the dispatch.)
You’re dispatched on a box alarm.
The first thing to note is that you should switch to the proper talkgroup where ECC tells you to go.
(Listen to the dispatch.)

13. Emergency Button
In the worst scenarios, the emergency button can be your lifeline.
There are two emergency buttons – one on the radio base and one on the speaker mic. They both do the same thing.
There are two scenarios we should discuss:
Accidental Activations
Emergencies, covering both Signal 3 and Mayday

14. Scenario 4A: Accidental Emergency Activation
Emergency Key Pressed
July 11, :08:02
Unit: A702
Current Event: Unit is not currently assigned to an event. OK
Here’s what appears on every monitor at ECC. As you can see, you’ll get some attention if you press the emergency button. In this case, we had an accidental activation.

15. Scenario 4B: Real Emergency
Signal 3
Danger from other people
Mayday
Danger from environment
Throughout your time with MCFRS, there may be times when you need to declare an emergency. There are two types of emergencies:
Signal 3
Mayday
A Signal 3 emergency reflects danger from external sources when you need to be secretive, such as when someone may have a gun nearby, a Mayday reflects danger in your environment such as the ceiling caving in around you. Please refer to the Mayday policy for more information. Here, though, let’s talk about what happens within the technology.

16. Scenario 4B: Real Emergency
Emer Rcvd
Don’t touch!
This is a good time to tell you: If you ever see Emergency Received on your radio, don’t think you accidentally launched an emergency and try to clear it. That would only launch another round of emergency notifications. When you see Emergency Received, you did nothing wrong. More importantly, you should not do anything regarding the emergency. Do whatever it is onscene you’re supposed to be doing.
Those are the basics. Again, this is just the technology side of the equation. Consult your Essentials and EMT-B notes, as well as the Mayday policy, for the rest of the story.

17. Customization: Keypad Lock
If you’re concerned you may accidentally change zones or press another navigation button, simply lock your keypad. To do so, you’ll slide the keypad lock left to right.
Once your keypad is locked, you’ll hear a tone anytime you try to push one of the navigation buttons.
(Have students lock their keypads and try to press buttons, then have student unlock their keypads again.)

18. FDTA
One Mile
Although the radios have great range, the signal strength drops considerably in high rises, basements and anywhere near the Potomac river. There will be times you need to communicate with your partner and other personnel onscene even when you cannot reach the tower. For this, we have Fire Department Talk-Around (FDTA). The specific location is Oscar on 7, 71 and 72.
(Advise students that they’re all the same, so it doesn’t matter which of the three zones they choose.)
FDTA is line-of-sight and covers about a mile on flat land. If one of you is below ground and another several levels up, the distance drops a bit. Consider your radio a very expensive walkie-talkie at this point.

19. There are four major points to note for FDTA:
Don’t try to call Montgomery.
Remember that there’s no emergency button.
Scan FDTA.
Maintain proper radio procedures.
There are four major points to note for FDTA.
(Cover the info on the slide.)

20. Keep quiet unless you have something vitally important to say.
Failsoft
Failsoft Rules:
Keep quiet unless you have something vitally important to say.
Stay on the same talkgroup.
Turn scan feature off. (Remember to turn it back on when out of failsoft.)
In the event that we have major computer problems with the radio system, but the whole system doesn’t go down, we’ll go into Failsoft mode. For those of you who are technophiles, this is very similar to Windows Safe Mode.
You’ll know we’re in Failsoft mode if you see the word Failsoft on your radio screen. When we go into Failsoft, we revert to a fairly simple system with fairly simple rules:
There are only a handful of channels, so people could easily talk over one another. Unless you have something vitally important to say, keep quiet.
Don’t change to another talkgroup. If you are on an incident and we recover the system, no one will know where you are on the radio fleetmap if you have changed talkgroups.
In short, treat failsoft like condition red.

21. VHF
If Failsoft is similar to Windows Safe Mode, VHF is like going back to walkie talkies.
The model 7000 has a dual-band setup with both 800 MHz and VHF so that we have a functional safety net in the unlikely circumstance that the whole system could die on us. It takes us back to a setup similar to what we used before 2003, but it still works.

22. VHF 7000 (Officer) ECC 6000 (Non-Officer) Here’s how it would work:
Anyone with a Model 7000 radio would change zones to 7V (the VHF Zone). Anyone with a Model 6000 radio would switch to FDTA on Oscar.
A dispatch would come to the Model 7000 on Alpha. The officer would respond on Bravo and then relay information on Oscar.
Because Papa is also an Operations channel in VHF, the officer would relay info back and forth between Oscar (to personnel onscene) and Papa (to ECC).

23. Special Event
We have a few special events throughout the year, such as the golf tournament and the fair.
If you’re dispatched to a special event, you’ll likely use one of several dedicated special event talkgroups. These are found on Zone J Alpha through Foxtrot.
On the screen, you’ll see that there’s also an announce talkgroup on Golf to cover all six talkgroups in case of a major announcement.

24. VRS
ECC
You BC
One thing to note: Since you’re relaying to the tower via the battalion buggy, the same would happen if you pressed your emergency button. If you press the emergency button while on the VRS, ECC will know that it has been pressed, except the folks there will think it’s coming from the battalion buggy. The Battalion Chief will check the ID on the VRS and see your radio ID.

25. Out of Range
Despite the presence of several towers around the county, there are times you just can’t reach the tower. Your radio won’t work and you learned about this when you learned about Oscar for Fire Department Talk Around.
What you haven’t heard yet, though, is how the radio responds. Let’s say you’re in Cabin John and you are playing with the radio, wanting to hear about activity on a Howard County Operations talkgroup.
(Direct all students to switch to Howard County Ops. It should be out of range. Otherwise, pick a talkgroup that you know is out of range.)

26. Border Incident Radio Use
Zone
Jurisdiction DC 1
Arlington 2
Alexandria 3
Airport Authority 4
Fairfax 5
Prince William 6
Loudon 8 PG 9
Frederick CR
Carroll HO
Howard
As you can see from the fleetmap below, we have separate zones for individual counties.
We’re only showing Alpha through Charlie here, but most have talkgroups all the way out to Papa.

27. When listening to the Police zone: Remember that you cannot transmit.
Police Activity
When listening to the Police zone:
Remember that you cannot transmit.
Continue to listen to Alpha (Dispatch).
Wait for the all clear from FRS ECC if you’re staging.
Rockville (district 1) is on Alpha, so you’re good to go. There are three important things to remember about listening to the police zone.

28. Assessment Test