The fire departments within Erie County, including the Perkins Township Fire Department, have made a commitment to increasing interoperability between the departments. One aspect of interoperability which must be considered is fireground communications. The technical aspect of fireground communications has seen much improvement. However, there has been little focus on the human side of fireground communications. The problem was Erie County had no standard operating guideline for fireground communications. The purpose of the action research conducted was to develop an Erie County fireground communications standard operating guideline. Original research was conducted, through the dissemination of a survey to Erie County firefighters, to answer the research questions: a) what barriers to effective fireground communications have been identified by Erie County firefighters? b) what practices do Erie County firefighters feel would improve fireground communications? c) what components do Erie County firefighters believe should be included in an Erie County fireground communications standard operating guideline?The research identified various barriers and best practices for fireground communications. The research also identified multiple components to be included in a fireground communications standard operating guideline for Erie County. Recommendations included: review, revision, and adoption of the Erie County Fireground Communications Standard Operating Guideline. Recommendations also indicate radio communications should be integrated into fire department training as much as possible.