Washington County/Regional Communications Plan –Standard Operating Procedures



Download 93.25 Kb.
Date28.01.2017
Size93.25 Kb.
#9358

Washington County/Regional Communications Plan –Standard Operating Procedures


Standard Operating Procedures





Page
SOP Number: 81


Chapter: Communications


Implementation Date: Original

Proposed Review Date: 05-06-2009

Revision Date: 05-01-2009


Subject: Communications Usage


Accreditation or Source Standard (if Any)





Communications Usage and Governance

Communication is a continuous flow of critical information is maintained as needed among multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary emergency responders, command posts, agencies, and governmental officials for the duration of the emergency response operation in compliance with the NIMS. In order to accomplish that, the jurisdiction must have a continuity of operations plan for public safety communications including the consideration of critical components, networks, support systems, personnel, and an appropriate level of redundant communications systems in the event of an emergency.


Public Safety and Public Works personnel shall operate all radio and/or Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) communications equipment in compliance with applicable sections of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules and Regulations and the Communications Act of 1934. All radio and MDT communications shall be restricted to official business, using appropriate and concise language for the situation at hand and maintain a professional demeanor while using proper procedures.
Beyond the sovereignty of the FCC rules the local communications system must have governance. Below is a list of the communications systems participating in this County/Regional System of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s). These procedures, not policies and are intended to be the minimum guidance in both system operation and interoperability and not intended to replace any authority from the responsible organization. These SOP’s are intended to be a restricted field reference, working document representing available preplanned resources and reference material. The entities downloading and using this template agree, under separate document, to mutually aid and share communications assets and resources as needed and to understand that information in this document constitutes approval to install listed communications frequency pairs at the discretion of the SOP user. Such installation will be reflected in the Communications and Survey Mapping (CASM) tool, maintained by the U.S. Navy (SPAWAR), as well.
At the beginning of each appendix, the persons enfranchised with the operational authority to act on behalf of the listed agencies communications must be listed with contact information. Each primary Point of Contact (POC) and alternate POC must be listed.
This document is arranged into sections. Those with parenthesized reference may not be changed, altered or lessened in any manner. Following the prefacing and preamble paragraphs is an appendix which details specific procedures for a given entity. Lastly, in each entities appendices a Form ICS-217A listing the frequencies deployed and available for use and awareness. The County and surrounding Region may use this information as necessary to denote and service interoperability.

Radio Procedures (CALEA 81.2.4a)


Respondents shall abide by the following radio procedures:


  • All members shall clearly acknowledge, by voice transmission, any voice communication directed to them. No voice transmission shall be considered received until a voice acknowledgement is made by the person to whom the transmission was sent.




  • All radio calls shall be answered on the first call with the unit number and location. In the case of alarms, radio calls shall be answered on the first call, but a location is not needed.




  • When initiating radio communication involving protracted information, such as calling off on a traffic stop or other situation where the communications center will need to capture substantial information, the calling unit shall give his/her unit number and wait for the communications acknowledgment before proceeding with further transmission.




  • All calls for service shall be made without delay.




  • Information that might compromise safety of responding units or operations should be communicated by encrypted voice transmission, telephone or MDT.




  • Respondents shall notify the dispatcher, by radio, of self-initiated activity as soon as practicable.

Radio Procedures (cont’d)





  • Respondents shall notify the dispatcher by voice transmission, when clearing/completing from a call for service. The primary unit may clear all assigned units at one time, by voice transmission, if all units are clearing at the same time. Respondents will switch to another channel, if necessary, to reduce calling (dispatch) frequency congestion during periods of heavy radio activity.

Communications Phonetics

The following phonetic alphabet shall be used for spelling out unusual names of persons and locations. It shall also be used when calling in license plate numbers and registrations.


A - Alpha G - Golf M - Mike S - Sierra Y - Yankee

B - Bravo H - Hotel N - November T - Tango Z – Zulu

C - Charlie I - India O - Oscar U - Uniform

D - Delta J - Juliett P - Papa V - Victor

E - Echo K - Kilo Q - Quebec W- Whiskey

F - Foxtrot L - Lima R - Romeo X - X-ray


Radio Channel Nomenclature (IPSC Radio Aliases)


    Alias Policies

(a)As a recommendation, Agencies may choose to implement radio aliases.

