On the use of Ten-Codes in Radio Communications

"FYI Security Guards, Security Officers, Security Instructors and Trainers! Take note that the ten-codes that we are all using whenever we use handheld radios or base radio station varies from unit to unit (security services, police/fire/ambulance/rescue/other emergency services) and country to country for confidentiality of communication, hence we should be flexible and not stubborn in accepting other versions as we transfer to other security detachments or places of duty. Hindi ito naipapaliwanag ng ibang instructors kaya hindi ko rin masisi ang ibang security guards/officers/other practitioners na may limited knowledge sa background ng paggamit ng ten-codes.

Ten-codes, officially known as ten signals, are brevity codes used to represent common phrases in voice communication, particularly by law enforcement and in Citizens Band (CB) radio transmissions. The codes, developed in 1937 and expanded in 1974 by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO), allow brevity and standardization of message traffic. They have historically been widely used by law enforcement officers in North America, but, due to the lack of standardization, in 2006 the U.S. federal government recommended they be discontinued in favor of everyday language.

Did you know that while ten-codes were intended to be a terse, concise, and standardized system, the proliferation of different meanings can render them useless in situations when officers from different agencies and jurisdictions need to communicate?

In the fall of 2005, responding to inter-organizational communication problems during the rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discouraged the use of ten-codes and other codes due to their wide variation in meaning. The Department of Homeland Security's SAFECOM program, established in response to communication problems experienced during the September 11 attacks also advises local agencies on how and why to transition to plain language, and their use is expressly forbidden in the nationally standardized Incident Command System, as is the use of other codes.

APCO International's current position states that plain speech communications over public safety radio systems is preferred over the traditional 10-Codes and dispatch signals, As of 2011, ten-codes remain in common use in many areas, but are increasingly being phased out in favor of plain language, with nineteen American states planning to change to plain English as of the end of 2009.

Hindi na po ginagamit ang ten-codes sa US dahil hindi nagkakaintindihan ang different emergency services units sa pag-responde nila sa panahon ng 911 attack noong 2001 saka sa panahon ng Hurricane Katrina noong 2005. Dito sa Pilipinas, kailan kaya natin ititigil ang paggamit ng ten-codes kung inter-unit ang application? Gusto pa ba nating mangyari ang matitinding emergency situations dito sa ating bansa na sa pag-responde natin along the way ay hindi tayo magkakaintindihan at magbubunga ng pagkaantala ng tulong sa mga nangangailangan?" - Grandeur P.G. Guerrero, CSP

Read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-code

Source: Wikipedia

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