TN 104.3.1- IMS Communications

Effective Communications in Emergency Incidents

• Effective communication is vital at an emergency incident and is a basic Command function to initiate, maintain, and control the communication process.
• Communication is the link between task level activities, the Incident Commander (IC), and other personnel in the Incident Management System.

Communication Types

• There are two main forms of communication at an emergency incident: Face to Face and Radio.
• Face to Face communication reduces radio communications and frees up the channel, and should be used when possible, especially when:
  • The IC wishes to speak with personnel within their immediate span of control.
  • Designated personnel are speaking with personnel within their span of control.
• Radio communication is the most common means of communication and allows everyone to be part of the communication process, and should be used when:
  • Face to face communication is not practical.
  • Communication is needed with multiple personnel.
  • When communicating Benchmarks to Command or Toronto Fire.

Assignment of Additional Radio Channels

• The assignment of radio channels is a decision made by Toronto Fire after the IC has requested a new channel.
• Reasons for allocating separate radio channels include:
  • Reducing non-emergency scene (operations) radio traffic.
  • Managing specialized incidents (e.g. Hazmat) or large/complex incidents.
  • Maintaining a span of control over radio traffic for the IC, Section, Branch, or Sector Officer to manage their Incident Action Plan responsibilities.

Monitoring of Radio Communications

• It is the responsibility of the Fireground Incident Technician (FIT) or other assigned Command Post personnel to monitor all radio communications pertinent to the emergency incident.
• Monitoring includes relaying information or requests for assistance from sectors not assigned to the main (operations) radio channel to the IC.
• Monitored information may need to be relayed to personnel updating the tactical boards.

Radio Identifiers

• Radio identifiers are used to identify teams operating at an emergency incident, teams entering a controlled area, and/or those relieving interior teams.
• The IC determines the radio identifiers to be utilized by personnel at the incident, using the portable radio identifier as the communications identifier for teams.
• Examples of radio identifiers include:
  • Portable radio identifier (e.g. Pumper 224 Crew).
  • Radio alias per tactical objective or geographical area (e.g. Fire Attack Sector, Roof Sector).
• Reasons for using portable radio identifiers include:
  • Emergency Call Button (Orange Button) functionality.
  • Familiarity and ease of identification of radio transmissions.
• It is essential that Entry Control correctly logs every portable radio identifier/alias of every portable operating at an emergency incident.