Code 3 Response
Encyclopedia
The emergency service
s in various countries use systems of response codes to categorize their responses to reported events. One of the best known is the Code 3 Response, which is used in several countries, particularly the United States
, to describe a mode of response for an emergency vehicle responding to a call. It is commonly used to mean "use lights and siren."
Code 3 was the title to a 1950s television police procedural
intended to compete with Dragnet.
Some slang may be used, such as "Running Hot", or "Running Cold".
Some departments may use the terms upgrade, and downgrade as well. If a unit is responding to a call without lights or sirens (code 1), and the unit later needs to turn on lights and sirens (code 3), the term upgrade may be used. The term downgrade may be used in the opposite situation.
Some Paramedic
/EMS agencies use Priority terms, which run in the opposite of code responses.
There is also a grading system related to new computer systems coming online with several police forces across the country:
The information provided to Ambulance Victoria at the time of the triple zero call generates a case type and ambulance response code depending on the severity of the emergency.
There are three types of ambulance response:
Code 1: A time critical case with a lights and sirens ambulance response. An example is a cardiac arrest or serious traffic accident.
Code 2: An acute but non-time critical response. The ambulance does not use lights and sirens to respond. An example of this response code is a broken leg.
Code 3: A non-urgent routine case. These include cases such as a person with ongoing back pain but no recent injury.
Source: http://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/Ambulance-Victoria/Operations/Response-Codes.html
Please note additional codes are used, but these are for internal purposes.
Country Fire Authority
There are two types of response for the Country Fire Authority which cover the outer Melbourne Area. These are similar to those used by Ambulance Victoria
, minus the use of Code 2.
Code 1: A time critical event with response requiring lights and siren. This usually is a known and going fire or a rescue incident.
Code 2: Unused within the Country Fire Authority
Code 3: Non-urgent event, such as a previously extinguished fire or community service cases (such as animal rescue or changing of smoke alarm batteries for the elderly).
Proceed: To drive to an incident, without displaying lights and/or sirens and to obey all road rules.
Respond: To drive to an incident, urgently but safely, whilst displaying lights and/or sirens. Some exemptions exist for emergency drivers (for example: proceeding through a red light after stopping and when safe) though all road rules still must be obeyed. The siren can be switched off at the discretion of the driver when it is not needed (for example, when the road ahead is clear of traffic and easily visible) and reactivated at possible traffic hazards.
use a category system.
Category A - Lights and Sirens, Life threatening respond within 7 minutes, patient not breathing, CPR in Progress or child under 6 years old, Two units to respond
Category B - Lights and Sirens, Life threatening respond within 15 minutes.
Category C - No lights and Sirens, respond within 60 minutes
Category 5 - Routine Transfer
Category 6 - Routine Transfer
The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, Country Fire Service
and South Australian State Emergency Service
use a Priority System
Priority 1 (P1) - Immediate Life Threat - Lights and Sirens, usually multi-vehicle or multi-agency response
Priority 2 (P2) - Potential Life Threat - Lights and Sirens
Priority 3 (P3) - No Immediate Threat - No lights and sirens. Usually used for residential storm damage, Police support such as Search and Rescue
or provide lighting.
Priority 4 (P4) - Routine Call
uses the priority system;
Code 1 - Life threatening, lights and sirens/no sirens (situation pending)
Code 2 - Serious or Time Critical (such as breakers on), lights and sirens
Code 3 - Proceed normal traffic conditions, no lights or sirens
Code 4 - Negotiate time to respond and attend (Rarely used)
Emergency or Non-Emergency. Emergency can be broken down into Life threatening or Non-life Threatening.
Emergency: Life Threatening - Respond lights and sirens
Emergency:Non-Life Threatening - Respond with out lights and sirens
Non Emergency: Respond with out lights and sirens
Priority 1 represents an Emergency call. (Response time target is to attend to 90% of emergency calls within 15 minutes)
Priority 2 represents an Urgent call. (Response time target is to attend to 90% of urgent calls within 25 minutes)
Priority 3 represents a Non-urgent call. (response time target is to attend to 90% of non-urgent calls within 60 minutes)
(NIMS) states "it is required that plain language be used for multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction and multi-discipline events, such as major disasters and exercises" and federal grants became contingent on this beginning fiscal year 2006. NIMS also strongly encourages the use of plain language for internal use within a single agency.
