The Dane County Fire Department/Emergency Medical Services Radio Communications Protocol was originally developed under the direction and guidance of the Dane County Fire Chief's Association and the Dane County Public Safety Communications Center with the following goals in mind:

Establish a guide to facilitate uniform countywide fire service radio communications,

Facilitate effective and safe emergency operations by establishing standards for radio channel utilization,

Improve fireground safety.

Due to the close working relationship between the Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services within Dane County, it was recognized that everyone involved would be better served by having a consolidated and coordinated radio communications protocol.  A quality improvement (QI) team made up of representatives from City of Madison and Dane County fire and EMS services and the Dane County Public Safety Communications Center worked together throughout 1997 to bring about a consolidated protocol.  Below is a listing of the Dane County Operational Frequencies which went into effect March 1, 1998.

The Shorewood Hills Fire Department is most often assigned to Channel B-Baker when responding to an emergency call, but with the pool of channel available the Communications Center could assign our Department to any of the response channels.