Montana Mutual Aid & Common Frequecies (MT)

The following excerpts are from Mutual Aid and Common Frequencies Manual, Third Edition, Montana Department of Administration, Public Safety Radio Communications Program 2005.

Montana Mutual Aid and Common Frequencies

Mutual aid and common frequencies have come to be recognized as the most valuable public safety radio resource because they are the means by which responders from different agencies and different public safety services can communicate and interoperate. Rarely does an incident of any magnitude occur in which a single agency is the lone and sole service provider. Whether they are the standby EMS and fire suppression resources during a barricaded suspect call or the traffic control and evacuation resources during an urban interface fire, public safety agencies need to interoperate in today’s world of incident response.

No degree of interoperability is possible without common communications. In Montana, fourteen mutual aid and six common frequencies provide the basis for interagency radio communications.

Mutual aid refers to frequencies designated for interagency communications that are licensed statewide. Authorization for their use is given through agreement with the State of Montana.

The term common refers to frequencies designated for interagency communications, but not licensed statewide as mutual aid. They must be licensed by the using agency or used under agreement with a license holder for communications with that entity. Some are only available by agreement for communications with the license holder (e.g. State Lands and U.S. Forest Service common channels). For purposes of this manual, the term “common” will be used for frequencies recognized across the state.

Color Names

The term “mutual aid” means different things to different people, even when restricted to radio. When used to name a frequency or particular channel, it often leads to confusion over just which mutual aid frequency is being referred to. In public safety radio where clarity and simplicity of communications are essential, long and contrived names for basic tools are burdensome. For this reason, the color names on the following page are offered for use in reference to mutual aid and common frequencies.

Each is also given a descriptive title to clarify its use. Color names were chosen because the names are short, commonly recognized, and have been linked with associative memory.

The following is a list of Mutual Aid and Common Frequencies in Montana:

MUTUAL AID		
		
'''Frequency  Color	Usage'''
153.9050      GOLD	State Common Mutual Aid
155.4750      BLUE	National Law Enforcement Emergency
155.7900      SILVER	State Law Enforcement Mutual Aide
153.8000      BLACK	State Tactical Team Coordination
154.0700      RED	State Fire Mutual Aid
154.2800      MAROON	State Fire Comand & Control
154.2650      CORAL	State Fireground #1
154.2950      SCARLET	State Fireground #2
153.8300      RUBY	State Fire Repeater
159.3450      GARNET	State Fire Repeater Control
155.2800      WHITE	State Local Hospital to Ambulance
155.3400      TAN	State Regional Hospital to Ambulance
155.3250      GRAY	EMS Central Region Dispatch & Paging
155.3850      PINK	EMS East/West Region Dispatch & Paging
		
COMMON

'''Frequency	Color	Usage	'''	
155.8200      BROWN	State DES Direction & Control
155.1600      VIOLET	National Search & Rescue
155.2200      PURPLE	State Search & Rescue
151.2200      YELLOW	State Foresty -- DNRC
171.4750      GREEN	US Forest Service Common