SA Firefighter
General Discussion => Country Fire Service => Topic started by: Master of Disaster on April 15, 2009, 02:00:46 AM
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Lack of pagers within CFS across the whole state, this is crap CFS get off your donkey and get some more :x
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Awww *hug*
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MoD...use the chain of command...with some energy...its uphill.
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who says there's a lack? are you talking about replacing lost/stolen ones or additional ones above your allocation?
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who says there's a lack? are you talking about replacing lost/stolen ones or additional ones above your allocation?
Region 1. I have been waiting on at least two for replacing lost/stolen ones since October last year. If there isn't a lack why aren't they being issued? Region have confirmed they have the paperwork.
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ive been in CFS for 8 years still havent ever had a pager :wink:
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At the last Group meeting I went to in March, we were advised that pager orders from December onwards are not yet filled. No reason given at the meeting as to why.
Pip
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MoD...use the chain of command...with some energy...its uphill.
Use the chain of command and they have been stalled at the region level now for two years. No problems at getting them repaired but replaced due to being stolen or requiring extra due to having more volunteers I am slowly finding out how long that piece of sting is.
As the telphone directory says we are professional protecting the community so lets rely off ringing members to get them to respond or SMS them hey it may take a while but what the rush it may not really be an emergency :-P
ive been in CFS for 8 years still havent ever had a pager :wink:
If this is so then I hope as a service we feel embarrassed! Are we a Dad Army service and if so then it must be too close to the truth to admit how true it is or something would of been done about it by now
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ive been in CFS for 8 years still havent ever had a pager :wink:
Do you get the feeling your brigade is trying to tell you something... ;)
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ive been in CFS for 8 years still havent ever had a pager :wink:
Do you get the feeling your brigade is trying to tell you something... ;)
Its ok when father bear is a groupie...but its tru tho we dont have enough pagers allocated but in my situation dosn bother to much
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Its strange there is so many varied problems, we have several spare pagers, and always get them back fixed in a fairly quick time.
Funnily enough I used to organise repairs and new pagers when I worked for the CFS, I also happened to have left the CFS 2 years ago..... :wink:
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Its strange there is so many varied problems, we have several spare pagers, and always get them back fixed in a fairly quick time.
Funnily enough I used to organise repairs and new pagers when I worked for the CFS, I also happened to have left the CFS 2 years ago..... :wink:
...ahhh the old its not what you know, its who you know.....
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The latest news is that pagers being sent in for repair are not necessarily being fixed, and sent back if someone deems it not repair worthy. :roll:
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Time to reinstall that fire siren on the station...... Teh pager that i haev at the moment has been in and out of the repair shop for sometime goes away to get fixed comes back works for a week or so then nothing....Its a ongoing problem and to think they said these pagers would only last 3 years so we are well over due on new ones......
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Teh pager that i haev at the moment has been in and out of the repair shop for sometime goes away to get fixed comes back works for a week or so then nothing....Its a ongoing problem and to think they said these pagers would only last 3 years so we are well over due on new ones......
They generally don't send you the same pager back, normally they just clone yours and send you a new one. I don't think we have ever received the same pager back in the last few years, this is good because it means we are slowly getting rid of all the old model units and replacing them with the newer higher sensitivity units.
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Or they pull a repaired one from the pile and code that and send it to you.
Just as a side note, I see Mylor have managed to get themselves back onto the Orange network......funnily enough whilst they were on the GRN like everyone else they were still turning out.
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Or they pull a repaired one from the pile and code that and send it to you.
Just as a side note, I see Mylor have managed to get themselves back onto the Orange network......funnily enough whilst they were on the GRN like everyone else they were still turning out.
Wonder what mylor is trying to achieve...
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Fingers crossed the CFS gets this paging problem sorted out soon before the 2009/2010 fire season otherwise we'll more than likely have to resort to using station sirens to alert brigade members :|
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Or they pull a repaired one from the pile and code that and send it to you.
Just as a side note, I see Mylor have managed to get themselves back onto the Orange network......funnily enough whilst they were on the GRN like everyone else they were still turning out.
Sorry to break it to you guys; to many in my local group have been getting pagers back that were cloned from other brigades as they did not do the cloning properly and they kept going off for the original brigades test and alert paging
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Yeah seen that happen a few times, the old capcodes still in the pager.
