View Single Post
Posts: 121 | Thanked: 292 times | Joined on Mar 2016
#42
Originally Posted by biketool View Post
To dodge into a different direction may I ask what bulky analog device you have for callouts? Are people still using Motorola Minotaur and Minotaur IIs?(edit, damn they are up to the Minotaur 6, now as big as a little '90s belt pager now but still voice paging.)
I was a paid guy and finished as an officer and EMT-P but ended up taking the tech telated topics during my 8-5 work hours, though we were still doing in the VHF in rural western US when I medical'ed out.
I am also an amateur radio guy so hacking a VHF receiver with tone controls back then was cake though we also had commercial UHF POCSAG pagers with priority so they all beeped about 1-2 sec after the tones came over the VHF dispatch channel.
Not sure what your dispatch's setup looks like.

Big life altering advice for all first responders.
Lift properly, ask for help(hard for young guys, especially young volunteers), protect your spine, stairways with a patient on the cot and you are the backwards guy will get you; the damage you do might put you away fast or might just get worse over time; it is what ended my career.
Also remember that car drivers are what kill by far the most first responders and that people get lax at training events in a way they never would on a real call(hours of repeated extinguish/relight burn to learns especially).
Pass this on to the young guys at your department and wherever you end up doing teaching.
We use these: https://www.funkhandel.com/Swissphone-Quattro-XLi. To be phased our for ages- we're supposed to get shiny new digital devices. I was told so already when i joined the force though. And it still is just planned. I guess i'm not supposed to play around with my receiver. And being a lawyer (and therefore not that technically gifted) i probably shouldn't. And i wouldn't get the permission anyway. I'm unfortunately the one that told them not to give such a permission ever since it's forbidden here in Germany.

As for your advice: Being already older, i did tell the young ones how to lift properly and why it's important. They don't care much. We do have a routine how to work safely with car traffic around. And it's rigorously enforced. There's one team on each engine which is responsible for the safety of those on that engine.
 

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Veraendert For This Useful Post: