WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
OFM curriculum – Communications
Component - 1
Section - 27
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
Lesson Plan – 2012-27 Communications
Prepared by- T.O karn
Preparation date – Jan 2012
SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS
 Transmissions may be garbled if microphone is held incorrectly
 Do not touch radio antenna when transmitting messages
 Always ensure you receive an acknowledgement
LEARNING OUTCOME(S): The learner will demonstrate knowledge of:
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firefighter and IC roles / responsibilities
emergency call management
Information requirements
Enhance / Understand effective communication skills
Examine communication failures
Radio system / procedures
Communication benchmarks
INTRODUCTION:
ESTIMATED TIME:
The importance of clear and concise information cannot be overstated. There have been numerous
instances where poor communications have resulted in fire fighter injury and death.
APPLICABLE SECTION 21 GUIDANCE NOTES & SAFETY NOTE
Remember as the T/F you are a supervisor for this work period and will observe and enforce
all appropriate health and safety measures for you lesson participants.
Guidance Note name / NFPA Std’s / Dept. SOG’s
GN #2-1 Incident Command
GN #2-2 The Buddy System
GN #2-3 Radio Communications
GN #2-4 Incident safety Officer
Be sure to add in any of your dept. SOG’s that apply
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WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
PRESENTATION
ESTIMATED TIME:
LESSON OUTLINE
TEACHING AIDS
QUESTION:
“What is the purpose of communications relating to emergency
response?”
Answers should include: facilitate information, send and receive
information, organize information
What causes communications to break down on the fire
ground?
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Lack of training
Lack of experience
Ineffective application of training
Equipment malfunctions / limitations
Inappropriate / inconsistent terminology
Human elements – perception, confusion, performance
Perception – do you know what you are doing?, does your
crew know what you are doing, does your crew know what
they are doing?
Communication benchmarks / identifiers
Identifiers:
 Alpha
 Bravo
 Charlie
 Delta
These identifiers are used to distinguish sides of a structure.
Generally the IC will be at the “A” or alpha side of the building. The
remaining sides are automatically named moving around the
structure in a clockwise manner. This system is very easy to
implement and avoids confusion when sending and receiving info.
from sector officers or crews. Using this method is more desirable
than naming the sides “north, south, east, west” due to the fact
each person may have a different opinion or perspective on where
“north” is located as an example.
Benchmarks:
 “Primary search 1st floor complete”….”2nd floor complete”…
 From IC – “all clear primary search at 123 main st.”
 “secondary search complete 1st floor….2nd floor complete…
 “applying water”
 “fire under control”
 “loss stop”
 Accountability PAR checks – “fire attack 1 has PAR 3 2nd
floor”
Page 2
Have the ff’s discuss and list
answers to the question prior
to showing the list
Be sure to stress the
importance of trying to include
these identifiers in radio
communications on the
fireground
Important that all ff’s
understand that it is necessary
to have these benchmarks
broadcast over the radio.
Dispatch should be listening
and taking notes with times.
WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
Other may include;
 “water supply established”
 RIT team established”
 Crews “on-air” entering bldg.
 Are there any other that may be important?
Initial radio reports
 refer to information sheets provided regarding techniques for
talking on the radio. Discussion points should include rate of
speed when talking, pitch, and mic position
 discuss the use of the phonetic alphabet
Acknowledging the alarm:
 Contact Guelph Dispatch via radio
 Ask to have the details and address of the call repeated
 Confirm that the station is responding
Responding to the alarm
 State your unit # (pump 1 responding)
 Where you are responding to – (dispatch will hear to ensure
you are going to the correct location)
 What you are responding to (fire, medical, mvc….etc)
 How many on board – lets the IC know what the manpower
status is (may need to call other dept’s for support)
Example:
“station___ pump 1 responding to 123 main st. reported car fire we
have 4 on board”
Effective communications should include the use of the “ECHO “
technique. This technique is having the receiver of the info briefly
repeat what the sender has said.
eg: Pump 1 responding 123 main st, reported car fire, 4 on
board…..roger, pump 1 responding 123 main st with 4”
Arrival on scene – Things to include
 Your unit and address you are at
“pump 1 has arrived at 123 main st”
 Assume command
 Brief description of bldg. or incident
 Obvious conditions
 Exposures
 Actions being taken
 Command mode (mobile, stationary location)
 Location of command
 Initial tasks required – “pump 2 catch a hydrant”
The overall goal is to paint a picture of the scene for incoming units
and dispatch.
Page 3
See if any ff’s can list off the
phonetic alphabet. Useful
during haz-mat situations.
Canutec will require that you
spell out chemical names
using this method
WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
An easy way to remember the things you need to include in your
initial on-scene radio report.
 Where am I
 What have I got
 Where is it going
 What am I going to do about it
“station_____ ,pump 1 has arrived at 123 main st, we have a 2
storey detached home, smoke and fire showing 2nd floor window,
appears to be a working fire, pump 1 capt. will be main st
command, stand-by for update….(do a 360 of the bldg if you
can)…dispatch this is main st command, this appears to be a 2nd
floor bedroom fire, pump 1 crew will be entering for an offensive
attack, command will be located on the alpha side of the structure.
A clear and concise report is
invaluable for incoming units
and dispatch.
