CFR/ECFR and Staff Responder. Airwaves Pager. User Guide

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1 CFR/ECFR and Staff Responder Airwaves Pager User Guide

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3 Contents INTRODUCTION... 4 SAFETY NOTICE... 4 GEOFENCE OR RADIUS?... 4 THE DEVICE... 5 TURNING THE PAGER ON... 6 TURNING THE PAGER OFF... 7 SIGNING ON... 8 SENDING SIGN- ON MESSAGES... 8 SIGNING OFF DELETING MESSAGES RECEIVING A JOB OFFER TO SEND A RESPONSE TO A JOB OFFER ALLOCATION TO A JOB SENDING A MOBILE INCIDENT MESSAGE ARRIVING SCENE CLEARING SCENE RECEIVING A STAND DOWN MESSAGE MANUAL TEXT MESSAGES PANIC BUTTON ADDITIONAL MESSAGES

4 Introduction This guide is intended to show the main user functions of the Airwaves pager and general procedures relating to its use by CFRs, ECFRs and Staff Responders acting on behalf of North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Safety Notice Please note: Under no circumstances should the Airwaves pager be used whilst driving. This includes both the reading of, and sending of messages whilst en-route to an incident. Should the pager receive a stand down message the device screen will flash red and give an audible stand down message. Geofence or Radius? Airwaves pagers have the facility to be set up to a CFR groups geofence, to have a 5 mile radius around the gps location of the pager or both. Consideration as to the location of the pager, number of incidents received and whether you travel and want to respond to jobs while out of your normal area should be given when deciding on the option you require for the pager. When set up to use a geofence, the pager will receive incidents within the team geofence. When moving outside the geofence area the pager will still receive messages from within the geofence. If a radius is used, incidents within a 5 mile radius of your current location will be received. If both options are set up on your pager you will receive incidents from your geofence area in addition to any incidents within the 5 mile radius. Selection of the correct option is important as every incident offer received by the pager must be accepted or rejected they cannot simply be ignored. 4

The device The function of the buttons of the Airwave Pager are context sensitive and vary according to the information on the screen or the actions being carried out. A basic guide is shown below.

5 The device The function of the buttons of the Airwave Pager are context sensitive and vary according to the information on the screen or the actions being carried out. A basic guide is shown below. Battery Strength Signal Strength Vibrating Alert On Audible Alert On Short Press: Open function menu Long Press: Emergency Status Message Next/Previous Message Up/Down Read Message Next page of message Escape function menu 5

6 Turning the pager on Press and hold the message button The pager will switch on, presenting a green startup screen and sound audible tones. The pager screen will cycle through its available colour screens during startup. Any messages stored on the pager will automatically be deleted at startup. When the machine has completed its start up routine you will be presented with the following screen. 6

Escape Menu option and press the function key to return to the correct menu.

7 Turning the pager off to reveal the menu options. If when pressing the Function button you are presented with any other screen, select the Escape Menu option and press the function key to return to the correct menu. Using the Arrow buttons, select Turn Off Press the Function button to select the option highlighted. The device will display the following messages and shut down. 7

8 Signing on At the start of each period of availability the responder should sign on with the Airwaves Pager. This will make the pager visible to the Emergency Operations Centre(EOC) staff. The sign-on procedure involves 5 stages: 1. Sending a PPE Checked Message 2. Sending an Equipment Checked Message 3. Sending a Vehicle Checked Message 4. Sending an Available message 5. Sending a manual text message to provide the pager call sign, your PIN number and contact number (Not applicable if pager is a personal allocation) The sending of the 3 messages stating that PPE, Kit and Vehicle have been checked will be recorded in the systems in the EOC and should be considered as your personal declaration that the appropriate checks have been made and are satisfactory. Staff responders are not required to send a manual text with pin and contact number when signing on as the Airwaves Pager used by them will be personally allocated and details will be held in the EOC> The same applies to any ECFR who is allocated a pager for their sole use but any pagers used by more than one ECFR will require a manual text to identify the responder currently signed on. All CFRs will be required to send a manual text at sign on. If a manual text is required the pager will not become active in the EOC until the text is received and the information associated with the pager by EOC staff. Sending sign-on messages Open the function menu by pressing the Function button Using the Arrow buttons, scroll to the Send a Text Message option Press the Function button to select 8

