Personell unit numbers

Fluffy126577

OG
New Member
May 24, 2010
721
1
42
Toledo, OH
So again, reaching out to the site for some information;


What would be a good unit number system to have that would not only be permanant to the person.... but could also dictate rank?
 
We use the Canadian military style...each shift is designated by a letter, A, B, C, D. A number designation indicates where one ranks within the shift. A1 is shift IC, A2 is 2IC, etc. The command staff is designated differently, using a "niner" designation. The head honcho is 9, the 2IC is 9A, and so in. Dispatch is Control or Zero.
 
Depending on the size of the agency I would go with the good old 4 digit.


We'll use 3500 as an example.


3500=Dispatch


3501=Sheriff/Chief


35??= and so on


If you're a county dispatch then you can assign other unit #'s such as 3900 for a local PD.


Simple and effective and what 99% of law enforcement agencies in Minnesota use.
 
Comm Center is called "Comm Center"


We use 4 digits to designate over the radio dept, station and rank.


Example: "3611" as the Senior Captain for station "36"


"3": The Department. Our south mutual aid is "2" and another is "4". "1" is EMS and medic numbers are 51-59.


"6": Station number (we have 7 stations so 1-7)


"11": Sr. Capt. Capts are "12" and Lt. "13". Sometimes we have two Lts and a Sr Capt so second Lt would be "14"


Chief is 3001, 3002 Deputy. District Chiefs 31 and 32. Safetys 30, 31, and 32.
 
Fluffy126577 said:
So again, reaching out to the site for some information;

What would be a good unit number system to have that would not only be permanant to the person.... but could also dictate rank?
Being permanant to the person would prohibit any kind of sensible numbering system IMO. Formerly, everyone kept their number. Say FF Joe made Lt., he would be Lt. 263. But another Lt. might be Lt. 242 or Lt. 299. So we "organized" things a little better. Our station is station 200, so all trucks and personnel unit numbers fall within 200-299. Truck are 205,210, 211, 220, 230, 235 and the boat is 248 after a Lt. who was a LODD. Now officers are Cheif 200, 201(which is the Ass Chief) Captain 201, 202, 203, 204 Lt. 201, 202, 203, 204 and ff and/or emts are from 240 up to 299. It seems to be the simplist way to desginate the rank and which person it is. All departments in the county have gone to this except my full time department and the "other" full time department, because we are "light years ahead" :rolleyes: They have tried to move each person up a number with promotions or whatever, but most of us have refused to take a different number to avoid unneeded confusion. I'm staying Captain 204 no matter what happens to the other 3 Captains. Everyone in the county knows who Capt. 204 is and there is no need to change it. Hope this helps you out or gives you some ideas.
 
Bigassfireman said:
Being permanant to the person would prohibit any kind of sensible numbering system IMO. Formerly, everyone kept their number. Say FF Joe made Lt., he would be Lt. 263. But another Lt. might be Lt. 242 or Lt. 299. So we "organized" things a little better. Our station is station 200, so all trucks and personnel unit numbers fall within 200-299. Truck are 205,210, 211, 220, 230, 235 and the boat is 248 after a Lt. who was a LODD. Now officers are Cheif 200, 201(which is the Ass Chief) Captain 201, 202, 203, 204 Lt. 201, 202, 203, 204 and ff and/or emts are from 240 up to 299. It seems to be the simplist way to desginate the rank and which person it is. All departments in the county have gone to this except my full time department and the "other" full time department, because we are "light years ahead" :rolleyes: They have tried to move each person up a number with promotions or whatever, but most of us have refused to take a different number to avoid unneeded confusion. I'm staying Captain 204 no matter what happens to the other 3 Captains. Everyone in the county knows who Capt. 204 is and there is no need to change it. Hope this helps you out or gives you some ideas.

All the fire departments in our county do this. Occifers are X01-X10 then trucks are X11-X70 and then personel from there. We wanted it to be a permanent solution because a lot of people make down lets say in run reports or what not as "Unit XXX performed so and so procedure." We want to have the ability to set a system up where we can have a copy of the unit numbers and say, if that run goes to court in 5 years, we will know that Unit XXX was EMT Joe.


I know it seems like a futile task and I guess I am on a fact finding mission more than anything. I really appreciate the response. :)
 
My FDs personnel #s are dictated by our station # and then by our rank.


Station - 80


Chief - 801


Asst. Chief - 802


Capt - 803


Lieut - 804


FFs - 806-825


we used to have a 2nd lieut that was 805 but i believe that # is being held for a future use (safety officer, ems officer, etc...)
 
