Communications in the "Old Days"

[Bill Leverett]

In Vancouver BC, before radios were available, Metropolitan Ambulance crews were provided with a roll of nickels. Before clearing the hospital and at specified points enroute back to quarters, the crews were expected to phone dispatch via pay phones. The calls were then given out as crews called in.

In the town I started in (Oliver BC), the ambulance service was run as a side-line to the taxi service. Same number for both and always someone to answer the phone. When an ambulance call came in, one of the taxi drivers (the owner of the service) came back to the taxi office to staff the ambulance. Another attendant was phoned as well and responded to the taxi office. It was also a roster system, calling down the list until the ambulance was crewed.

Pagers changed all of that, thank goodness. However, in the town south of us (Osoyoos, BC) you could only call an ambulance by going through a doctor or the police. The doctor or police called a number that set off the ambulance crew pagers. The 2 crew members on-call would respond directly to where the ambulance was garaged (at the fire hall). The doctor or police that called the automatic page number would then wait approx. 3 minutes and phone the fire hall to give the information to the ambulance crew (hopefully) now waiting at the fire hall.

It's interesting to hear how many different types of systems there were out there...some very basic and some quite advanced. No wonder "Radio Dispatched" was a designation services wished to advertise.

 

[Kevin O'Connell - Deceased - 1954 - 2019]

Calling all cars

LAPD was the fourth agency in California to enter the world of radio dispatching, receiving their license for "KGPL" in 1931. Cars were equipped with receive-only radios on 1712 Kc AM. At night, their 500 watt signal could be heard from the East Coast to Hawaii and Alaska. Dispatchers were required to give their names at the end of each call. Their best-known dispatcher was Sgt. Jesse Rosenquist. He would drag out the first syllable of his name at the end of each broadcast-"Roooooosenquist". There aren't any recordings of Rosenquist at work but here's a sampling of his voice on the CBS radio show, "Calling All Cars":

http://harrymarnell.net/media/rquistcalls.wav

 

[Robert Shepard]

Thanks Kevin! Let us not forget L.A.P.D. KMA367.

http://harrymarnell.net/kma367.htm

 

[Anthony J. Rzucidlo - Deceased - 1953-2019]

Radio Communication

The Detroit Police (Michigan) was the first to develope and operate the first radio system in the country for law enforcement and I would say other emergency services as well back in 1922. Of course it was a one way radio system, only could receive calls. But none the less it was the first.

 

[Ted Duncan]

I once lived in a small town that had an airhorn on top of the town hall.

Like this? http://www.gamewelldiaphone.com/main.php

 

[Jon VanDermark]

Like this? http://www.gamewelldiaphone.com/main.php

Yup. That was exactly what it was.

Jon

 

[Derrick Walden]

Communications In Idaho .

Here in Idaho , most areas have just two frequencies for EMS communications which is statewide and this has been the case for over 40 years . " State Comm " as we call it has one channel on 155.340 megahertz used for VHF ambulance to hospital communications . The other channel operating on 155.280 megahertz is used for coordination and dispatch of rural agencies that are otherwise not dispatched from a local Public Safety Answering Point ( PSAP ) , such as a county sheriff's office or fire department communications center . Just a small handful of areas that were more populated with a paramedic system like Boise and Idaho Falls did use the UHF telemetry " med channels " to communicate with base station hospitals . However in my area , that is not the case . We're dispatched from a regional E-911 Communications Center along with local Quick Response Units (QRUs), that are practically rural volunteer first responders trained at the EMT-Basic level . Currently , we still use the conventional UHF bandwidth in my area and will sometime in the near future be moving over to a new 700 megahertz digital radio system . The first time I ever picked up a radio in an ambulance was when I worked after school helping out on our local ambulance service to put the unit I was riding on back in service from the hospital . You had to be careful what you said because we used the same frequency to call into the hospital on and with the repeater system that was in place at the time , what you said could be heard all over the state of Idaho .

 

[Terry Broussard]

Acadian Ambulance Service reportedly started...

on a radio frequency shared with a lumber yard. When I started in '77, we had a dispatch channel and the HEAR system for the hospitals. Now, some 38 years later, we still maintain and test the HEAR system every Wednesday in central Louisiana. However, mostly just disaster back-up for ER to ER comm.