Self Care
Operating and being part of Shift Command can be intense, just like the rest of Rangering can be intense. Remember that the IMS will not catch fire if you need to take a bio break and get some water or a snack during your Operator shift. Just like any other aspect of being in BRC, a little bit of self care during your Operator shift will make a big difference in your experience. It’s okay to turn your radio off for a few minutes and walk away from the Shack, even if you don’t have a partner (just let Khaki know you need a break). It’s okay if you miss an incident or update here and there -- we promise the city will not burn down while you’re in the blue room.
Splitting the City
On your shift, the Shift Command Team may have to split the city, also called a zoned shift. This means the city is cut into halves and one half of the Rangers in the city will be on Control 1 and the other half will be on Control 2. They will have different Shift Leads on their channels responding to Khaki. This type of structure is more complicated, but we think it will scale better as the BRC continues to grow.
Obviously this presents some challenges to the Operators, since this means that as a team we will have to monitor three radio channels on these shifts (not just two). Decide between yourselves who will monitor Control 1 or 2, which should correspond to incidents happening in one half of the city (3 o'clock side and 9 o'clock side). All zoned shifts will require at least two Operators - don’t try to Operate a zoned shift by yourself. If the Shift Leads have decided to run a split city and you lack an Operator partner, let Khaki know immediately that you need backup.
Pro-Tip: make sure you a radio with a headset mic from HQ if you will be Operating a zoned shift -- it will be less confusing if at least one Operator partner has their radio speaking directly into their ear.
The WESL
Starting in 2018, Ranger Shift Command began a program in partnership with ESD known as WESL (which grew out of Emergency Services Liaison during an all-day meeting with too much coffee). This program puts an experienced Ranger inside the Comm Shack with all of ESD's dispatchers. The WESL is responsible for acting on the calls that come up on Control-1 for ESD-type resources (medical, fire, law enforcement) which Khaki previously used to relay to Black Rock on the BRC911 channel.
Besides just knowing what's happening when you hear the callsign "WESL" on Control-1, you as Operator should make sure to continue to log the ESD-related requests and updates made by Rangers. Also, make sure to note in IMS when the incident is handed off by Khaki to the WESL and ESD.
In other words, when there is a WESL on duty, the WESL and Khaki will be communicating about the ESD resources on Control-1 (not on the BRC911 channel as in previous years). Khaki will probably still talk to Black Rock on BRC911 occasionally (so Operators should still monitor BRC911 along with Control-1), but many of the requests to ESD that used to happen on BRC911 will now be happening on Control-1.
Operators should feel free to call the WESL to request more info on Ranger Admin or Control-1 (if it's quiet) as necessary.
Duplicate and Recurring Incidents
Sometimes, we make a mistake and create an incident that is identical to an existing incident. It’s OK! We’re all human here. However, if you realize that IMS#455 is the exact same medical that the Operator on shift before you was documenting in #449 - STOP. For the sake of sane record-keeping, we want you to try to put all of the unfolding details in the ORIGINAL incident, with a note in the duplicate incident that “This is a duplicate incident IMS#455 (or whatever)”. Please use the word “duplicate” to clearly indicate the relationship between the two incidents. After that, make sure all further info gets recorded back in the original incident.
Examples (note the time-stamps to see how the incidents overlap)
Incident #341:
23:20: 2&C inflatable castle
30ish man unconscious and breathing
23:26: correction semi-conscious, appears altered - location is 10 & C (not 2 & C)
23:26: medical requested
23:55: medical has not responded - patient is sitting up
00:02: patient is now lying down - medical was confused on location, but is on their way back out
00:07: medical arrived at port-o-potty, but they were on the wrong side of town (2 not 10) - re-distpatched
00:18: patient is being transported - rangers clear
Incident #343:
23:32: 10& C at port-o-potty need medical?
might be related to earlier call?
00:03: this was a duplicate of incident #341
Recurring or related incidents are a bit trickier - this is a situation like when we get repeated complaints about the same theme camp / participant(s) / mutant vehicles over the course of many days. Recurring incidents are things that die down and flare up again. ie. Rangers received a complaint about Loud Ass Bass camp Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, despite the situation being rangered every time and supposedly come to a resolution. There is relatedness, but they aren't the SAME incident. These should get different IMS ticket numbers and be documented as separate incidents. When relatedness is identified, please indicate it in the note, ie. "this incident is related to IMS 433" or "this is a recurring incident, see IMS 633 and 743".
Some rules of thumb for recurring or related incidents:
1. How much time has elapsed between the thing that happened before, and the thing that is happening now?
If it’s been more than 6 hours since the last report of that situation, it can be considered a recurring incident.
2. Was the previous situation marked as “closed” in IMS? Was there a resolution documented?
If so, it’s likely that this is a recurring incident.
3. Who is calling it in?
If you notice that the same ranger is calling in about something, it is likely that it could be a duplicate incident.
4. Remember that we use #hashtags in IMS to connect the dots for the worst of our repeat offenders.
Recurring or related incidents are good candidates for hashtags.