My Volunteer fire depratment uses:


C-1-C-7 are officers


Edward 1-? are general members. I'm Edward 9 on here.


Ambulance uses:


Mary 501-507 (officers) im 505 here.


Mary 508-5?? are general members. However, the longer you are on, and as others quit your number goes down.


Dan
 
Heres is how most departments in my county do theirs.


My station is Station 15


Station= Station 15 or 1500


Chief = Chief 1-15


Asst Chief = Cheif 2-15


Captain = Captain 1-15, 2-15, ect


LT. = Lieutenant 1-15, 2-15, ect


Each firefighter just has a 4 didget number assigned to them. EX. 1525. Heres how it would sound over the radio: Chief 215 to 1525.


Or in the case of talking to a mutual aid dept: Chief 2-15 to Chief 1-18.
 
Station is 500 (or 200, 300, 400, 600 etc)


Chief is 510


Personnel unit numbers run from 511 on up


First out engine is 501


Tanker 502


Rescue 503


Grass truck 504


Backup engine 505


Etc depending on the station's apparatus


All stations are dispatched from the same center, so station 600, 400, etc. are all done exactly the same, and everyone in the area can understand it
 
One squad where I work you get a number when you join, like a badge number. Mine is 314. We use a regional dispatch center and our squad number is 7050. The chief is 7050 chief, the captain is 7050 captain, and so on for the other ranks. The captain and Lts keep their badge number and if needed on the radio we will ask for 7050 capt. Our ambos dont have fixed numbers so the first truck out is 7051 then the next is 7052.
 
Here's how it works in my county/region:


XXXX


First two numbers dictate the agency, second two dictate the vehicle/person.


IE...


7321: 73 means Chenango Ambulance, 2 means ambulance, 1 is the ambulance number. IE 7321, 7322, 7323.


7351: Chenango Ambulance Flycar 1.


7387: This is my personal identifier as a BLS Crew Chief.


7301: The executive chief, 7302/3/4/etc are the other officers.


Pretty good system in my opinion.
 
My agency assigns radio unit numbers based on what division you work in.


P Units are Patrol (Example: "Paul 65")


L Units are Patrol Supervisors (Example: "Lincoln 15")


A Units are Administration (Example: "Adam 10")


D Units are Detectives (Example: "David 20")


T Units are Training Instructors (Example: "Tom 30")


C Units are Communications / Dispatch (Example: "Charles 5")


..and so on.
 
in my county each dept has a block of number assigned to them for example my dept is 400-499


chief is 401 asst chief is 402 and the other officers are 403-409 all the other firefighter are 410-450


and out trucks start at 451-461


my old dept's block was 1900-1999


works pretty good i think and of course as u move up in rank your number will change if u go from a FF to a officer but thats how we do it here
 
At my full time job at the ambulance service we are assigned, what we call an LS (Life Saver named back in the day) number, this is specific to person mine is 151, so if I am by myself and need to call dispatch it is: LS-151 to Med-Comm. Med-comm being our dispatch


Our transport units are Medic 1-12 number by the station they respond from. Some stations have multiple units and those are the Medic 21 (2nd truck out of station 1) Medic 31 (3rd truck out) and so on.


Admin are "Units" Unit 1 being the CEO Unit 2 the COO


Field Supervisors are "Alpha" units


Shift Supervisors are all referred to as Bravo 300 no matter the shift as there is only 1 on at a time. They also still use their LS number when needed.


At the Rescue Squad we are 500 series numbers. Everyone has an assigned number. Officers still have an assigned number that is used for anything other than official squad business.


501 being director


502 Deputy Director


503 Secretary


Then 508-599 assigned to each person


At the VFD we are station 407 so units are 407-whatever (pumper, rescue, tanker) individuals are 407-A being the station captain and each person has an assigned letter.
 
A common theme among law enforcement in Iowa is, ##-##. All 99 counties in Iowa are number alphabetically. My county happens to be 86, so the first number in my badge number is 86. Sheriff's departments start at 86-1, for example, with "1" being the Sheriff. Normally, rank goes down from there, with 86-2 being the chief deputy, 86-3 being a detective or senior patrol deputy, and so on.


Since I work for a municipality, the second set of numbers is split into groups of ten, starting at 40's for my town. My town is 86-40's, our sister town is 86-50's, and so on for other agencies. The lower the number, the higher the rank.
 