(b)If radio aliases options are desired, use the format CCAAAARRRR where:

CC is a two digit COUNTY identifier as shown in section (Error: Reference source not found. State agencies do not require this identifier.

AAAA is a two to four character (alphanumeric) AGENCY identifier as shown in section (Error: Reference source not found of the IPSC Policies.

RRRR is a variable length RADIO identifier. This can be any length that an agency desires, but for readability in a variety of radios, IPSC suggests that the identifier be the minimum length necessary, e.g., 3 or 4 characters.

If desired, the underscore character may be used throughout to increase readability, e.g., CC_AAAA_RRRR.

(c)The agency identifier, when combined with the county identifier, must be unique throughout the system. Agencies choosing to join the system will be asked to select a one to four character identifier. Selected identifiers will be compared to existing identifiers to ensure against duplication.

(d)To avoid confusion, use the exact same radio alias in the Alias Database, User Configuration Subsystem and user radios.

(e)Abbreviate aliases only when absolutely necessary.

(f)Mobile or Portable designators may be used at the end of the alias as an agency option.

An example would be: Washington County Sheriff Dispatch = 88_SD_Disp(atch) if 14 characters were available.

Use of Plain Language and Ten Codes (CALEA 81.2.4d)

Plain language shall be used for all radio communication with the exception of those agencies that desire to use specific 10-Codes for officer safety situations. Respondents using communication systems that are interoperable with other agencies, while operating as part of a multi-agency or multi-jurisdictional unified command, shall use plain language for all transmissions regardless of the nature.


Definitions (IPSC)

1) Background


Public safety communications systems terminology varies with the technology implemented. Project Hoosier SAFE-T adopted Motorola’s Smart Zone/OmniLink architecture. As such, much of the language contained in policy and procedure manuals references that technology. Other references are from accepted operational standards published by the Associated Public Safety Communications Officers training manuals and operations guides.
The purpose of this policy is to define relevant language to be used and to help clarify terms used throughout the standards, protocols and procedures manual.

  1. Definitions

    The definitions in this policy apply only in the context of Project Hoosier SAFE-T.



Statewide and Regional Mutual Aid Interoperability Talk Groups
Statewide and regional mutual aid talk groups (TG) are talk groups that are set-aside for communicating among multiple agencies. Agency radio users who need to communicate with one another for day-to-day business or for mutual aid may program the appropriate regional and statewide pool talk groups into their radio for use as needed. Example: Fire Departments will all have the appropriate regional Mutual Aid TG in their radios, “I_MA1, or 2 or 3 as do the police, sheriff and EMS responders. Each can communicate using the I_MA1, 2 or 3 talkgroup to accomplish their specific detail.
3) Backbone System
A region-wide public safety radio communication system that consists of a shared region- wide infrastructure, the elements of which are identified in the REGION WIDE PUBLIC SAFTEY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, and Subsystem integrated into or interconnected by the shared region-wide network.
4) Control Station
An operationally fixed station that automatically controls the emissions or operation of another radio station at a specified location, usually placed in a dispatch console either as the primary dispatch radio or to enable mutual aid patches.
5) Critical Operations
Governmental, quasi-governmental and non-governmental operations designated by IPSAC staff by authorized users who rely upon a functioning two-way radio communications system. Unavailability, degradation, delay, partial or complete failure, or failure, in system operations would significantly impact the successful operations of the users.

6) Logging

Audio recording of a radio communication.


7) Mobile Radio
A station in the mobile service, generally installed in a vehicle, intended to be used while in motion or during halts at unspecified points.
8) Mobile Service
A service of radio communication between mobile and base stations, or between mobile stations.
9) Operational Fixed Station
A fixed station, not open to public correspondence, operated by, and for the sole use of those agencies operating their own radio communication facilities in the public safety, industrial, land transportation, marine, or aviation radio services.
10) Patch
Permanent (hard) Patch:

A patch between two or more audio resources, which is fixed and cannot be controlled or edited by the dispatcher.