9 You will now be shown the messages screen with a list of messages that you can send to the EOC from your pager. Using the Up/ Down arrows move the black highlight bar until PPE Checked is highlighted as shown in the above image. To send the message press the Function button You will receive a confirmation message on the pager that now requests you complete an Equipment Check. To accept the message press the Message button Having accepted the message, press the Function button to view your list of options. There is no need to reply to this message. To exit from the reply option list, use the Arrow buttons to select Escape Menu Press the Function button to select the highlighted option. 9

10 Repeat the above procedure to send Equipment Checked and Vehicle Checked messages. Once all checks have been completed and messages sent to confirm, you now need to send a message to tell the EOC you are available to respond. Open the function menu by pressing the Function button Using the Arrow buttons, scroll to the Available option You will receive a confirmation message showing your sign-on time. At this point you should now send a text message from your phone to the CFR desk informing them you have signed on with the pager call sign, your pin number and contact telephone number. Once the CFR desk has received your information and allocated your details to the pager you will receive an acknowledgement text message from the CFR Desk. 10

11 Any confirmation messages received during the sign-on process do not need to be acknowledged and can be deleted from the device. Please note: any text messages received from the EOC will be shown with a blue screen. Signing off When you wish to sign off at the end of your period of availability, you do so by sending an Unavailable message. This will sign you off the system. Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Unavailable option Press the Function button to send the message. You will receive a confirmation message from the EOC this confirmation does not need acknowledging. 11

12 Deleting messages There are 2 options available for deleting messages. Delete Message Delete all To select the option required Use the arrow buttons to move the highlight bar to the required option Press the Function button to execute the selected option Receiving a job offer The airwaves pager system works in a different way to the pagers or text message you are used to. When an incident occurs within the geofence or radius allocated to the pager an offer message will be sent. The job offer will contain details of the incident type and address. The information contained in the job offer can be viewed by scrolling through the message using the message button. 12

Please note: Some changes to the information contained in the job offer will be made in the future to include incident number and grid reference.

13 Please note: Some changes to the information contained in the job offer will be made in the future to include incident number and grid reference. It should also be noted that when scrolling through the message, all patients are shown as Trapped this is an error and has been marked for correction. When a job offer is received by the pager the responder must respond by sending either of the following status messages: Can attend Cannot attend To send a response to a job offer Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight either the Can Attend or Cannot Attend option as required. Press the Function button to send the message. If you have sent a Cannot Attend message no further action is required. Allocation to a job If you have sent a Can Attend message in response to a job offer, you should at this point make your way to your vehicle in readiness to respond to the incident. Once your response is received in the EOC the CFR Desk will add your call sign into the relevant job. This will result in the full job details being sent to your pager. Full job details can be distinguished from a job offer by the Green colour of the pager screen when the message is received. The full job information message will contain the incident number and grid references that are currently missing from the offer message. 13

14 Once you have received the green job allocation message you have been entered as a resource in the job on the EOC computer systems and will now be able to use your pager to send mobile to incident, arrive scene, clear scene messages which will automatically record the information in the job on the computer system. There is no need to send an acknowledgement to this message. It should also be noted that the CFR desk can manually put you into an incident without an offer message being sent. In this case, you will just receive the Green job details message. This is likely to happen when you have been stood down from an incident and are being allocated a new one, but could also happen because the incident would not fall into a category normally auto paged by the system but it has been identified as appropriate by the CFR Desk EMD. The manual allocation of the job would normally be expected to follow a phone call from the desk who would confirm you are able to attend verbally. 14

15 Sending a Mobile Incident message Before setting off to the incident a Mobile Incident message should be sent to record the time of departure. Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Mobile Incident message Press the Function button to send the message. There is no need to acknowledge the confirmation message you receive Once you have sent a Mobile Incident message you should make your way to the incident. The pager should not be used in any circumstance while the vehicle is enroute to the incident. Should you be stood down, you will receive an audible stand down message. Arriving Scene Once you have arrived at the incident you should send an Arrived On Scene message. Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Mobile Incident message Press the Function button to send the message. There is no need to acknowledge the confirmation message you receive 15

