The dispatcher sits in front of three monitors, each attached to an independent hard drive, each hard drive runs CriSys, each monitor is displaying a different window on the CriSys program. The far right hand screen runs the mapping segment of the program, the centre screen runs the dispatch and incident segment, and the third screen runs the county and mutual aid segment.
At the Communicators fingertips is the alarm and intercom control panel. This panel controls the alert tones to the substations, intercom, door and traffic light controls.
Brantford is serviced by three 911 lines, 1 local emergency line, 2 taped admin lines and one non-taped admin line. There is no ANI/ALI system, however the CriSys system has been locally programed to respond to the first three letters of a street name, and names and addresses are provided from local PUC billing information. The database of the system is updated twice a week by a cross trained member of the Fire Department.
What are the Qualities of the Communications Officers in this Centre?.
Most of the CO's that I worked with exhibit the same qualities; focused, disciplined, attentive, humanistic and dependable. Having said this, they also take great pride in what they do, and manage to have a great deal of fun while maintaining a professional demeanor. The work closely with the public, and strive to ensure that the first exposure to our Fire Department is a positive one.
Chain of Command and Confidentiality.
The chain of command in this CO is quite short, the Communications Officer reports directly to the Platoon Chief, who in turn reports directly to the Deputy Fire Chief, who reports to the Fire Chief.
There are no P & P governing the CO in Brantford, the rule of thumb, as explained to me by the PC is quite simple, "What you say here, do here, see here, stays here.unless the Chief says otherwise". Any and all media inquires are handled by the Deputy Chief.