This report paints the picture and answers the 4 bullet points above
Exercise #1
Have Officers and FF’s practice initial on-scene radio reports while
looking at the 4 different pictures in the slide show.
Communicating a mayday / evacuation
Mayday
 Over the radio – “mayday, mayday. Mayday”
 All non–emergency radio traffic to stop
 Unit calling the mayday needs to communicate to IC using
“LUNAR”
 “L” ocation (your location inside the structure)
 “U”nit or sector identification (eg:fire attack 1)
 “N”ame
 “A”ctions you are taking to get yourself out or actions the RIT
team needs to take
 “R”esources you require (eg: “require air, cylinder at
200psi”….”trapped in basement, require ladder”….etc)
*IMPORTANT* sectors not involved in the rescue must continue
with their assigned tasks.
Evacuation:
 Over the radio – “urgent, urgent, urgent” this lets everyone
know there is a very important message about to be
transmitted
 Over the radio – all units inside the structure “evacuate,
evacuate, evacuate”
Message’s of importance are always transmitted 3 times
Page 4
Play the Listowel fire clip and
listen for the air horns trying to
alert the interior crews to
evacuate the bldg.
WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
Alternate method of alerting crews to evacuate the interior of a
structure is 3 consecutive blasts from the truck air horn
SUMMARY:
TEACHING AIDS
This lesson was designed to explain the importance of brief yet
thorough information reports. Always remember that someone else
may need to relay a life and death message’s including maydays
and evacuations to others on the fire ground.
Always remember to be clear and concise, remain professional, and
utilize effective radio communication procedures at all times during
emergency and non-emergency situations.
APPLICATION & TEST:
ESTIMATED TIME:
ASSIGNMENT:
Exercise #2
Divide the FF’s into groups (minimum 4 per group). Further divide each group into pairs. First pair will
have a block structure built in front of them, 2nd pair will have a loose pile of blocks. Over the radio
the 1st pair must tell the 2nd pair how to build the structure. Have each pair from the groups in
separate areas so each one doesn’t see the other. Once the groups begin to build offer suggestions
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WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
to each pair on ways to communicate more effectively. Remind them to use things like alpha, bravo,
Charlie, and delta to orient the structures.
REFERENCE MATERIALS:
TRAINING AIDS REQUIRED:
INFORMATION SHEET # 1 SECTION: COMMUNICATIONS
RADIO TELEPHONE PROCEDURE
FOR MUNICIPAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN ONTARIO
Section 1 - INTRODUCTION
201. Transmitting Techniques
a)
The efficient use of radio/telephone depends greatly on the clarity of the speech
of the operator. As the distinctive sounds of consonants are liable to become
blurred in transmission of speech, words of similar length containing the same
vowel sounds are apt to sound alike. Special care is therefore necessary in
pronunciation.
b)
Speak all words plainly and end each word clearly, to avoid the running together
of consecutive words. Avoid any tendency to shout, to accent syllables
artificially, or to talk too rapidly. The following points should be kept in mind:
(1)
Speed - Keep the rate of speech constant, neither too fast nor too slow.
Remember that the operator receiving your message probably has to
write it down.
(2)
Pitch - Remember that high-pitched voices transmit better than low-pitched
voices.
Rhythm - Preserve the rhythm of ordinary conversation. To make sure
that words are clearly separated, avoid the introduction of such
unnecessary sounds as “er” and “um”.
Microphone Position - Maintain the correct distance between the mouth and
the microphone at all times. Usually, the lips of the operator
should be between one and two inches from the
microphone.
(3)
(4)
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WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
2012-27 LESSON PLAN
202. Spelling
The words to the spelling alphabet, which follow, should be learned thoroughly so
that, whenever isolated letters or groups of letters are pronounced separately, or
when communication is difficult; the alphabet can be easily and fluently used.
INFORMATION SHEET # 1 (continued) SECTION: COMMUNICATIONS
RADIOTELEPHONE PROCEDURE
202. Spelling (continued)
A
ALFA
B
BRAVO
C
CHARLIE
D
DELTA
E
ECHO
F
FOXTROT
G
GOLF
H
HOTEL
I
INDIA
J
JULIET
K
KILO
L
LIMA
M
MIKE
Example:
N
NOVEMBER
O
OSCAR
P
PAPA
Q
QUEBEC
R
ROMEO
S
SIERRA
T
U
TANGO
UNIFORM
V
VICTOR
W
WHISKEY
X
Y
X-RAY
YANKEE
Z
ZULU
When using the spelling alphabet, the word “EUREKA” would be spoken as ECHO
UNIFORM ROMEO ECHO KILO ALFA.
203. Numbers
a.
All numbers except whole thousands should be
transmitted by pronouncing each digit separately.
Whole thousands should be transmitted by
pronouncing each digit in the number of
thousands, followed by the word “thousand”.
Example Number:
Transmitted as:
10
75
One Zero
Seven Five
100
One Zero Zero
583
Five Eight Three
5000
5800
Five Thousand
Five Eight Zero Zero
11000
One One Thousand
25000
Two Five Thousand
38143
Three Eight One Four Three
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WELLINGTON COUNTY FIRE TRAINING
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2012-27 LESSON PLAN