Thurston County (WA)

Terms heard over the air and their descriptions

A -

Aid # - Aid vehicle from the fire department. Provides BLS aid. ie: "Aid-91"

ALS - Advanced Life Support - Paramedics - Medic One units

A.O.B. - Alcohol On Breath

Arriving - Arriving on scene, arriving on location.

B -

BLS - Basic Life Support - EMTs - Emergency Medical Technicians

BLS Yellow - A 911 response but doesn't require lights & sirens (emergency but not urgent)

Business Check - Officer is out of car checking a local business.

C -

Canceled - Need at the scene is no longer needed.

Capital - Thurston County Dept. of Communication - Used to ID the Dispatch Center (Fire side)

CAPCOM - Used to identify an emergency or returned warrant traffic. Thurston County Dept. of Communication

Clear - Done at the scene or done at the current call location.

Code 2 - Responding with Emergency Lights

Code 3 - Responding with Emergency Lights and Sirens

Code 9 - County Coroner

Code 10 - Emergency Traffic Only. Hold the channel for the current emergency.

Code 12 - Ambulance / Private Carrier

Corrective Lenses - Subject is supposed to wear glasses or contacts to drive

D -

Domestic - Family / household disturbance

E -

EMT - Emergency Medical Technician

Engine # - Fire Engine from the fire department. ie: Engine O1

Enroute - On the way to the scene, enroute to the location

F -

Fully Involved - Structure is fully engulfed in fire

G -

G.O.A. - Gone On Arrival

H -

HAZMAT - Hazardous Materials or Hazardous Material Team

H.B.D. - Has Been Drinking

I -

In Service Returning - Finished at the scene, returning to quarters and ready for the next call.

J -

K -

Keep The Peace - Maintain civility between two parties while they encounter each other.

L -

Landline - Telephone. "Can you landline Data?" means to make a phone call to CAPCOM's Data desk/dispatcher.

L.O.C - Level Of Consciousness - a measurement of a person's arousability and responsiveness to stimuli from the environment.

M -

M.V.A. - Motor Vehicle Accident

N -

O -

On Scene - Arrived on the scene of the emergency, on location.

On Standby - Manned and ready to respond if needed. Usually On Standby at the station.

Open Line - Telephone receiver off the hook with a call initiated. Can hear background noises.

Open Mic - Someone's transmit button is stuck "ON" and transmitting.

Out of Service - Not available to respond to calls. Going home for the night.

P -

P.O.V - Privately Owned Vehicle.

Priority Traffic - Emergency radio traffic. Sort of a "take my call on the radio first" situation.

Private Carrier - Ambulance. Usually American Medical Response or Olympic Ambulance.

Q -

R -

Radio - Thurston County Dept. of Communication - Used to ID the Dispatch Center (Law Enforcement Side)

Repeat Traffic - Radio traffic wasn't understood, please repeat what was said.

Repeat Transmission - Radio transmission wasn't understood, please repeat what was said.

Rescue # - Rescue vehicle from the fire department, provides BLS aid. ie: "Rescue 81"

Returning - Returning to station. Usually due to a cancellation.

R.O. - Registered Owner

Rollover - Vehicle rollover.

R.P. - Reporting Party

S -

Status or Status Check - Report your status to Radio. Dispatch is checking the welfare of the officer.

T -

Tender # - Tender vehicle from the fire department, Tenders carry large amounts of water to the scene where a fire hydrant might not be available.

Traffic - Requesting a vehicle traffic check. The phonetic spelling of the license plate will follow shortly after.

Transporting - Transporting patient(s) to hospital. Transporting suspect to station or jail.

U -

U.T.L. = Unable To Locate

V -

W -

Welfare Check - Check the well-being of an occupant or subject

X -

Y -

Z -

Unit Numbers

It is broken down into 3 parts
-The first number:
-1= Thurston County Sheriff’s office
-2= Olympia Police
-3= Lacey Police
-4= Tumwater Police
-5= Tenino Police (which covers Rainier and Bucoda)
-6= Yelm Police
-7= Not used, used to be Rainier
-8= Nisqually Tribal Police
-9= Coroners office
-10= CAPCOM employees.
-A letter spoken phonetically which represents the area in the city.
-Another number which is the officer’s number
Examples: 2-Union-6, 3-Paul-24

Businesses

• Puget Sound Energy

Amateur Radio

• Thurston County (WA) Amateur Radio repeaters on Repeaterbook.com

Amateur Radio
147.36- Olympia Amateur Radio Society (OARS) Repeater
224.26- Olympia Amateur Radio Society (OARS) Repeater
441.40- Olympia Amateur Radio Society (OARS) Repeater
147.06- BawFaw Repeater
145.47- Capital Peak Repeater