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What I heard is that as of a few weeks ago, CFS was out of spare pagers, & was
trying to scrounge more from other departments. Just to tide us over until new
ones are approved & purchased. Meanwhile, there are repair delays because there
are no spares to pull off the pile & return with the wrong CAP codes. Each one
has to be fixed (or written off) and returned to its brigade.
As it was probably in here that I heard this, you can discount it as being a
load of bovine manure... :-D
cheers
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Yeah seen that happen a few times, the old capcodes still in the pager.
We had one sent off for repair and it came back with the Stirling address in it, and the member who had it responded to the station and wondered why noone else had turned up :lol:....obviously didn't read his pager first :-P
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What is going on with these damn pagers, 2 month wait now for repairs, we don't have spares, and more are breaking down everyday, not bad for a so called emergency service. Come on, roll out the new ones or do something !!
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CFS are changing to a new pager. Cant remember which one, but apparently it is available in small allotments, so several hundred are meant to be on the way.
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hey
They are the Apollo Gold (AF25) They are slightly bigger but as said can be ordered in smaler lots..hence 325 have been ordered :wink:
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Sheesh, 325, so that gets us through the first week..........lets hope its sooner rather than later.
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CFS shoulda asked the government for funding of about 3000 Pagers.
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... They are slightly bigger ...
I hope by "slightly bigger" you mean "double the size". Obviously a small pager is a thing of the past...
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"slightly bigger" is a massive understatement. the smaller pagers make things alot easier but they are too expensive to be repaired, hence the new model.
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I hope the bigger ones have alot more alert tones to choose from :-)
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I believe these are also user programmable, with up to 16 addresses available. Look out all those super cranks that want to get all the SigInc and MFS pager messages.
http://www.apollowireless.com/servlet/DownLoad?DOWNFILENAME=Gold%20programing%20instraction.pdf&DOWNFILENAMEURL=/upload/Downloads/1/1138923530555_0.pdf
They also come in cool colors like Cranberry and Smoke.
They are actually a more sensitive pager than the current Samsung ones, although they are a bit larger. Lots of CFA nufties have been buying them themselves as they are short of pagers over there too.
If brigades want to purchase their own they are available for around $185 from:
South Eastern Communications
Phone: 0449030704
0359720476
Email:[email protected]
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I don't want to sound like pauline whats her name, but can some one please explain how a few hundred pager will fix the problems so instead of sharing one pager between four we now share them between three.
I am also always personally amazed at how we can get good responce time in a rural brigade i.e. 18 minutes (nearest mets do it in 17 mins) using nothing more then SMS to get an entire crew on the road and rolling. The cost of the SMS is something that I do out of "donation to the Brigade" which is done with out any quarms. I wonder what would happen if we all had pagers.
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am also always personally amazed at how we can get good responce time in a rural brigade i.e. 18 minutes (nearest mets do it in 17 mins) using nothing more then SMS to get an entire crew on the road and rolling. The cost of the SMS is something that I do out of "donation to the Brigade" which is done with out any quarms. I wonder what would happen if we all had pagers.
The concept of SMS alerts is useful but you have to look at it from all angles malleefire and consider numerous things such as
* How many brigade members actually have mobiles
* Can you be sure the phones will be turned on
* What mobile phone provider is each member with
* Signal coverage
Personally i wouldnt mind seeing SMS paging being introduced even to volunteers who have pagers but dont always carry them as it can assure response but also there is a downside in terms of delay in getting the sms due to area and mobile provider
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R_R34 my rant was more of telling you how as a Brigade we are copping with the lack of pagers or workable pager not to adavance the cause of SMS technology I hope that this clarrifies the confussion of what I posted
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It is disappointing that there are many brigades around who do not have the pagers for their active members, due to a shortage state wide. I know some brigades who have lost their new members, because they haven't been able to supply a pager to them (and don't look like being able to for a while yet!!)
SMS is not the answer, but is at least a temporary measure.
However, with SMS, apart from the issues previously discussed on this (and other forums, there is a new problem.
The new problem, as I see it from a fire fighters perspective is the new phone messaging alert system that is being introduced - the one which sends a text message to mobiles in a particular area, advising of a fire. If a brigade within that area tries to send out an incident call to its members, who don't have a pager, and it coincides with the messaging alert calls, the chance of the message getting through to CFS members, in a timely fashion, is looking less & less likely!
