One of the essentials of Firefighter Safety is having the right equipment. Whether that means the latest in protective gear, the most efficient tools, or effective communications, a Firefighter must be confident that their equipment is going to work as expected, under extreme circumstances.

Radio communications are essential to Fire Services. The radio is a lifeline, establishing a link between a forward operations post and the Firefighters themselves. Communications must be fail-proof in mission critical situations: able to operate in extreme temperatures, moisture, and be able to survive impacts and all manners of abuse.

There are 8 key features that separate Firefighter communications from other disciplines:

1. Communications Pace: Communications at an emergency event can be chaotic and fast-paced.
2. Ergonomics and Positioning: Firefighters often find themselves in less-than-ideal positions for normal radio communications: crawling, climbing, carrying, etc…
3. Low Visibility: Firefighters often encounter situations with little – or no – visibility, so the equipment needs to be easily operable.
4. SCBA: A breathing apparatus can both reduce visibility and muffle voice queues.
5. Environmental Conditions: Rapid temperature variations and extreme humidity can wreak havoc with electronics.
6. High Noise Environments: It can be difficult to both communicate and listen in areas with high ambient sound.
7. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including gloves, helmets, and fire-retardant layers can make it difficult to effectively handle a radio.
8. RF Resistance: Buildings employ a wide variation of construction materials that can influence and degrade RF signal penetration.

Most modern Firefighter radios adhere to a variety of strictly enforced criteria to ensure the effectiveness of operation under extreme conditions. Firefighter radios now include the following features:

• Noise cancelling microphones
• Ability to reject high levels of background noise such as PASS alarms
• Accessories and cords resistant to high temperatures
• Radio electronics able to operate in high temperatures
• Oversized control knobs and buttons for use with gloves
• Voice channel announcements to negate the need to look at the radio display
• Tones to indicate paging and alerting signals
• Broadcast radio ID number in emergency calls
• Display receipt of emergency call from another radio
• Extra loud, Low distortion speakers
• Bluetooth connection to microphones in SCBA devices
• Oversized Push to Talk (PTT) buttons
• Audio accessories such as throat mics and skull bone mics
• Watertight seals to permit survival of radio with immersion in water
• Ruggedized remote speaker microphones with LCD displays, channel and volume controls, programmable function buttons, emergency call buttons, or strobe lights
• High visibility colour schemes

If you are in the market for effective first responder communications of any type, Firefighter or otherwise, I’d be happy to discuss your specific needs with you directly. You can complete the short form below and I’ll contact you directly. Effective event-response communications are an essential element of the safety of first responders: ensure that your communications needs are being addressed by qualified communications specialists. I look forward to hearing from you.