Odd, even, north or south – how do I get there? Map
reading basics for dispatchers.
One of the most basic tasks and yet awkward to teach is
geography. How does one help a new dispatcher learn the jurisdiction of an
agency’s response zones, especially a large area? Having an understanding of
how the department’s assigned area is laid out will help in the taking of calls
for service, coordinating of radio traffic, and handling of in-progress
incidents.
First, one must know how what reference books are
available for his or her communications center. For example, in a previous
agency, I had a standard Thomas Guide (street map), City Water Dept. map, and a
map of the city with the police beats & state census tracts marked out.
Each radio station had the same City map, but the fire side had the response
districts while the police one had the beats. At my current one, I have
multiple maps of the state (we’re a State-wide dispatch), a topographical atlas
showing detailed locations of water guzzlers, multiple water maps of specific
areas, maps of state & regional parks, hunt zone maps, and endless on-line
reference resources. At one point, I’ve used each of them.
Learning how a city or county is set up may not be easy
from just looking at a map book. One needs to get outside. This is where
ride-alongs come in. Nothing beats seeing visual references. Take photographs
and make notes during your time in the field. Instruct the trainee to drive a
different route to work each day, take a new off ramp or use a new street on the
way home (keeping safety in mind, of course). I made a point of going to some of
the closer parks we patrol on my days off (I took my dog with me and made it an
outing).
Break up major streets by 500 or one thousand numbers.
Are there themed streets (animals, famous persons)? What are common places
(parks, marinas, schools, recreation attractions, etc.), trouble areas, famous
landmarks, bridges, or tunnels that may come up regularly? What side of the
street is north, south, east, or west? How common place can be used as a
reference to describe each direction (east is ‘the hills’ while west is ‘the
bay’). Figure out the same for even verses odd numbers. This will help when
speaking with callers unfamiliar with the area or even field personnel (yes,
they get lost, too).
A standard map guide for cities will show a portion of a
city or county. You can look up a street name, park, school, or other reference
in the index. The pages are set up in a grid-format. The Thomas Guide (one of
the more common maps) will give you a map, along with a letter and number (i.e.
54B5) in the index. That is the map page and grid reference. You then go to
page 54 and look up grid B-5 for the street name in question. Other maps use a
similar format. If you are looking for details on city or county streets, this
is the map to grab.
A topographical map shows elevations and geographical
features. This is helpful to folks who like to hike, camp, or utilize the
outdoors as part of their daily activities. Topo maps may not have details on
streets, but they do show major cities and highways. These maps are great sources for lakes,
rivers, mountain ranges, deserts, state & national parks, and hunting
units.
If you are looking for information on an individual
place, you may have such a source within your agency. If not, why not try that
places’ website? As a State agency, our patrol area is huge, so we can’t
possibly have detailed maps in dispatch for every spot we cover. We utilize
many on-line sites to get local maps, such as the Nevada State Parks to see
maps & photographs of individual parks. Another reference I use is a
website that allows me to search out names of geographical places (mines, lakes,
mountain ranges). I set up a folder ahead of time with searches for various
topo features so all I have to do is type in a name, or partial name, when I’m
looking for a particular feature. One can do the same with GPS coordinates,
providing you enter the correct format.
Below are some links to common geography help sites. Good
luck!
stay safe out there!
Lat-long.com for searching out multiple features in a designated state
Nevada State Parks (as an example of state resources)
unique street name look-up
ZIP Code look-up
driving directions
http://maps.randmcnally.com/
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