My department uses a simple system. I am with station 6 so I am 607. -01 numbers are for captains & -02 thru -04 is for lieutenants. Lower your number the more seniority you have. Engines have a -31 number so Engine 6's personal unit number is actually 631. Chiefs just use FC1, FC2, & so on.
 
At work im 1228. Our 1200 numbers are 1200-1210 being the "company" security guys and 1220 on being the contractors. Fire inspectors are 1300's. Outside of work Im Adam-619 for the Ambo. Adam-6 being the service #.
 
To expand on Emtpruitt


Sheriffs are 200 units 200 being sheriff 201 -299 deputies


City Police Car 1 chief car 2- whatever patrol and so on


City Fire 300 Units each person gets a 300 number vehicles are listed as engine 1 -3 truck and so on


County Fire is 400 units 400-405 are EMA Chief asst. chiefs


407- 419 are stations


407 is Park City


Each station has a Engine,Tanker and Rescue/Brush Truck


so those are 407 Engine


then each member on the station is identified by an alpha identifier


407a is captain


407b is Lt


the list goes on and is ranked by seniority


Dispatch knows who we are and what we are qualified for, So when Medical calls go out they can report to EMS that First Responders/EMTs or Medics are enroute or onscene


It works well enough
 
My department uses a letter followed by (typically) four numbers. The letter is the district (aka precinct) next is shift (1-mids, 2-days, 3- afts) next area of patrol within the district and the last two are your place amongst your squad, starting with 00 as the Sgt. and ending with "80" our public service aide (civilian that handles crashes and minor criminal reports) The exception to this is the admin and specialized units.


So if I'm M-1305 I work in the Midwest district, midnights, area 3 and I'm the 5th senior squad member. M-1000 is the mids Lt., M-3300 the afts area 3 Sgt. M-1 the district Major, M-2 the Cpt. and so on.


Gives everyone a unique number and you can tell a lot just by it.
 
Police


dept # followed by rank and or sector


chief - 74c


captain - 74c1


lt - 74L


sgt. - 74S - also depending on squad or shift 74s1,2,3,4,5 and seniority


corporal - 74R - same as sgt


detective - 74i


k-9 - 74k


special detail - 74x


general sector - 7411,7421,7431,7441,etc


transport units - 74t


fire


station # followed by rank


chief - c66


deputy - dc66


asst. - ac66


battalion - bc66


in our system fire captains,lts are not given id's but some depts when filling in they assume a battalion id as unit bc66-1,etc
 
The one local police department uses this style.


Base radio is 500


Chief of Police is 501


Shift OIC's are 502-510


Then they split the coverage area into 2 zones


Zone 1 has 511-520


Zone 2 has 521-530


The car you're in (ie. the number painted on the side of your car) is what you designation you use for contacting dispatch. Also here at the dispatch center we attach the officers badge number into the CAD with his car so we know whos who. And the K9 officer's car is a take home unit that he keeps for the dog and is designated as 502K since he's an OIC and the K9 officer.
 
Bigassfireman said:
Being permanant to the person would prohibit any kind of sensible numbering system IMO.

I agree.


My call department:


Chief is Car 1


Deputies are Car 2 and Car 3


Captains are Car 4 and Car 5


Lieutenants are 61, 62, 63, 64, 65


Firefighters are 101 and up


My full-time department:


Chief is Car 1


Captain is Car 2


Lieutenants are Car 3, Car 4 and Car 5


Career firefighters are F-1 through F-8


Call firefighters are F-10 andup


I guess you could assign someone a number, then add a 'C' to designate them an officer...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pursuit said:
My agency assigns radio unit numbers based on what division you work in.

P Units are Patrol (Example: "Paul 65")


L Units are Patrol Supervisors (Example: "Lincoln 15")


A Units are Administration (Example: "Adam 10")


D Units are Detectives (Example: "David 20")


T Units are Training Instructors (Example: "Tom 30")


C Units are Communications / Dispatch (Example: "Charles 5")


..and so on.

Similar to ours. Only we have different Identifiers. T-Traffic, P-Patrol, M-Motors, W-Non-Sworn, E/X- Explorer. Everyone has their own radio callsign number.


During agency assists and other agency stuff we have our own numerical identifier that goes ifo it.


Ex. 4 P 277, or 4 T 22
 
Each department in my county is numbered alphabetically. We are 13th so all our numbers start with 13. The county has a standardized numbering scheme for apparatus; it uses the last digit of any unit number. Engines are 1, 2, and 3, aerials are 4, tankers/ETAs are 5 and 6, ambulances/rescues are 7, and any misc. is 8 and 9. That means one of our engines would be 131, 132, 133, our ambo is 137, our brush truck 138 etc. Chiefs are given the department's base number (130 for mine). So our chief is Car 130, 1st. Asst. is 130-01, etc.


