14 December 2006

Savannah Chatham Metro Fire Dispatch Changes?

Over the last two days, I've noticed something different about how Savannah-Chatham Metro Dispatch has been dispatching the municipal fire departments. In the past, Bloomingdale, Garden City, Isle of Hope, Port Wentworth, and Thunderbolt Fire Departments were dispatched over talkgroup 3568 of the Chatham-Effingham TRS with Dispatch being multicast on the 154.385 repeater. Pooler Fire Deapartment was dispatched on talkgroup 5424 with Dispatch multicast on the 154.145 repeater. During several incidents today, I heard Garden City Fire Department and Pooler Fire Department dispatched on talkgroup 5424 with all traffic but dispatch tones (both Metro and the fire units) multicast on the 154.385 repeater. I'm not sure how long this has been in effect, but it bears watching.

Additionally, I have noticed that Metro Dispatch has been patching the Fire Dispatch talkgroup and the EMS Dispatch talkgroup together during complicated incidents so that the fire departments/first responders and EMS units (particularly Med Star) could communicate easier.