is getting a mic worth it?

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AmeriMedic21

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my service issued me a motorola radio ht1250. it doesnt have the coiled mic that clips to your shirt. If we want we can wear them, but its on our dollar, and i found some after market ones for about 45 bucks. is it really nice to have a radio mic? or is it not really worth the money?

Thanks,
Ryan S.
 
I don't think it is worth it. I don't use one.

That and having known a deputy who was nearly killed with his own mic wire, I look at it as an unneeded piece of kit that can potentially be used against me. How tough is it to grab the radio off your belt and then stick it back on?
 
I use one, because if I don't I have a habit of taking my radio off my belt to talk at it, then putting it down on a surface and leaving it there. Gets expensive after a while.
 
Smash said:
I use one, because if I don't I have a habit of taking my radio off my belt to talk at it, then putting it down on a surface and leaving it there. Gets expensive after a while.
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Same here... lost one radio three times in one day.:wacko:
 
Keep in mind a hand mic is an extra potential point of failure for you comms equipment. Yeah, when it starts screwing up you can ditch it and use the radio itself, but when you're getting shot at it may not be so easy. Yes I look at worst case scenarios, and yes, a lot of (most?) cops use 'em, but they tend to communicate a lot more then we do. Say your en route, say you get there, maybe you need extra resources, you're transporting, you're offloading, you're clear.

I never saw the need in our job, better to just get in the habit of keeping it clipped on your belt and reaching for it when you need it.
 
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My agency supplies it on the radios already....so.... HA!
 
lightsandsirens5 said:
I don't think it is worth it. I don't use one.

That and having known a deputy who was nearly killed with his own mic wire, I look at it as an unneeded piece of kit that can potentially be used against me. How tough is it to grab the radio off your belt and then stick it back on?
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Sounds like things went wrong long before the mic wire was ever in the equation.

If you use it, keep it clipped to the front of your shirt, in between the buttons, and not on your shoulder. On the front, you don't have to turn your head to talk at it. This lets you keep an eye on the patient, or any bystanders that may be a threat to your safety.

That's the only reason I carry one. I want to be able to get a hold of someone now if something happens to endanger myself, or my partner. I don't want to fumble with a phone, take the radio off my belt and talk, or go back to the truck.
 
Depends on your service. Would be of limited use here, as we have a large number of channels that we use. A single trip will start on Dispatch, move to a TAC channel, back to Dispatch, to a Hospital channel, and then to Dispatch again.
 
They are not standard issue here for Ambulance but Fire and Police have them.

Some Officers who work festivals/events etc have them

Brown does not really see the need to be honest
 
They have their uses, just like anything else. In a noisy environment, they are excellent at placing the speaker where you can hear it without having the volume cranked up to 12.
 
adamjh3 said:
Keep in mind a hand mic is an extra potential point of failure for you comms equipment. Yeah, when it starts screwing up you can ditch it and use the radio itself, but when you're getting shot at it may not be so easy. Yes I look at worst case scenarios, and yes, a lot of (most?) cops use 'em, but they tend to communicate a lot more then we do. Say your en route, say you get there, maybe you need extra resources, you're transporting, you're offloading, you're clear.

I never saw the need in our job, better to just get in the habit of keeping it clipped on your belt and reaching for it when you need it.
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I think the mics are super easy to connect and disconnet, especially the motorola radio the OP is talking about. Even if you're getting shot at, you should be able to quickly d/c the mic and get the actual radio.

And for me, I would actually hear what's going on in the radio when I'm on scenes, with the volume still turned low. When I carry the radio on my belt with no mic, I frequently miss stuff on the radio or don't understand what they said.

But I have bad ears, so this makes the mics more worth their trouble for me.
 
abckidsmom said:
And for me, I would actually hear what's going on in the radio when I'm on scenes, with the volume still turned low. When I carry the radio on my belt with no mic, I frequently miss stuff on the radio or don't understand what they said.

But I have bad ears, so this makes the mics more worth their trouble for me.
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This. My ears are shotty sometimes.
 
I have a mic that I bought. I use it depending on the call. If it's just a general medical aid I won't use it. If it's a TC or a call that I have to hike in then I will pop it on. If I'm doing event stand by then I will also use it.

I do keep it clipped on my shoulder. It makes it so that my ear is right next to the radio. That way I can have the volume down so patient can't hear the radio and it makes it within easy reach. It's quicker to talk into your shoulder then fumble getting the radio off your belt and then remembering to put it back on IMO.
 
I also have mine on my shoulder. Often when the radio is talking to me I have trouble hearing what it is saying. With it on my shoulder I can hear better without it shouting at everyone.
 
I also love how American EMS defaults immediately to getting strangled or shot at! The rest of the EMS world shakes their head in quiet bafflement...
 
We barely use the radio anyway for example we might use it twice during a whole job ... once for reporting quickly back to Ambulance Communications the status of the patient (critical, serious, minor) or requesting Intensive Care

"Ambulance City 3, require R50 (Intensive Care), is Dr Oinkus, I mean Smash available at all?" :D :D
 
ffemt8978 said:
They have their uses, just like anything else. In a noisy environment, they are excellent at placing the speaker where you can hear it without having the volume cranked up to 12.
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This is why I got mine. I don't use it all the time but if I know I'm going somewhere that I need to hear it without blaring it, then there ya go.
 
I always use the mic provided as it slips onto my shirt, close to my ear and you can clearly hear everything at low volume. I almost always have one on me, as Ive be caught out needing them due to sudden changes to pt condition etc plus good for personal safety.
 
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