What do "Med 1", "Med 2" and "Med 3" mean on a scanner?

Med 1, Med 2 and Med 3 are how Kent County fire dispatch gives a medical call's priority. Med 1 is the most urgent; the higher the number, the less urgent the call. You'll hear it as "Engine 52 on a Med 1".

Where Med 1, Med 2, Med 3 fits: priorities

Priority 1: The most urgent response: lights and sirens.
Priority 2: Urgent but not an emergency response; often no lights and sirens.
Priority 3: Non-emergency: respond when available at normal speed.
Med 1, Med 2, Med 3: Kent County fire dispatch's way of giving a medical call's priority, with Med 1 the most urgent ("Engine 52 on a Med 1").

Med numbers and Echo

A dispatch can carry both a Med priority and a medical level, as in "Med 1, Echo": the Med number is how urgently units respond, and Echo is the most serious medical level (a patient who may not be breathing).

Where you'll hear it

Kent County's fire departments are dispatched on the county's north, east and southwest fire channels. 616 Dispatch's receiver records those channels and turns each dispatch into a call on the Kent County scanner page, with names and house numbers left out.

More radio terms: Echo, Priority 1, and the full list of scanner codes and radio terms. Read what the scanner is saying right now on the 616 scanner page.