**Incident Alert Posting Guidelines**

[EMTbravo 312]

Welcome To The Incident Alert Forums. You must read this to use this forum, and by reading this, when you post, you agree to abide by the rules and regulations.

Section 1

A. Users are asked to post only noteworthy CONFIRMED Fire, EMS, Police And Other Emergency Services Incidents.

B. For a complete guide of acceptable incident types, please see the Acceptable Incident Guide in this forum.

C. Writers are also asked to follow the template system that fills in automatically when you create a new Incident Alert post.

D. Writers are asked to use the prescribed standard format for topic titles

E. Please make sure your posts are of high quality (watch spelling and grammar) and factual.

F. Do not to criticize an agencies response in an IA post, or disclose any personal or confidential information.

G. Any members who's posts are either of poor quality, facts are wrong, or derogatory, or do not comply with the rules or format will be either warned and/or will no longer be able to post in this forum. Make sure you have complete and accurate facts before you make an Incident Alert post. Do Not Post If You Do Not Know.

H. PLEASE check your spelling in regards to the location, and if you are not sure of the spelling of a street name, do no post or reference with a map or Google Maps!

I. Please do not use the Incident Alert forum to make an inquiry, or "whats happening" posts. When an incident is transmitted over the air, as a standby or no other information is released over the air, there is usually a reason for this.

J. If you need to update the incident, please do so by editing your original post.

K. Do NOT post any information that comes off "Buff Pagers" here. Do not post and "cut and paste" information from other sources as well. Only incidents that you hear firsthand yourself is permitted- original information only. Posting incidents or using information that comes from from a buff pager will result in the removal of the IA as well as possibly the members privilege to post.

L. Do not retransmit any information found on the Incident Alert forum out over any "incident page" system if the information is not your own (meaning if you didn't post the IA, don't steal it!) Retransmitting information posted in this forum over a incident pager system without direct written consent from the board administrator is strictly prohibited. Any member found in violation of this will have their membership deactivated.

M. Incident discussion, the posting of additional information, and questions are to take place in the corresponding local forum.

N. Please do not post bomb threats, or any other incident of a sensitive nature.

O. Solicitation of EMTBravo Network Members via the PM or board email system to get them to notify or participate in a paging or other type of notification group is strictly prohibited without express written consent of the board administrator. Any member found in violation of this will have their membership deactivated.

We remind everybody to use discretion when posting any information whatsoever, and you are responsible for what you post. Do not release any confidential or sensitive information. Be careful what,how and where you post.

Any post not complying with or stretching above rules and forum rules will be deleted. Please abide by the rules and guidelines above to ensure a high quality forum.

Any questions, comments, or concerns please contact any Staff Member for assistance.

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Membership,

Over the years, EMTBravo IA's have provided a great look into active incidents. Many dedicated members took their time to listen to radio traffic and document activities that occurred where some members did not have the ability to otherwise hear. Recently, many websites have given people across the globe the ability to listen to incidents live (obviously with some delay). While we have seen an increase in the QUANTITY of IA postings, the overall QUALITY has deteriorated. There are still many IA Writers who do produce very high quality IA's. Unfortunately with the loss of Truck4, who was the IA guru, not much attention has been paid to this section since his departure.

Many members now use outside sources (media releases, other forums etc...) to compile their information and create an IA in our forums. The general discussion amongst the Staff has come down with some alterations to, and reinforcements of existing Site Rules.

1) IA's are now no longer permitted to be posted if the incident occurred 24+ hours ago. Extenuating Circumstances do apply (i.e. you were on scene and could not post while at work etc...). Long-term/Ongoing incidents do not apply, as they are still active. The whole point of an IA is an Incident ALERT. Posting incidents from greater than 24 hours no longer constitutes as an Alert, and should be posted in the appropriate Local Forum. Whenever an IA is created, it then creates a link in the Shoutbox. Older incidents that are long since cleared then clog up the Shoutbox.

2) No use of outside sources for the sole purpose of creating an IA. People using Internet News Articles as their sole source for an IA defeats the purpose. Those type of postings should be made in the appropriate Local Forum. Including a link to a media article, or other source shall remain acceptable, so long as it is not the sole source of your information.

**Reminder** Only CONFIRMED Incidents are to be posted as an IA.

As with all other existing Site Policies, EMTBravo Staff retain the right to alter the rules at any point without notice. It is the job of the Membership to stay on top of Site Rules and Policies. We are happy to entertain constructive suggestions at any point as we strive to improve the quality of this site!