If you have more apparatus than the 10-digit system allows, then your dept. number adds 200. So once we filled Engines 131, 132, and 133, we would go to 331, 332, and 333. If your dept. only has 2 digits e.g. 20 (ffjwhite's dept) you still add 200. So their engines would be 21, 22, and 23, then would go to 221, 222, 223 etc.
 
Lt. Dino said:

Me too.


The local Sheriff's Office utilizes a permanent badge number system for ALL employees (civilian & sworn).


My badge number was 1934. Which means that I am the one thousand, nine hundred and thirty forth employee of the sheriff's office. If I become a patrol deputy, my radio call sign with reflect the shift and beat that I am assigned. (ie 1A6, 1B11, etc...).


If I promoted to Sargent, I would maintain my badge number however my radio call sign would be S1 (sam-1) through whatever the next number available is.


Promoted to Lieutenant, I would still maintain my badge number however my radio call sign would be LT1 (Lincoln-1)...


Same applies to executive staff (Sheriff, Chief Deputy, and Captains). Pinal-1, Pinal-2, Pinal-3, and Pinal-4.


We recently elected a new sheriff within the last 2 years and his badge number is higher than mine, but his radio call sign is Pinal-1 (P1).
 
In my counties, yes 2 lol, one county does for my department,


Department Chief= 5700


Deputy Department Chief =5701 and 5702


Company Chief =1100 or 1200 or 2300<-- EMS Chief


Assistant Chief= 1101 or 1201


Engine Captains= 1102 or 1202


Rescue Captains= 1103 or 1203 or 90 thru 99


Lieutenants= 1104 or 1204


Safety= 5740 or 1140 or 1240


Fire Police Captains= 1170 or 1270


Fire Police Lieutenants= 1171 or 1271


Firefighters is 1 thru 200 ie.. firefighter 101


my other county


Chief= Chief 21


Deputy Chief= Deputy 21


Assistant Chief =Asst 21 <--Me


Captain = Capt 21


Lieutenant= LT 21


Safety= Safety 21
 
Here's what we use:


"a chief" is a 30-something.


Chief of dept: 30


1st ass't chief: 31


2nd ass't chief: 32


3rd ass't chief: 33


etc


Captains are 50-somethings, based on unit number


Captain of Engine 1: 51


Captain of Engine 2: 52


etc


1st Lieut's are 60-somethings based on unit number


1st Lieut of Engine 1: 61


1st Lieut of Engine 2: 62


2nd Lieut's are 70-somethings


2nd Lieut of Engine 1: 71


2nd Lieut of Engine 2: 72


See a pattern? First number is rank, and the lower the number the higher the rank. The second number identifies what company he/she is from.


You probably noticed I skipped 40's, thats for fire marshals but uses the same thing (not a rank in most dept but used as a town-wide agency)


Our full identifiers are numbers separated by dashes. The first number is the division (town) you are from, the second number is the department (hamlet/village) you are from, and the third is your number (personal identifier/unit number)


Example:


I am from Babylon Village (2) which is within the Town of Babylon (1) so therefore my truck is 1-2-7. If I were the captain, my identifier would be 1-2-57. Dispatchers/stations are 0, so our townwide dispatchers over at Babylon Central Fire Alarm would be 1-0-0. If you were manning the base radio at the firehouse your identifier would be 1-2-0


Another example, if I hear a unit on the radio use the identifier 3-17-18, I know who it is because 3 means Town of Islip, 17 means West Islip FD, and 18 is the unit number. WIFD's dispatchers would be 3-17-0, whereas a Town of Islip townwide dispatcher would be 3-0-0


make sense?
 
County wide system for us.


I volly in county district 26 at station 2 therefore we are known as sta 262


chief is 2620


deputy is 2602


ass chief is 2604


captain is 2606


lt is 2808


At station 1 it is similar just with odd numbers


chief is 2610


deputy is 2601


ass is 2603


capt is 2605


lt is 2607


trucks are also numbered on a county system so you know where its coming from and what type of apparatus it is. Once a unit signs on the air we can tell if engine 1 from station 262 is coming by their unit designation.


engine 2621


engine 2612


rescue 2628


quint 2614


tender 2626


tender 2627


utility 2618


utility 2629
 
Here is what the agencies I am on do.


