Communications

Fire Communications is usually the first contact between the public and the Fire Department. Truly the nerve center of the department, this is where calls for emergency assistance or service are received from the public and information is transmitted to the appropriate units or stations. Fire Communications manages and allocates the fire and rescue resources of the department, insuring that the proper equipment is dispatched in a quick, efficient, and professional manner.

Another role of Fire Communications is to provide support to field operations personnel, other agencies and the general public in carrying out many routine, business and non-emergency tasks. Communications is now part of a consolidated 911 multi-agency call center. Emergency calls are received at the 911 Center and dispatched by Fire, Police or EMS.

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Get to safety and dial 9-1-1.

Listen carefully to the call taker and answer all questions. It is important that the proper information is received.

Stay calm and speak clearly.

Tell the dispatcher what’s on fire or what you see: house, auto, fire, smoke.

Give the dispatcher the location of the fire as clearly as possible: street address, two intersecting streets, direction on interstates, landmarks, etc.

Give your name and phone number to the dispatcher when requested: providing this information will not slow down the dispatch of responding units, but may be needed for further information while the units are in route.

Inform the dispatcher of other important information: if applicable, name and type of business, number of floors in building, room or apartment number, any hazards involved, are there any dogs on the property?

All of the above will expedite the dispatch and arrival of fire units to the scene of a fire or emergency

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Communications Projects

CAD

Fire Communications uses an Enhanced Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD) for call taking and dispatch. The system is designed to provide immediate and accurate information to process emergency calls. Upgrades are managed by CAD technicians to assure that dispatchers have the latest technology for processing calls. CAD also allows enhancements for better data tracking, reports, mapping, pictometry, and data exchanges among Public Safety Agencies (Fire, Police, and EMS).

700 MHZ Radio System

Following Hurricane Katrina the city of New Orleans along with the adjacent Parishes (Jefferson, St Bernard, Plaquemines, and Kenner) became part of the Region 1 700 MHZ Motorola Radio System. This system allows each parish the ability to talk to the surrounding parishes on one common radio system. It also gives the users the capability to speak on channels throughout the entire state. This radio system is still a work in progress. However, it has the capability to solve many of the state’s interoperability issues.

NOMIC Project

Fire Communications maintains the New Orleans Maritime Interoperability Committee (NOMIC) Switch. NOMIC was established in the early 2000’s as a communications interoperability tool and it is still used today. The NOMIC Switch allows the capability to patch together normally incompatible radio systems so that various responding agencies may communicate when working an incident. With the installation of the 700MHZ radio system statewide, interoperability issues diminished somewhat, because more users were using a common radio system. However, the biggest need for NOMIC appears when communications is needed between the federal and local agencies. Federal agencies depend upon VHF digital technology, while the local agencies rely on 700MHZ technologies. The NOMIC Switch still provides the interface for communications between the local and federal agencies. .