Manual (soft) Patch:

A patch between two or more audio resources, which is setup and controlled by the dispatcher. The dispatcher owning the patch can add & delete resources as needed.


11) Portable Radio
A station that is completely freestanding and may be hand-carried, or worn by the radio user, or mounted in a temporary fashion in a vehicle through the use of a charger or other repeater devise permanently mounted within the vehicle.
12) Public Safety
Government or non-government functions that operate to serve and protect the general welfare of the general public primarily from physical danger. In the context of the radio system, public safety means eligible public, quasi-public or private law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service agencies. IPSC may include personnel of agencies that work directly with or under public safety personnel including, but not limited to, emergency management, natural resources and environmental enforcement personnel, non-licensed public officials with statutory or local ordinance compliance authorities, officers and officials of the court and corrections, non-licensed public agency security personnel, non-licensed private security personnel working under contract with public or quasi public security services and those individuals who support public safety operations under special operations or circumstances as determined by the host public safety agency.
13) Public Service
Services provided by public, quasi-public or private entity. A service provided by a private entity is public service if acting under authority of a public quasi-public entity. Any other legally authorized and eligible governmental and quasi-governmental radio system users not otherwise included within the scope of Public Safety. This would include, but not be limited to, public works transportation, transit operations, environmental management, public and environmental health, parks and recreation, public schools and higher institutions, public libraries, facilities maintenance, building inspection, engineering and zoning, planning and development, general government administration, health and social services and those personnel or service providers under contract to provide or support such services to an eligible governmental or quasi government radio system user and if approved by IPSC or IPSC staff under a delegation by IPS.
14) Regional System
An 800 MHz Public Safety Communication System that is not fully integrated with the Project Hoosier SAFE-T system. Examples include: MECA; City of Ft. Wayne; City of Evansville/Vanderburgh County.
15) Simulcast Cluster
A group of radio frequency (RF) sites that function as a single site in transmit and receive.
16) Site
Radio tower/stations, also known as an Intelerepeater (IR) Site

ACRONYMS (in alphabetical order from IPSC)



AVL Automatic Vehicle Locator

APCO Associated Public Safety Communications Officials

BLS Basic Life Support

CEB Central Electronics Bank

CTCSS Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System

DIU Digital Interface Unit

DTMF Dual Tone Multiple frequency

EMS Emergency Medical Services

EMRS Emergency Medical Radio Service

FCC Federal Communications Commission

ICALL International 800 MHz Calling Channel

IPSC Integrated Public Safety Commission

ITAC International 800 MHz Tactical Channels

MHz Megahertz

NAEMSD National Assn. of State EMS Directors

NPSPAC National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee

PHS Project Hoosier SAFE-T

PSAP Public Safety Answering Point

PSWN Public Safety Wireless Network (National)

PTT Push to talk, i.e., talk button

RF Radio Frequency

RSS Radio Service Software

SAFE-T Safety Acting For Everyone - Together

UHF Ultra High Frequency

VHF Very High Frequency

Interoperability Talkgroups (IPSC)



IPSC Section

  1. Background

One of the most significant benefits of Project Hoosier SAFE-T is the ability for multiple agencies to coordinate their efforts via a shared communications system. Agencies that need to communicate may do so on each other’s talkgroups or may use the interoperability talkgroups that are created by IPSC. In order to enable agencies to quickly and easily communicate, IPSC has developed policies for use of interoperability talkgroups.

  1. Capabilities

(g)Three interoperability talkgroups will be assigned in each of 17 regions.

(h)The talkgroups and regions are described in section ((k).



  1. Constraints

(i)A separate radio ID is required for each talkgroup that is monitored on each wireline console. If all three interoperability talkgroups are monitored in a region on a single wireline console, three radio IDs will be required. If all three interoperability talkgroups are monitored in a region on 5 wireline consoles, 15 radio IDs will be required.

(j)If possible, in order to avoid conflicts, interoperability talkgroups should be reserved from the assigning agency prior to use.



  1. Recommendations

(k)Three (3) mutual aid talk groups will be assigned to each region. Wide area mutual aid/special event talkgroups will be shared by all public safety agencies. Coordination will be provided by the local state police district communications facility.