My VFD:


Station 30


-Apparatus: Engine 31, Tanker 32, Boat 33, Truck (Squad/Brush) 34, Engine 35, Rescue 37


-Personnel: Cheif: 301, First Asst (also Training Officer): 302, Second Asst (also Maintenance Officer): 303, and Captains (in order of rank) 304, 305, 306, 307. Firefighters are 308 and up in no particular order...rank goes to the most experience and longest serving member to be in charge should a rare instance occur that there is not an office on scene. I'm BVFD 321. So there are quite a few guys with unit numbers below mine, with less experience, but if I'm there and the one with the most experience, I'm in charge...all pretty common sense stuff.


-This is pretty universal county wide on structure. Some departments that are larger have more officers. All departments apparatus is Type of apparatus, followed by number (all are two digits, So Station 10 Engine is Engine 10, Station 20 Rescue is Rescue 28, etc).


-The EMS in the county is all paid and ALS. One service owned by a the hospital is 401-410ish, then the other is 411-420, then after that if they have more units it just overflows to anything above 421 I think. Any other service that is non 911 I'm not sure how they work.


My volly ambulance service:


-Apparatus: Ambulance is the state unit registration number, which is four digits. On the radio out call sign is just the name of the service since we only have one ambulance.


-Personnel: Unit numbers are just SW then your number, so I'm SW-14.


-The command structure is different. We have a Coordination (who is our Chief more or less), but he doesn't always have command on scene. The first arriving EMT on scene has command and is lead EMT, unless that EMT requests that another EMT assume the command position for the medical operations.


-The Fire Services in the county have a non-universal apparatus numbering system or personnel numbering system, so it is more department by department. Sounds crazy, and kind of is in some respects, but everyone here knows how it works and its not that difficult...just not as organized county wide as other areas. The two other volly ambulance services just use their name as the call sign on the radio for their ambulance, but I'm not sure on their units (one is three digit unit numbers preceded by their name, but I'm not sure on the other...I think it may be the same).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In our area dispatch provides service for 38 fire/EMS agencies. Our numbering system is set up so the department number is first followed by a what type of apparatus or if an officer then the number of that piece.


Department 1's Ambulance #1 is 1-Ambulance-1. Officer's are just "C", so their Chief is 1-C-1. The "C" numbers can go as high as the Chief wants and are generally in order of rank.


We have "C"'s for officers, Ambulance, Boat, Engine, Forestry, Ladder, Tanker, Tower, and Rescue. So department 35's Engine #5 is 35-Engine-5.


That's the format dispatch has used here since they opened their doors in the the 70's. There have been changes like Engines used to be called M's (I have no idea why) and Ambulances could be called either A's (for obvious reasons) or X's (again, no idea). And X could also be a Rescue :bonk: . So if 23X1 was responding you didn't know if it was an Ambulance or a Rescue.
 
My dept goes by the following


Fire Dept Issued Units


Chief of Dept Car 41


Asst Chief Car 42


Chief Fire Marshal Car 43 /FM1


Co#1 Officers as follows


Dep Chief Car 44


C1 Capt


LTs are 11 through 15


Co#2


Dep Chief Car 45


C2 Capt


Lts 21-25


Co#3


Dep Chief Car 46


C3 Capt


Lts 31-36


Company 4/Fire Explorers


Car/Unit 84


EMS


166-1 and 166-2 ambulances


166-3 Medic Fly car


166-4 Backup Fly Car
 
Our County designators are:


Village Designator is 64


Chief 64 (in either POV or Dept POS SUV)


1st Asst Chief 64-0 (POV )


2nd Asst Chief 64-9 (POV)


Station 1 is Rescue /Steamer 67


Engine/Rescue 67-1 (primary apparatus)


Station 2 is Hose Company 64


Engine is 64-1 (primary apparatus)


Utility is 64-2 (secondary apparatus)


Station 3 is Ladder Company 66


Ladder is 66-1 (primary apparatus)


Brush is 66-1 (seconder apparatus)


Members are assigned a 3 digit number which we hardly use on the radio,only paperwork mostly.


Mine is 313,the same callsign our Village Dispatch uses to identify themselves ( as thier FCC callsign is KNAI313)


I am pushing them to utilize radio IDs for fireground ops, such a 66-2Alpha,Bravo,Charlie etc to signify jumpseat radios/crew


Sounds goofy when they just say " hey john,I got water for the bucket now" or " deshawn,grab some forestry and bring it over to 67-1"


:)
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
55,136
Messages
454,372
Members
19,709
Latest member
Hollowpoint451