Emergency service
Emergency services are organizations which ensure public safety and health by addressing different emergencies. Some agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies whilst others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities...
s in various countries use systems of response codes to categorize their responses to reported events. One of the best known is the Code 3 Response, which is used in several countries, particularly the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to describe a mode of response for an emergency vehicle responding to a call. It is commonly used to mean "use lights and siren."
Use of "Code 3"
Although the exact origin of Code 3 is not clearly known, its use has spread across the United States and into parts of Canada.Code 3 was the title to a 1950s television police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
intended to compete with Dragnet.
Response Codes
The most commonly used response codes are:- CODE 1: Non-emergency response. No lights or siren, following traffic laws.
- CODE 2: Moderately fast. Lights and siren used for intersections and/or heavy traffic.
- CODE 3: Emergency response. Lights and siren used. Fast response.
- CODE 4: All clear or I am okay. Also used to tell another unit they can disregard.
- CODE 5: Area under surveillance. All marked units stay out of area.
- CODE 6: Calling for a cover unit(s).
- CODE 7: Lunch break.
- CODE 8: Confidential information.
- CODE 9: All non-emergency traffic stay off the radio. A beep transmits over the air every couple of seconds.
- CODE 0: Big emergency. All units in the area respond code 3 to the units' location.
Alternative Terminology
In some agencies, Code 3 is also called a Hot Response. Code 1 is also called a Cold Response.Some slang may be used, such as "Running Hot", or "Running Cold".
Some departments may use the terms upgrade, and downgrade as well. If a unit is responding to a call without lights or sirens (code 1), and the unit later needs to turn on lights and sirens (code 3), the term upgrade may be used. The term downgrade may be used in the opposite situation.
Some Paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
/EMS agencies use Priority terms, which run in the opposite of code responses.
- Priority 1 - Critical
- Priority 2 - Emergency
- Priority 3 - Non-Emergency
United Kingdom
The use of lights and sirens is up to the individual police officer driving to the call. The nature of the call is an aggravating factor when deciding when to use them. Calls are graded by either the control room direct (in the case of emergency calls) or by some sort of first contact centre (non emergency calls). Grading is effected by such factors as the use, or threat of violence at the incident being reported. Even though the grading is done by the control room, officers can request an incident be upgraded if they feel in their judgement they are needed immediately. They can also request to downgrade an incident if they feel they cannot justify using emergency warning equipment to get there. If a control room does not grade a call an emergency and refuse to upgrade it, the police responding to the call can still use emergency equipment if they deem it appropriate.London
| Grade | Meaning | Audible and visible emergency equipment | Target time |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Immediate response call | Use advisable | 11 minutes |
| S | Significant call, routine call | Can be used if driver thinks police are needed immediately | 60 minutes |
| E | extended call, Scheduled appointments | Not to be used | |48 hours |
There is also a grading system related to new computer systems coming online with several police forces across the country:
| Grade | Meaning | Audible and visible emergency equipment |
|---|---|---|
| I | Immediate response call | Normally used |
| P | Prompt response call (within 60 minutes) | Use not advised except if responding officer deems the situation to require it (for example if there is a danger to life) |
| R | Routine call | Not used |
Victoria
Ambulance VictoriaAmbulance Victoria
Since 1 July 2008 emergency ambulance services in Victoria have been provided by a single provider known as Ambulance Victoria. It was formed from the three previous providers of emergency ambulance services: the Metropolitan Ambulance Service , Rural Ambulance Victoria , and the Alexandra District...
The information provided to Ambulance Victoria at the time of the triple zero call generates a case type and ambulance response code depending on the severity of the emergency.
There are three types of ambulance response:
Code 1: A time critical case with a lights and sirens ambulance response. An example is a cardiac arrest or serious traffic accident.
Code 2: An acute but non-time critical response. The ambulance does not use lights and sirens to respond. An example of this response code is a broken leg.
Code 3: A non-urgent routine case. These include cases such as a person with ongoing back pain but no recent injury.
Source: http://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/Ambulance-Victoria/Operations/Response-Codes.html
Please note additional codes are used, but these are for internal purposes.
Country Fire Authority
Country Fire Authority
Country Fire Authority, or CFA, is the name of the fire service that provides firefighting and other emergency services to all of the country areas and regional townships within the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as large portions of the outer suburban areas and growth corridors of Melbourne...