(l)In order to facilitate interoperability and eliminate duplication of special use talkgroups, three talkgroups will be dedicated to interoperability and general use in each of the following regions:







Region A

Region B

Region C

Region D

Region E

Region F

Jasper

Lake


LaPorte

Newton


Porter

Pulaski


Starke


Elkhart

Kosciusko

Marshall

St. Joseph



Adams

Allen


Dekalb

Huntington

LaGrange

Noble


Steuben

Wells


Whitley

Benton

Carroll


Clinton

Fountain


Montgomery

Tippecanoe

Warren

White


Cass

Fulton


Howard

Miami


Tipton

Wabash


Blackford

Delaware


Grant

Jay


Randolph

A_MA1

A_MA2


A_MA3

B_MA1

B_MA2


B_MA3

C_MA1

C_MA2


C_MA3

D_MA1

D_MA2


D_MA3

E_MA1

E_MA2


E_MA3

F_MA1

F_MA2


F_MA3

Assigning Agency

ISP District #13

(219) 696-6242


Assigning Agency

ISP District #24

(219) 546-4900


Assigning Agency

ISP District #22

(219) 432-8661


Assigning Agency

ISP District #14

(765) 463-1515


Assigning Agency

ISP District #16

(765) 473-6666


Assigning Agency

ISP District #25

(765) 369-2561


Region G

Region H

Region I

Region J

Region K

Region L

Hamilton

Hancock


Madison

Clay

Parke


Sullivan

Vermillon

Vigo


Hendricks

Morgan


Putnam

Boone

Johnson


Marion

Shelby


Fayette

Franklin


Henry

Rush


Union

Wayne


Brown

Greene


Lawrence

Monroe


Owen

G_MA1

G_MA2


G_MA3

H_MA1

H_MA2


H_MA3

I_MA1

I_MA2


I_MA3

J_MA1

J_MA2


J_MA3

K_MA1

K_MA2


K_MA3

L_MA1

L_MA2


L_MA3

Assigning Agency

ISP District #51

(765) 778-2121


Assigning Agency

ISP District #54

(812)299 1151


Assigning Agency

ISP District #53

(765) 653-4114


Assigning Agency

ISP District #52

(317) 897-6220


Assigning Agency

ISP District #55

(765) 825-2115


Assigning Agency

ISP District #33

(812) 332-4411


Region M

Region N

Region O

Region P

Region Q




Bartholomew

Jackson


Jennings

Dearborn

Decatur


Jefferson

Ohio


Ripley

Switzerland



Gibson

Knox


Pike

Posey


Vanderburgh

Warrick


Crawford

Daviess


Dubois

Martin


Orange

Perry


Spencer

Clark

Floyd


Harrison

Scott


Washington




M_MA1

M_MA2


M_MA3

N_MA1

N_MA2


N_MA3

O_MA1

O_MA2


O_MA3

P_MA1

P_MA2


P_MA3

Q_MA1

Q_MA2


Q_MA3




Assigning Agency

ISP District #43

(812) 522-1441


Assigning Agency

ISP District #42

(812) 689-5000


Assigning Agency

ISP District #35

(812) 425-2266


Assigning Agency

ISP District #34

(812) 482-1441


Assigning Agency

ISP District #45

(812) 246-5424




(m)The ISP districts listed above will reserve talkgroups in each of the regions.

(n)In addition to the regional talkgroups, there will be 10 statewide interoperability talkgroups available for use as follows:


Statewide

SW_MA1

SW_ MA2

SW_ MA3

SW_ MA4

SW_ MA5

SW_ MA6

SW_ MA7

SW_ MA8

SW_ MA9

SW_ MA10

Assigning Agency

ISP Operations

(317) 232-8248

(o)If all regional talkgroups are in use, the statewide interoperability talkgroups may be used on a regional basis. The ISP districts can assist with the assignment of statewide talkgroups.