Certainly at other large fires - including Black Tuesday, around Lincoln, and also around Mt Osmond, the recent Proper Bay fire, and I am sure many others, the mobile phone networks were full to capacity, and there were delays in getting access to the network to make calls......very difficult when you are on a fire ground, and trying to make incident related calls!!
I am aware (like many others) of numerous brigades who have been waiting 12 months+ for pagers. It is a disgrace that it has got to this point of such a severe lack of pagers. Perhaps with election time coming up fast, the Government needs to be brought to account!
Pip
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The SMS service uses the signalling/control channels and not those used for voice calls and therefore is usually unaffected by all voice channels getting through.
As an SMS is also sent as a 'computer-to-computer' message, it only takes a tiny fraction of a second to send messages and hence those waiting get through a lot quicker - there is also no need to 're-send' as it queues up and get's sent at the earliest possible moment.
Like lots of things, there is not one solution that will fit all people in all situations, pagers for some, SMS for some, both for some, and other means as well, each one is a small part of the overall big-picture of how to notify active members of a call-out.
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Wow, I knew things were bad, but not having to share like that, have you guys taken it any further, thats a disgrace. Perhaps we should band together, send a letter to region CC'd to the CFSVA, that is a joke!!
I know its SAFECOM wide issue, have had similar issues with the retained, having to ring them so they get enough crew together.
What a joke in 2009 we can't alert people properly, never had this issue when it was brigade run, we always had enough pagers.....bring back the siren!!
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What a joke in 2009 we can't alert people properly, never had this issue when it was brigade run, we always had enough pagers.....bring back the siren!!
Ahhh yes bring back the good ol fire phone system with a button linked to the station siren it worked everytime we needed crew
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What a joke in 2009 we can't alert people properly, never had this issue when it was brigade run, we always had enough pagers.....bring back the siren!!
Ahhh yes bring back the good ol fire phone system with a button linked to the station siren it worked everytime we needed crew
and canvas beaters, and petrol powered pumps and officers BA (aka holding your breath till the poisonous smoke isnt too bad and only burns your eyes) and asbestos fire suits and rubber hose and hatchets on our belts....
Lets not forget we moved away from those things for a reason....the reason hasnt changed....just allow the system we moved to enough resources to work is all that is needed.
If you guys are seriously sharing pagers for operational crews....why isnt it in the paper and on the radio every day until its fixed? It's the squeaky wheel that gets oiled....suffer in silence and thats exactly what you'll get in reply .....silence
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I don't want to sound like pauline whats her name, but can some one please explain how a few hundred pager will fix the problems so instead of sharing one pager between four we now share them between three.
I am also always personally amazed at how we can get good responce time in a rural brigade i.e. 18 minutes (nearest mets do it in 17 mins) using nothing more then SMS to get an entire crew on the road and rolling. The cost of the SMS is something that I do out of "donation to the Brigade" which is done with out any quarms. I wonder what would happen if we all had pagers.
have you raised this with your GO and regional commander? what was the response? have you spoken to your regional state volunteer telco committee rep?
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have you raised this with your GO and regional commander? what was the response? have you spoken to your regional state volunteer telco committee rep?
I am of the understnading the BC has followed the correct process of going through the group to region with no signs of the agreed to extra pagers to date. Maybe when they ask many of the new ones we can always say a _____ load of them.
At the moment I prefer due to the type of work that I am in getting a txt from the BC or a phone call from a Lt works for me.
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I can't wait for some of the comments when the new pagers roll out..
Hope you enjoy one of the 3 tone options, as well as their bigger size and brick like features!!
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Hope you enjoy one of the 3 tone options, as well as their bigger size and brick like features!!
I wonder if one of the 3 tones has the same attention grabbing sound as alert tone 7 does at the moment :-)
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I can't wait for some of the comments when the new pagers roll out..
Hope you enjoy one of the 3 tone options, as well as their bigger size and brick like features!!
I figure many of those without pagers would be more than happy to get any pager that works!!! (even if it is brick like!!) :evil:
Pip
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The old link pagers were like a brick but had good alert tones
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Does anyone have an electronic form of the Samsung pager Quick Reference Guide they could upload or email?
Thanks,
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see attached...
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Thanks for the upload Darius.
On another note....I sent two Samsung pagers in to be repaired and recieved two Samsung pagers as replacements. Go figure!