There are two types of response for the Country Fire Authority which cover the outer Melbourne Area. These are similar to those used by Ambulance Victoria
Ambulance Victoria
Since 1 July 2008 emergency ambulance services in Victoria have been provided by a single provider known as Ambulance Victoria. It was formed from the three previous providers of emergency ambulance services: the Metropolitan Ambulance Service , Rural Ambulance Victoria , and the Alexandra District...
, minus the use of Code 2.
Code 1: A time critical event with response requiring lights and siren. This usually is a known and going fire or a rescue incident.
Code 2: Unused within the Country Fire Authority
Country Fire Authority
Country Fire Authority, or CFA, is the name of the fire service that provides firefighting and other emergency services to all of the country areas and regional townships within the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as large portions of the outer suburban areas and growth corridors of Melbourne...
Code 3: Non-urgent event, such as a previously extinguished fire or community service cases (such as animal rescue or changing of smoke alarm batteries for the elderly).
New South Wales
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service uses two levels of response, depending on what the call-out is and what has been directed of the crew attending the incident by orders of the duty officer:Proceed: To drive to an incident, without displaying lights and/or sirens and to obey all road rules.
Respond: To drive to an incident, urgently but safely, whilst displaying lights and/or sirens. Some exemptions exist for emergency drivers (for example: proceeding through a red light after stopping and when safe) though all road rules still must be obeyed. The siren can be switched off at the discretion of the driver when it is not needed (for example, when the road ahead is clear of traffic and easily visible) and reactivated at possible traffic hazards.
South Australia
The South Australian Ambulance ServiceSouth Australian Ambulance Service
SA Ambulance Service is a Government agency under SA Health, that is the sole provider of emergency ambulance transport, clinical care and patient transport services to over 1.5 million people, distributed across an area of 1,043,514 square kilometres in South Australia, Australia.The service...
use a category system.
Category A - Lights and Sirens, Life threatening respond within 7 minutes, patient not breathing, CPR in Progress or child under 6 years old, Two units to respond
Category B - Lights and Sirens, Life threatening respond within 15 minutes.
Category C - No lights and Sirens, respond within 60 minutes
Category 5 - Routine Transfer
Category 6 - Routine Transfer
The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, Country Fire Service
Country Fire Service
The SA Country Fire Service is a volunteer based fire service in the state of South Australia in Australia. Many parts of Australia are sparsely populated whilst at the same time they are under significant risk of bushfire. Due to economics, it is prohibitively expensive for each Australian town...
and South Australian State Emergency Service
State Emergency Service
A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared disasters. The SES is also the primary or secondary agency for emergencies, such as storm damage,flood damage, building damage, traffic hazards and road crash rescue...
use a Priority System
Priority 1 (P1) - Immediate Life Threat - Lights and Sirens, usually multi-vehicle or multi-agency response
Priority 2 (P2) - Potential Life Threat - Lights and Sirens
Priority 3 (P3) - No Immediate Threat - No lights and sirens. Usually used for residential storm damage, Police support such as Search and Rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
or provide lighting.
Priority 4 (P4) - Routine Call
Queensland
Queensland PoliceQueensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
uses the priority system;
Code 1 - Life threatening, lights and sirens/no sirens (situation pending)
Code 2 - Serious or Time Critical (such as breakers on), lights and sirens
Code 3 - Proceed normal traffic conditions, no lights or sirens
Code 4 - Negotiate time to respond and attend (Rarely used)
Northern Territory
St John Ambulance Northern Territory uses terms to determine the response.Emergency or Non-Emergency. Emergency can be broken down into Life threatening or Non-life Threatening.
Emergency: Life Threatening - Respond lights and sirens
Emergency:Non-Life Threatening - Respond with out lights and sirens
Non Emergency: Respond with out lights and sirens
Western Australia
St John Ambulance Western Australia uses the following codes to determine a response.Priority 1 represents an Emergency call. (Response time target is to attend to 90% of emergency calls within 15 minutes)
Priority 2 represents an Urgent call. (Response time target is to attend to 90% of urgent calls within 25 minutes)
Priority 3 represents a Non-urgent call. (response time target is to attend to 90% of non-urgent calls within 60 minutes)
Possible shift to plain language
In the U.S. the National Incident Management SystemNational Incident Management System
The National Incident Management System is emergency management doctrine used nationwide to coordinate emergency preparedness and incident management and response among the public and private sectors.NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all...
(NIMS) states "it is required that plain language be used for multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction and multi-discipline events, such as major disasters and exercises" and federal grants became contingent on this beginning fiscal year 2006. NIMS also strongly encourages the use of plain language for internal use within a single agency.