First Responder families: Terms for working and working away
Terminology
This section describes some of the codes used by various services, including in the Police, Fire and Ambulance services. Children learn these terms at a young age and all family members tend to fear certain codes as listed below.
Fear
Parents often ease their fears by emphasising their high-level training, specialised equipment, and ability to work as a strong team with other highly trained individuals
Work words
- I’m working Days
- I’m working Nights
- I’m on recall, or I’ve been recalled (someone on the team is sick, so they have to extend their shift)
- I’ve got an RDO (rostered day off) or PDO (Program Day off)
- Relievers
- Hold back – we have to stay on the job longer
- OT ( overtime)
Codes
These codes are ones that children and family members tend to fear.
- 801 - Police are in danger
- 504 - these codes represent incidents like a car accident, drugs, rape etc.
Phonetic alphabet
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
Deployment
Personnel can be deployed to a fire or other incident which involves working away.
Workforce
- Strike Team
- Task force
- Team (a group on the job)
- S/O – Sarge
- Target – those they are looking for
Ambulance Service Terms
Work terms
On call - not on duty but ready to attend work cases anytime.
Call-out - a request to attend a work case while on call, usually an emergency call.
Call-off – called to attend a case while on a meal break.
Days – day shift
Nights – night shift
Co-ord – coordination centre
Words and codes
Various words and codes indicate the type of response, such as urgent, non-urgent, within 2 hours, etc.
Various codes also indicate specific case types – Code 2 = cardiac arrest, code 4 = deceased, code 9 = person trapped, etc.