FireLink

It seems that in our area sometimes the dispatchers are so low we do not hear everything they say. Can you tell us why?

No sitting at the house.....just wondered if ya'll relize that we have trouble like that. We have told dispatch but they don't change.

For some reason my county is to cheap to purchase their own frequency so we get skip from all over the place.Being inland we were kinda surprised to hear our tones drop,the dispatcher come over and dispatched us to a shark bite to some road we never heard of on a beach that we didnt have.Needless to say it wasnt ours but it interferes with our traffic constantly.

We have a dispatcher that's crazy. Puts the tones off. Waits a minute then puts the tones a second time. Then a long pause and decides to say what the incident is. Half the time saying the wrong stuff

Got even better for you we have a dispatcher that studders talk about hard to hear an address.

Sounds like the radio programmer has improprerly configured the dispatch consoles. Those systems have numerous level adjustments that can be configured for each dispatcher. I would recommend making a complaint if it is a common problem and get the issues resolved. Otherwise, turn up your volume on your radios and pagers. :)

 They may be new disptachers or they are not talking loud enough. I was told that when I started fire dispatching. But I monitor other Fire departments in the County I am in that have their Combo(cheap) disptach centers and they either talk to low or don't give a damn cause the Police radio walked on them. But we are really pushed to make sure our people hear us. Plus I am also out there on the streets as well I know how it is on both sides.

As a cop, I have realized it goes both ways. You either can't hear what people are saying or they are too freaking loud.  We had a long problem with our repeaters with interference and dead spots. Pain in the butt.

It could be as simple as your dispatcher is not talking into the microphone. Do you have the same problem with all your dispatchers? If you do, it sounds more like an equipment problem rather than 'operator error'

Being heard is one comment i've never had said to me, of course when I first learned how to dispatch i was so nervous that someone would get hurt or go to the wrong place due to my instructions, I made sure that I spoke clearly and at an even pitch so there was no miscommunications on my part.  I was told to "lighten up" and "not be so serious" but quite honestly my first "call" I was tested at limits.  The call sheets had not been updated, and I had not gone through formal training at that first call, and was told by the Chief to "just repeat the numbers that were said (ie: off at the scene, 10/8 etc)  Not knowing 10 codes, I repeated one that with the old 10 codes signified "off at the scene" to my horror, after saying that code I was swamped with ever police unit, county deputies and state units.  That 10 code i used (that I was told to repeat) actually signified "person armed with a weapon".  I learned fast that night!!

I am the one that runs "newbies" through the dispatch, and I tell them a few key things to remember.  Never recline and get away from the mic - if you cant talk clearly, no one will hear you.  Pronouciation is the key, speak clear and even.  Keep a pen handy and paper, even if no one else can understand what you wrote, you can and can transfer it later when needed with times.

If the problem persists, maybe a one on one with the dispatch is needed, maybe they feel as though they are not part of the team, let them know that you NEED to hear them!  Just a few ideas maybe to help!