HAPPY VALLEY *STOP CALL*NOT REQUIRED MV24 IN ATTENDANCE-HV34 RETURNED - H/V STATION 11/02/2008 2:16:44 AM CFS Happy Valley Info
This is a genuine question and not taking a dig at happy valley... Why do they page each time that their trucks are returning? Obviously if it is just a stop call, then totally understand that. But often its a "returned to station". Wouldn't tha get frustrating for the members of HV to receive a message each time the trucks return to station? Can someone explain if there is a genuine reason behind this? Or is it just one of those things that some brigades do and others don't?
Particularly if you are in a busy brigade, where perhaps one appliance has responded to a call, and another, unrelated, call comes through, it is good to know if the crew at the first is back in station, or still tied up on something
Members can then make a decision as to whether to race down to the station, ready to take out the other truck or not... very frustrating to race to the station, only to find the first truck left the station as the pager message came in, and no second truck is required....
Within my own brigade, we send out a "returned to station page" - for a couple of reasons.
Generally, for any call, the first appliance is gone in around 6 minutes. If the call is during a weekday, then the next crew are often 30 minutes away (eg have to leave work, and make their way to the station). For some, leaving work early is not an option, but at finish time, they need to decide if they should go straight home, as quickly as they can, ready to assist with the call, or do they wander home, doing their errands on the way.
If the page goes out, to say the crew are back, then the other members know the status of the call.
It also alerts crews to the return of an appliance from a strike team - that is so we know the truck is back, and second, so that anyone else around the place can go the station and assist with cleaning it up / restocking / restowing.
Our "Appliance returned to station" message works well for us
Pip