EMS-Hospital (IPSC)


    1) Background

One of the most significant benefits of Project Hoosier SAFE-T is the ability for multiple agencies to coordinate their efforts via a shared communications system. Agencies that need to communicate may do so by programming talkgroups from various agencies into their respective radios, or by using the regional and statewide interoperability talkgroups established by IPSC. In order to enable agencies to quickly and easily communicate, IPSC has developed policies governing the use of interoperability talkgroups.

    2) Capabilities/Constraints

    1. Three analog Emergency Medical Services/Hospital interoperability talkgroups for each of the four (4) zones.

    2. Analog talkgroups and zones are described in section ((k).

    3. The use of analog talkgroups is recommended for support of users having only analog radios.

    4. The EMS/HOSPITAL interoperability talkgroups are to be reserved for the exchange of patient transfer and medical information between the transport vehicle(s) and the hospital(s).

    3) Recommendations

  1. Three (3) EMS/HOSPITAL talkgroups established for each of the four (4) zones in the state. One talkgroup will be designated as a dispatch talkgroup in each of the four zones. Hospitals, located in each of the zones are requested to monitor this talk. The other two (2) talkgroups will be assigned as operations talkgroups. Transport vehicles and the hospital are requested to move to an available “operations talkgroup” once initial communications have been established on the “dispatch talkgroup”.

  2. The following EMS/Hospital regional talkgroup names are established for use as described above: NO_Disp, NO_Ops1, NO_Ops2 for the northern zone; CE_Disp, CE_Ops1, and CE_Ops2 for the central zone; SE_Disp, SE_Ops1 and SE_Ops2 for the southeast zone; and, SW_Disp, SW_Ops1 and SW_Ops2 for the southwest zone.

Counties assigned to the various zones are as follows:

NO--Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Starke, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, DeKalb, Whitley, Allen, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Benton, White, Warren, Tippecanoe, Carroll, Fountain, Montgomery, Clinton, Fulton, Cass, Miami, Wabash, Howard and Tipton

CE--Vermillion, Parke, Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Putnam, Hendricks, Morgan, Boone, Marion, Johnson, Shelby, Hamilton, Madison, Hancock, Grant, Blackford, Jay, Delaware, Randolph, Henry, Wayne, Rush, Fayette, Union and Franklin

SE--Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings, Decatur, Ripley, Dearborn, Ohio, Jefferson, Switzerland, Washington, Scott, Clark, Harrison and Floyd

SW--Owen, Monroe, Brown, Greene, Lawrence, Knox, Gibson, Pike, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Daviess, Martin, Orange, Dubois, Crawford, Spencer and Perry

OFF DUTY ACTION (CALEA: 41.1.1, 41.3.3)

Off-duty respondents operating a departmental vehicle shall monitor the communications system and take appropriate action to offenses/occurrences that occur in his/her presence or request for assistance from other officers.


Appropriate action is that which is both necessary, considering the totality of the circumstances and within his/her ability to handle at the time (i.e. availability of weapon, radio communication, physical condition). At a minimum, an off-duty law enforcement officer shall brief on-duty officers of pertinent information (i.e. license number, descriptions, circumstances).
Appendices:
Washington County
Primary POC: Claude C. Combs, Sheriff Alternate POC: Tim Peace, 1st LT.

812.620.2324 – cell 812.620.0834 - cell

812.883.5999 – office 812.883.5999 – office

Washington County; Cities and Towns


  • Campbellsburg, Fredericksburg, Hardinsburg, Little York, Pekin, Salem, Saltillo


Local operating procedures to support interoperability

Washington County has one primary dispatch/EOC 9-1-1 center located in the Southern portion of Salem in the central part of the County. A second limited dispatch location for the Salem Police Department is located at the Southeast corner of the Public Square in City center.


The primary band for dispatch of personnel is VHF; UHF (800) is typically a secondary system, unless directed otherwise by the Sheriff or EMA and only then for operational necessity. This is due to local geography and terrain.
The primary dispatch/EOC has a state of the art, multifunction display, touch screen controlled TELEX console system with integrated GIS and AVL capability. Up to 4 simultaneous soft (manual) patches are possible. Soft (manual) patches are easy to use and could be extremely dangerous for participating units in the field. Just as a soft patch resource is easy to obligate, it can be inadvertently de-obligated without the knowledge of any of the participating units. It is for this reason alone that soft patches MUST be authorized by the Unit in Charge and then only under the following conditions:


  • Any VHF/UHF (800) or (800) UHF/VHF may be soft patched within the system.




