Issuing Rural Schools & High Schools with Scanners

[Robert-Robert34]

This topic has been in the back of my head for a while now and i figured it would be best to talk about it....In my primary school days passing by the front office to go into the library on a hot day i used to hear CFS radio traffic coming from the little handheld scanner mounted inside the office

This little handheld scanner was eventually replaced courtesy of the Kalangadoo Country Fire Service with a 16 channel desktop scanner so Kalangdoo Primary School staff could monitor CFS Radio Traffic, and in the event of a major fire happening they decide if it's wise to send out of town students home on the bus or not

A classic example of the Kalangadoo Primary School scanner being used for emergency decision making was the Kalangadoo-Glencoe Road fire a few years back,on hearing that the fire was running rampant school staff did not allow the school bus to take out of town students home until the fire was contained

What i am getting at is every rural kindergarten,primary & high school that are in a real high bushfire prone area such as Kalangadoo should be issued with a handheld or desktop scanner programmed with GRN & CFS VHF frequencies so the staff can montior all emergency traffic during a major fire

What are your thoughts on this issue 

[strikeathird]

Not such bad thinking !

Has its merits, but also has its downsides..

[CyberCitizen]

Has its merits, but also has its downsides..

Elaborate

[bajdas]

Would be useful if the person lisening to the scanner was trained to understand the messages and correctly interpret them.

If they mis-understood what they heard and then took action without verification, then that to myself is dangerous.

Would it not be better for the school to be notified by the local brigade (via fire siren ?) that a situation exists in their area. If they need further information, get them to call the 1300 362361 or the local CFS Brigade.

Sound like an opportunity for a community emergency plan for all major community buildings (eg libraries, schools, shops, council, major work places, etc) to be developed for any emergency situation. I understand the plan would include what action people take, who get information from, evacuation centres, evacuation routes, etc.

[medevac]

hang on...
ive got a fantastic idea, now stick with me,... stick with me...

they could use....

the bushfire information and warning system... the system actually endorsed and run by the CFS!!!!

or would that be too way out?

[Robert-Robert34]

That sort of method can be done BAJDAS but bear in mind when a large fire happens in a particular area the local school staff can not expect a CFS truck to roll up at the front gate and inform them that a fire is coming

If scanners are issued to schools the school staff would be trained in handling & operating the scanners as well as understanding messages and listening/writing down weather forecasts that are issued over the GRN

Yes MEDEVAC the bushfire information & warning system that is broadcasted over radio,telephone & email would be useful but at the same time run the risk of not keeping staff updated about fire developements thats where the scanners would come in handy

[Mike]

awww.. i dunno..... i reckon that might be a bit far fetched

We have information on all schoolbus routes in our area have spoken to them about the potential for school buses to be effected..... The school will be notified if any potential issues will arise.

[strikeathird]

Has its merits, but also has its downsides..

Elaborate

Useful in situations when town / area may be under threat.. not so good when you hear...  'Blah Incident Control, we have 3 trapped, serious life threatening injuries.. or..  "Yea we got one dead, need another ambulance", or " Blah Blah's folks have been killed, might want to send some one to let them know "..  Stuff like that.

No one is perfect, and things sometimes slip on the radio...

[mengcfs]

Leave the fire fighting to us and the teaching to them........

[kat]

I believe that monitoring CFS radios is not the most effective way of determining actions as a member of the general public.

Listening to snippets of what individual crews think and see may not be reflective of the total picture. It requires the listner to interpret raw data and make judgements without necessarliy all the facts.

The bushfire warning system is a generic sort of a deal that won't necessarily help a school decide whether students would be safer at school or on one or any of the bus routes out.

I'm sure in this scenario, one of the CFS officers invloved in the fire could spare two minutes to explain to the school the situation.

Quote by Robert34:

[medevac]

The bushfire warning system is a generic sort of a deal that won't necessarily help a school decide whether students would be safer at school or on one or any of the bus routes out.

then perhaps some schools need to decide wether to open there doors at all on total fire ban days??? or keep the kids at home where the responsibility for theyre safety falls on the parents...

[kat]

Mmm, dunno, but do know that there are many, many more total fire ban days than there are busfires that threaten schools.

Lets face it, most schools are a pretty safe place in a busfire and are often used as the evacuation point due to facilities and green expanses.

[Robert-Robert34]

You hit the nail right on the head kat about schools being a safe haven during bushfires thats why scanners should be issued to schools weither handheld or base it would keep staff and town wardens up to date on bushfires affected their town or area

I should know that communications equipment is very important when it comes to keeping updated during an emergency like a fire cause im a Certified Emergency Response Warden myself

Plus we cant always rely on AM or FM radio stations for bushfire updates cause they only issue bushfire warnings when the fire is on the doorstep of a town and my dad has experienced this first hand on Ash Wednesday when he was fighting the acutal fire itself

[oz fire]

Yeah - bring that on - issuing scanners - now lets give them to every facility who has a duty of care for others in the community - schools, kindys, libraries, nursing homes, hospitals, doctors surgeries, community centres, aged care facilities, respite centres, youth centres, government offices ..........................

Excellent and then lets training them on on what to listen for so they don't hear all the other incidents that are happening and lets train them only to listen to their brigade - coz a scanner won't pick up anything else but local communications.

Maybe we should throw out brigade response plans, group operations management plans, regional operations management plans, the education dept. procedures and policies regarding TFB days and high fire risk days ...... the systems already exist, each brigade and group should have local resource and contact directories - with critical infrastructure listed - much easier to make a quick call for the once in a life time where a facility may be threatened than have them listen to a scanner and then like everything else have it fade into the other background noise!

[Firefrog]

I understand the sentiment behind the suggestion. But there are mechanisms in place to provide early warning and advice to places like schools.

First the Bush Fire Information and Warning System as mentioned earlier in the thread.

Secondly the Incident management team. - A Planning officer will be accessing the forward rate of spread and determining the likely impacts of a fire. If a faciltiy is likely to be threatended SAPOL can be tasked to advise and evacuate or arrange to protect in place with CFS support.

[rescue5271]

ON fire ban days my old CFA group would call all high school and primary schools whos students went on the school bus home. they would say if it was safe for the bus to do its run or not,in the time I was in the group h/q we only stopped buses once for a large fire on the main bus route as for scanners has its good points and some little bad points.....

[strikeathird]

You hit the nail right on the head kat about schools being a safe haven during bushfires thats why scanners should be issued to schools weither handheld or base it would keep staff and town wardens up to date on bushfires affected their town or area

I should know that communications equipment is very important when it comes to keeping updated during an emergency like a fire cause im a Certified Emergency Response Warden myself

Plus we cant always rely on AM or FM radio stations for bushfire updates cause they only issue bushfire warnings when the fire is on the doorstep of a town and my dad has experienced this first hand on Ash Wednesday when he was fighting the acutal fire itself

Things have changed alot since ash wednesday.

[Fire_Rescue96]

police can also come and tell the relevant people to decide if they want to stay or go

[medevac]

well considering.. that technically it is up to the police to do evacuations and not the fire service......