PVR-like Software for Audio Streams? 46
JonToycrafter asks: "I'm a dispatcher for a volunteer ambulance corps. We often get our calls by listening to the police scanner. Unfortunately, it's sometimes difficult to understand the street address that the police dispatcher is saying, or sometimes s/he mentions the address before giving an indication that EMS is needed. Does anyone know of a (preferably Free) Windows (or Linux) program that would allow me to connect my scanner to the mic jack on my PC and be able to pause/rewind the stream, a la Tivo?"
Other solutions (Score:5, Informative)
I suspect a clever bit of scripting along with the "record" and "play" programs on linux would do what you want as well.
LoopRecorder (Score:3, Informative)
I haven't used it in a while, but it should allow what you're looking for.
Total Recorder (Score:2, Informative)
Explaining the need (Score:5, Informative)
http://mlcastle.net/tech/1.html
Which state "... active street medic, meaning that during major protests I travel in a squad of medics providing support in the "hot zone", where EMS will not go"
So - no the cops will probably not help these guys out and they are most definetly not authorized to talk on the police bands.
Denon PVR server (Score:3, Informative)
Denon PVR server [techtv.com]
ATI's Multimedia Center does... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:If they want you there, they'll call you... (Score:5, Informative)
There are many people in (here in NYC) this service that carry their own portable radios that have select frequencies programmed in.
They listen to both --the EMS dispatcher because they have to-- and NYPD citywide for all the "hot jobs".
They take it upon themselves to rush to these hot jobs without being dispatched (usually there is another ambulance dispacthed, the closest one as per the EMS dispatch computer), and then tell the dispatcher they were "flagged down" by a bystander. Then they have to cancel the other ambulance, because technically you made patitent contact at that point.
It's happens daily here in NYC, and you can get into alot of trouble. If your flying lights and sirens to that "hot job" lights and sirens, without being officialy on that assignment --and say-- you hit a bystander, or god forbid a child crossing the street, you can pretty much count on never ever touching another patient in any healthcare field ever again. That doesn't include criminal charges as well.
You realy should be dispatched by M.A.R.S, mutal aid radio system. The municipal agency overseeing EMS in your county will give your volunteer squad a radio, or maybe just give your dispatcher a ring on the landline phone when they need you. This way everything is documented and copasetic.
Can your crew still listen to the police frequencies? Sure, if you know how to go about it without anybody getting screwed:
If you hear some call that you might think is "hot", you can always drive over in non emergency mode and get flagged for the job.
If you think you have a better ETA than the unit that was assingned, then tell the dispatcher that you are closer. They usually have to give you the call for the benefit of the patient.
In the end though, you need to change they way your unit(s) get dispatched. Get the chief of the vollie squad to negotiate a M.A.R.S. arrangement. Some vollied even sign out a police radio for the precinct. You'll have to speak to the captain about that arrangement.
Good Luck, and for God's sake, be careful.
NYC EMS Paramedic since 1996
Get the right equipment: Minitor IV (Score:4, Informative)
You need to get a pager, a Montorola Minitor IV to be exact. These have a dynamic solid state 2 minute memory to replay calls. I would venture to say that nearly every ambulance service and fire department service that is dispatched (or toned, as we say) via radio uses these type of tone pagers.
Information on the motorola site at http://www.motorola.com/cgiss/minitor_iv.shtml#ke