Questions & Answers

Question: What happened to the signals and codes previously used by the fire and rescue units?

Answer: The National Incident Management System has mandated that in times of an multi jurisdictional response to an incident, that all agencies be able to speak to each other in a manner that everyone understands.

Listed below is the fire service conversion from signals to “Plain Language” communications. For EMS/Rescue incidents the medical descriptions are used consistent with the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) protocols.

RADIO LANGUAGE CONVERSION CHART
Old Signal System		Currently In Use Plain Language
Signal	Description	Description
23	Emergency	Medical Emergency (Specify type)
50	Notice of Fire	(Specify type) Fire
51	Report to Station	Report to Station
52	Off the Air	Off the Air
53	On the Air	Responding or On the Air
54	Incident Under Control	Incident Under Control
59	Call by Phone	Contact ………….. By Phone
60	Change Frequency	Switch To ………..
62	Call for Mutual Aid	Responding Mutual Aid To…...
63	On the Scene	On the Scene
64	Make Inspection at…..	Investigate
69	Special Call for Apparatus	Respond (Unit ID) To……..
70	Announcement	Announcement
71	Responding to Station	Returning
72	Working Fire	Working Fire
73	Unit is Available	(Unit ID)…. Available
80	All Clear on 23 or 50	(Acknowledge) Incident Under Control
83	Proceed with Caution	Proceed with Caution (or with Traffic)
88	Check Station for Message	Check the Station for a Message

click to edit


Coverage • Calendar • Directory • Members Only • TN Application • • Bookmark Us • Site Map