  • Under NO circumstance will UHF to UHF links be established. This is due to loading issues related to the capacity of the system




  • All patch approvals will be notated in the Communication Written log




  • All patches created will be notated in the Communications Written log




  • All units participating will be listed in CAPITAL letters in the written communications log




  • A physical sign will be posted for EACH soft patch created and posted in a conspicuous place until the soft patch is terminated. This will be completed without exception.




  • Upon closing a soft patch EACH unit reporting into a patch will be checked and acknowledged from the soft patch. This will be completed and notated on the written communications log without exception.


Agency Participation
Primary dispatch operations occur under the WQF450 call sign as issued by the FCC. Agencies that participate in this system include, but are not limited to:
Washington County Sheriff Department

Campbellsburg Town Marshalls

Pekin Town Marshalls

All Washington County Fire Departments

Washington County EMS/Ambulance Service

Washington County Prosecutors Office

Washington County Probation Department

Washington County Animal Control

Washington County Highway Department – Supervisors Only

Washington County Health Department – UHF (800 MHz) Only


With regard to VHF; these systems are separate, stand alone repeaters and are segregated by using agency.
Alternate dispatch participants, include but are not limited to:
Salem City Police

City of Salem Animal Control



Salem Street Department and Services
Each agency also has access through mobile and portable radio to the Project SAF-T Statewide 800 MHz system. Practices/Policies for interoperability options are outlined for these units below:
Region “M”, “Q”, & “P” – Regional Mutual Aid Procedures
PURPOSE
To establish regional suggested polices for utilization of the mutual aid resources available on the Project Hoosier SAFE-T 800MHz trunked radio system.


  • Utilization of a regional and/or statewide (with ISP coordination) mutual aid talk group will be at the discretion of the unit in charge that is involved in the incident.




  • The regional Q-MA-1 talk group will be utilized for call or dispatch of high priority radio traffic.




  • The dispatch center shall actively and continually monitor the regional Q-MA-1 talk group.




  • If an incident remains fluid and will not last longer than a few minutes, the traffic can remain on the Q-MA-1 talk group. Incidents that become static or may last longer than a few minutes shall be moved to another regional mutual aid talk group (i.e. Q-MA2 or Q-MA3). Incidents that are utilizing resources, or will be utilizing resources from outside of this region, shall be moved to a statewide mutual aid talk group (i.e. SW-MA1, SW-MA2, etc.) or communication systems as may be strategically needed within a given incident.




  • The NPSPAC (national) 800MHz frequencies are utilized for communications between disparate systems (i.e. a radio on Hoosier SAFE-T can talk to a radio on Ohio MARCS system and NPSPAC can be used as an interoperable to reduce frequency congestion.) The NPSPAC conventional repeaters and simplex frequencies may be used:




                • The simplex (direct) mode is for communications between radios at an incident without utilizing the trunked radio system sites, approximate range is 4 SM.




                • In repeater mode, by having the dispatchers at the State Police Post activate the repeater. For this region, NPS-CALL, NPS-TAC3 and NPS-TAC4 are available for use through a repeater at the State Police Post.




  • According to IPSC policy, regional mutual aid talk groups may be “reserved” by an agency for temporary use for a specific event, with coordination by the specific State Police district communications facility. The State Police will act as a “clearinghouse” for the reservations. It is agreed upon by the regional group that if a regional mutual aid talk group (i.e. Q-MA2 or Q-MA3) has be “reserved” by an agency for a specific event, the State Police will notify all police departments, sheriff’s departments, and dispatch centers throughout the region by fax of this request, in order to eliminate a jurisdiction attempting to utilize that talk group for a long-term event, if it has been previously reserved.




  • A regional emergency will not be routinely dispatched unless an incident utilizing a mutual aid talk group warrants such.


Download 93.25 Kb.

Share with your friends:




The database is protected by copyright ©ua.originaldll.com 2024
send message

    Main page