RALEIGH - After our first article
appeared on August 6 about some North Carolina counties
re-numbering their apparatus, we were encouraged to go ahead
and load the trap for bear. We'll stick our necks out, put our
head on the chopping block, and commit to paper a proposed new
numbering scheme for the Captial County.
The first article brought about many thoughts and opinions. It
was discussed at the FireNews.net Forums
(Communications Category), as well as "The
Watch Desk," and locally at the "Raleigh/Wake
Firefighting Blog."
The topic was then picked up Nationally at
STATter911 and
FireGeezer.com.
So, in an ideal world, what would be the objectives of a new
numbering scheme for Wake County, North Carolina?
- NIMS Compliance.
- CAD Compliant.
- Simplicity.
- A system that is not dependent on agency names being used
on the radio.
- Interoperability between all Wake County Fire, Rescue, EMS
agencies and
ultimately Law Enforcement and government agencies.
- A unique radio identifier for each piece of apparatus.
- A unique radio identifier for each on and off duty personnel
(career departments) as well as all volunteers.
- A system that can expand with growth.
- Utilization of existing numbering scheme(s) to the extent that
is practical and possible. (As you will see, not all units
needed re-numbering).
In this first pass, only a few EMS units were addressed.
We also attempted to address the issue of Pumper/Tankers,
Engine/Tankers, Rescue Engines and repair the dreaded "Pumper"
designation.
STATION NUMBERS
In the county, for years there has been some framework of a
numbering system in place. It is used in certain parts of the
county, and completely ignored in others. It starts with Apex at "4", and has
progressed to Fuquay-Varina Station Three, numbered "45." Cary
was in the system as "5".
What was not assigned was 1, 2, 3 or 10 (possibly to avoid
ten-code confusion).
In the new system, we have assumed/assigned the following:
1 (or 100) - City of Raleigh
2 (or 200) - Wake County Fire/Rescue
3 (or 300) - Wake County EMS
Provisions are made for additional Raleigh and Cary Stations.
We have also included slots for future county stations, if we
have received indications that they will potentially add
stations.
After county stations 48, 49 and 50 are assigned, we advocate jumping
to 70. We are reserving 51-69 for the Town of Cary. There's
truly nothing magical about being sequential in a numbering
scheme.
This allows Cary to expand to as many as nineteen total
stations, and for the county to add nearly fifteen stations.
Perhaps the 80 and 90 series could be utilized by EMS for
personnel or unit identifiers.
APPARATUS
Primary fire apparatus would be assigned numbers in
conjunction with their station number based on the following
suffix types:
0 - Rescue (or Rescue Engine)1 - Engine (less than
1,000 gallon tank)2 - Engine3 - Engine4 - Brush Truck5 - Aerial (specifically LADDER or TOWER)
6 - Tanker or Pumper/Tanker (greater than 1,000 gallon
tank)
7 - Tanker or Pumper/Tanker
8 - Tanker or Pumper/Tanker9 - Utility or Second Brush Unit
SQUAD designation is used for light-duty first responder
apparatus.
Example: Station 14 has a Pumper/Tanker. The designation
would be ENGINE 146. If station 15 has a Rescue Engine, the
designation would be ENGINE 150. First Responder vehicle for
Station 22 would be SQUAD 22.
CHIEFS
Officers are pared with their station number and the
appropriate suffix:
11 - Chief12 - Assistant Chief
13 - Assistant Chief14 - Deputy Chief15 - Deputy Chief21 - Duty Officer/Captain22 - Duty Officer/Captain
23 - Duty Officer/Captain
The Chief of Station 27 would be 2711, the First Assistant
Chief 2712. The Shift Supervisor/Duty Officers would be 2721,
2722, 2723.
PERSONNEL
The City of Raleigh currently has a workable solution for
identifying portables and personnel:
01 - Captain of Engine02 - Lieutenant of Engine03 - Engine Firefighter04 - Engine Firefighter05 - Engine Firefighter
06 - Captain of Ladder07 - Lieutenant of Ladder
08 - Ladder Firefighter09 - Ladder Firefighter
Example: The Captain of Engine 11 is 1101, the Captain of
Ladder 11 is 1106.
During an off-duty recall situation, the designation would
increase to 1106A, 1106B, 1106C.
For county departments, each firefighter would be assigned
a unique number, beginning with 30.
Example: Garner Station 1 (County Station 8), would start
numbering firefighters with 830, 831, 832, etc.
THE NEW NUMBERS
The first thing we had to do to develop a new numbering
scheme was develop a list of existing equipment. This was
culled from various sources, and given the number of agencies
and the amount of new equipment received in Wake County, the
complete accuracy of all existing equipment is therefore
questionable. We have consulted department websites, but some
are now outdated. The basic strategy should still be apparent.
If you wish to correct our list for your department, don't
hesitate to
contact us.
PROPOSED WAKE COUNTY RE-NUMBERING SCHEME
(08212007)
Discuss this Article in the
FireNews.net Forums (Forum Categories/Communications). See
"The Ugly Twenty"
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