Ever wonder what the numbers mean on the side of fire trucks and ambulances? Putnam County has a naming convention for each department and each type of truck. The first two digits of the number signify the agency. The third digit of the number signifies the type of apparatus. The fourth digit of the number signifies the unit number within the local agency. Example: 17-4-1 means, Lake Carmel Fire Department's tanker, number one.

First Two Digits - Agency 11 Brewster Fire Dept. 12 Carmel Fire Dept. 13 Cold Spring Fire Dept. 14 Continental Village Fire Dept. 15 Garrison Fire Dept. 16 Kent Fire Dept. 17 Lake Carmel Fire Dept. 18 Mahopac Fire Dept. 19 Mahopac Falls Fire Dept. 21 North Highlands Fire Dept. 22 Patterson Fire Dept. 23 Putnam Lake Fire Dept. 24 Putnam Valley Fire Dept. 31 Carmel Ambulance Corps 32 Garrison Ambulance Corps 33 Philipstown Ambulance Corps 34 Putnam Valley Ambulance Corps

Middle Digit - Type 1 Chief Vehicle 2 Pumper 3 Brush Truck or Mini-Pumper 4 Tanker 5 Aerial Apparatus 6 Rescue Vehicles 7 EMS Vehicles 8 Miscellaneous Vehicles/FP/Hose 9 Portable Radio Empire Medics will be identified as: Medic 1 West side / Phillipstown Unit Medic 2 Putnam Valley Unit / Central Medic 3 Carmel / Mahopac / Mahopac Falls/Kent Medic 4 Brewster/Carmel/Patterson/Kent

Radio Frequencies

Channel 1		46.38	Dispatch
Channel 2		46.50	Fireground 1
Channel 3		46.30	Fireground 2
Channel 4		46.04	Fireground 3
Channel 5		46.44	(Recieve)Putnam 911 to Mobile
		46.54	(Transmit) Mobile to Putnam 911
Channel 6		46.44	(Transmit & Recieve) Mobile to Mobile
Channel 7		46.10	Fireground 7 (Stat Flight/Life Net) Landing Zone Channel
Channel 13		46.54	(Recieve only) Monitor Mobile talking to Putnam 911

Some Radio Etiquette

• Listen on the channel for a bit before transmitting; you wouldn't want to cut in in the middle of an ongoing exchange (e.g., transmitting after tones were sent and before the dispatcher had a chance to finish the dispatch broadcast)
• Key the mic and wait one full second before speaking (it takes a bit for the radio to establish the carrier signal and open the channel).
• Consider, before you press the transmit button: is this transmission necessary? What is the purpose and desired effect of your transmission? If it isn't necessary, don't bother making it.
• Begin each communication exchange with [addressee] this is [caller], as in "18-7-1to Putnam 911". This gives folks a chance to hear their identifier first and start paying attention.
• By the way, it may sound "cool", but avoid packing the numbers together in your call sign. Say "Eighteen, Seven, One", not "Eighteen, Seventy-One".
• Don't bother to say "be advised", it is zero-content and just clutters up the airwaves.
• When you say the word "responding", it means you are responding to the scene, don't use it to say you are replying to the caller's transmission.

  We don't use 10-codes in our district.
• Don't transmit from an apparatus while it is still in the parking bay; the metal doors will become a "secondary antenna" and will distort the broadcast. (It might even damage the output transistors on the radio.)
• Times recorded on the NYS PCR (based on what the dispatcher relays to the EMT at the end of the call):

  1. Call Received (I'm not sure at this time whether that's the time the 911 call was received or when the radio dispatch was first made -- I suspect the latter.)
  2. Responding (When the responding unit leaves to go to the scene -- note "En route" means leaving the scene for the treatment location, i.e., hospital)
  3. Arrived at Scene (as reported by the responding unit)
  4. From Scene (Leaving the scene for the hospital)
  5. At Destination (Arrived at hospital)
  6. In Service (If the EMT calls the dispatcher from the hospital at the very end of the call, he or she may collect the times and then report the unit back in service at that time.)
  7. In Quarters (When you arrive back at headquaters.)

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