16 Clearing Scene When you are ready to clear scene, you should the appropriate Clear Scene message. It should be noted that whilst there are a number of Clear Scene messages available, the only one that should be used by a CFR, ECFR or EMT1 staff responder is the Clear Amb Dealing message. The following messages are reserved for EMT2 and Paramedic staff responders: Clear False Alarm Clear No Injury Clear Refuse Tre Clear Absconded Clear Pol Dealin Clear Put to Bed Nothing Found To clear scene Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Clear Amb Dealin message (or appropriate message if EMT2 or Paramedic) Press the Function button to send the message. Once you have sent a Clear Scene message you can also send a Rtn Safe Loc ion and Arr Safe Loc ion message to inform the CFR desk that you are returning home or to a rendezvous point and have arrived there but this is not a requirement 16

Receiving a stand down message Should you be en-route to an incident information my come to light as the call progresses that the scene is not safe, or the CFR desk may wish to stand you down from an

17 Receiving a stand down message Should you be en-route to an incident information my come to light as the call progresses that the scene is not safe, or the CFR desk may wish to stand you down from an incident either because a vehicle is nearer or they wish to divert you to another incident. When a stand down message is sent, the pager will flash with a Red screen and an audible stand down message will be sounded. You should find a safe and appropriate place to stop your vehicle and reply with a stand down message to inform the CFR Desk that you have received the message and have acted upon it. To acknowledge the stand down instruction Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Stood Down option Press the Function button to send the message. It is not necessary to acknowledge the confirmation message you receive when you send your Stood Down message. Once you have sent a Stood Down message you can also send a Rtn Safe Loc ion and Arr Safe Loc ion message to inform the CFR desk that you are returning home or to a rendezvous point and have arrived there but this is not a requirement 17

Manual Text Messages The EMD on the CFR desk can, if they need to, send additional information or messages to a pager or request information using a text message.

18 Manual Text Messages The EMD on the CFR desk can, if they need to, send additional information or messages to a pager or request information using a text message. When the pager receives a manual text message it is displayed on a Blue screen. When you receive a manual text message Press the message button to read the message Once you have read the text message you should send an acknowledgement to let the CFR desk know you have read the message. Read the message by pressing the message button Use the up/down button to highlight the Acknowledge option Press the Function button to send the message. 18

19 Panic Button Whilst a responder would never knowingly be sent into an incident where there was any danger there is always a possibility that a situation may arise where the responder feels unsafe. The airwaves pager has the facility to send an emergency message to the EOC which will prompt the EMD to dispatch Police to the incident. To send an emergency message to the EOC Press and Hold the function button for 3 seconds When the button is released your screen will display an Emergency Message confirmation This will bring up a red warning message on the EMD s screen indicating that a responder is in danger. Try to remove yourself from any danger by leaving the address, etc if this is possible. Leave all kit etc as this can be recovered later. Whilst it is unlikely that an emergency message would be sent in error, there is always that possibility. If you have sent the message in error, and are in an area with good phone signal phone the CFR desk immediately to inform them of the erroneous message. If you have no or poor signal, the emergency message can be cancelled by immediately sending a Request Priority Speech message. (Rq Pri Speech) Use the up/down arrow buttons to highlight the Send a Message option Use the up/down button to highlight the Rq Pri Speech option Press the Function button to send the message. Please note: Due to the potential risk to a responder when an emergency message is received by the EOC, if a telephone call or Priority Text Message Request is not received within 1 minute, a call will be made to mobilise Police to your location. 19

If you cancel the emergency message by sending the Request Priority Speech message the CFR Desk will acknowledge receipt by sending you a text message.

20 If you cancel the emergency message by sending the Request Priority Speech message the CFR Desk will acknowledge receipt by sending you a text message. Additional Messages Cannot find address Can be sent if you are unable to find the address you have been sent to. Alternatively you may wish to call the CFR Desk and ask for guidance Pt Deteriorated If you arrive on scene and the patients condition is worse than the incident message indicated, or your patient deteriorates whilst awaiting an ambulance sending this message will inform the CFR Desk who will then be able to prioritise the response. Pt Cardiac Arrest If your patient arrests, sending this message will allow the CFR Desk to mobilise the appropriate response to you and allocate the necessary priority to it. Rq Pri Speech Requesting priority speech will result in the CFR desk ringing you at the earliest possible opportunity. This request will be treated as a priority. Rq Speech If you would like a call from the CFR Desk but it is not a priority, for example to request a vehicle ETA, use this option. 20

Operating Instructions

Operating Instructions Version 1.0 Title Issued by Tetra Messenger Device Rob Horton, Responder Manager Date Issued 25 th August 2014 1 Background 1.1 Tetra Messenger Devices have been selected as the