London Scanner

I was wondering why I hear the sirens for fire calls before i hear the actual call. It seems that it is on some type of delay on this site.

Are you referring to hearing sirens in your neighbourhood, or what seems like sirens through this website before the dispatch?

yes

Ummm, yes to which option?

I think patches4 lives near a fire station. There is a 10 - 30 second delay as the scanner has to go thru the internet. Nothing can be done about this.

Also, you do hear sirens as the dispatcher is talking because some of them are in the actual fire stations if not all of the stations.

There is also a significant delay, sometimes 5 minutes or more, between an ambulance with sirens on in the area for a medical call, and a fire vehicle being dispatched to the same call.

That is between the EMS dispatchers and the fire dispatchers calling each other. EMS might get the call first, then as soon as they get the chance (after dispatching their units) they will call the fire department.

I am not exactly how the 911 system works and who answers the calls. I believe most of the dispatchers get an emergency call on their computer screen.

The way I understand it, on the EMS side there are two positions involved, 'call-takers' and 'dispatchers'. When the call-taker has enough basic info, the information is sent to the computer screen of the dispatcher, who sends the ambulance on it's way. When the call-taker has finished questioning the 911 caller for all other details... sometimes a significant amount of time later; the call-taker calls fire dispatch to start their trucks on the way. It's a very political arrangement, that isn't necessarily in the patients best interest.

As for the fire-ems delay, its done by direct line between the two centres. CACC in Hyde Park, and Fire Dispatch at headquarters (station 1). What adds to this delay, is that dispatching fire is not always automatic, sometimes the paramedics request it on route, sometimes they don't realize they require help with a lift until they are on scene. as candusilver mentioned there is a complicated arrangement on the EMS end. although its caused more by the fact that once ems has a call, even if they had called fire dispatch right away, the fact remains that the 2 paramedics are likely already in their rig and able to get going right away. as soon as fire receives the call, its processed by the CAD system, then the stations are notified, then 4 people have to drop what the are doing, get their stuff, get in the truck and go. its an inherent delay that really cant be avoided.

You hear sirens in the fire dispatches, (assuming you aren't talking about the warble tone (BEE-DOO-BEE-DOO-BEE-DOO)) because as a piece of apparatus books on Code 4, they are actually Code 4 (the siren is on). The other cause is that all fire calls are dispatched at headquarters on Horton street, with 3 front-line apparatus in the station that run a lot of calls, Car 1 is by default on half (for arguments sake i'll say half) of all calls requiring a command car (Rescues, Structures, Monitor Alarms, and the like). so if there is a dispatch and they get the printout before the call is finished going over the air, you may hear them already on the way in the background. The other cause may be EMS or police just going by on Horton or Clarence by coincidence. (it IS downtown after all)

If anybody is interested i'd be willing to explain how the 911 system works.

Good explanation. I would love to hear how the 911 system works.

the 911 system in London is an E911 system, long story short this means your address or other location information is attached when you call.

when you dial 9-1-1, it goes to the PSAP (public safety answering point) which in London's case is police headquarters. at this point the operator will answer 'Police, Fire, Ambulance'

If you answer 'Police' the operator will then proceed to follow through with their questions as to what the emergency is and assign an appropriate response.

If you answer 'Fire' the operator will transfer your call and remain on the line. the fire dispatcher will take your information and input it into the CAD system (computer assisted dispatch) which will assigns vehicles to various roles (RIT, Rescue, 1st engine, 2nd engine, Command, etc). this is then issued on a printout to all stations and the tones go over the air and 'Wake-up' the radios in the stations for dispatch, turn the overhead lights on, shut off appliances (not sure if LFD has this or not, some areas do). The FF's then proceed to the truck, the senior officer grabs the printout, and they are on the way.

if you answer 'Ambulance' you are transferred to the nearest CACC, in London's case, the one in Hyde Park. the police operator will again remain on the line. you then talk to the 'Call-Taker' who follows a standard flow chart depending on chief complaint, and followup questions. if the issue is severe enough they will 'Pre-alert' a EMS crew, with follow up information to come. if that is not required, the crew will receive all the information at once.

In each case the police operator stays on the line and determines whether police attendance is required. all assists for fire from EMS, and vice versa go through a direct phone line between the two centres.

Quite impressive those systems are! Does anyone know if any of the services offer tours of their respective dispatch centre (or 911 centre)?

I'd also love to hear how the behind-the-scenes stuff works!

Edit: oops, didn't see 2nd page! Thanks for the explanation!

Rogers "On Patrol" show they did with London police did a bit on the LPS comms centre and briefly explained all that. I know Fire and EMS offer station tours but I'm not sure about comms. If you were to call and ask I think fire would be the better bet as its run by the service, whereas the CACC is run by MOH. I have my doubts however as you'd be privy to some higher up stuff and possibly peoples personal information. The police would be a no-go I'm fairly sure. There have been some pretty cool shows on discovery and such that are very informative about other jurisdictions. If I find some I will post links.

I've seen a lot of those shows, and there are some on Youtube that offer "tours". I was just hopeful about the local services, just because it's "home". I'll see if I can get some info on it, and let everyone know if they offer such tours.

I contacted CACC and LFD. Neither offer tours. CACC because of patient confidentiality issues, and LFD limits it for college students enrolled in Fire-related programs. Having received 'no's' from both of those, I would assume that LPS wouldn't allow it.

Watching the lfd crews scramble in the station to the trucks then exit the station for a call is a dramatic part of any tour.