Office of Public Safety

Section 23: Radio Communications

Radios are provided for use by Western EMS personnel. They are property of Western EMS, and must be treated as such. Each radio will be checked out to on duty personnel and they are responsible for the radio. Radios will be kept in the case when on the belt. Members holding a radio should be cautious of the radio's location so the transmit button is not bumped or held open when not intended.

The current radio layout for the duty radio is as follows:

  • Channel 1: Western EMS Repeater
  • Channel 2: Western EMS Simplex
  • Channel 3: BEACON
  • Channel 4: OPS Repeater

Rules for Radio Use:

  1. Radios should be operated on Channel 1 at all times unless there is a specific reason to be operating on another frequency.
  2. Proper English must be used on the radio conforming to FCC guidelines.
  3. No names will be used over the radio. Instead, members should use member numbers. These numbers are assigned at the beginning of each semester.
  4. When communicating, Depress the transmit button, pause, and then state who you are calling, followed by your number (Example: "Western from Edward 20")
  5. If 10-codes are used, they must conform to university standards. Please see 23.1 for a listing of approved 10-codes.
  6. When spelling, members must use a phonetic alphabet. Please see 23.2 for a listing of approved phonetic alphabet terms.
  7. During incidents of a Mass Casualty or Multiple Victim response, members should not use radio codes. Instead, they should use plain English.
  8. At the end of each shift, radios must be returned to the charger. Verify the light is showing that the radio is charging.