|
Saturday, 17 May 2008 |
|
Emergency responders continue to look at interagency radio system
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
Emergency responders throughout Auglaize County continue to research a communication system that would allow all involved departments to talk during a disaster.
The county received a $1.4 million federal grant in conglomeration with six other counties in the area which received $29 million total to purchase equipment for the MARCS (Multi-agency Communication System) to be implemented as part of a state-wide effort. However, none of those counties have fully committed to the system which requires special technology for communication towers and charges monthly usage fees per radio.
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions, too many to move forward,” Wapakoneta Fire Chief Kendall Krites said. “There are hurdles to get over that make this not such a feasible system for us. Cost seems to be a big factor. It’s pretty pricey compared to what we currently have.”
He said without approximately $104,000 in upgrades to a radio tower at the Auglaize County Law Enforcement Center the more expensive radios would not improve communication between agencies because voice communications would not be available and coverage would not be as extensive.
The state would pay for most of the tower improvements, but the county would still be responsible for paying 20 percent of the costs.
While a formal request has not been made of the Auglaize County Commissioners, it is expected that they would be asked to help with those costs. Another avenue to obtain the money may be to charge the agencies using the tower for its availability.
Despite state officials recommending counties use the MARCS radios, there currently is a $20 monthly fee per radio to do so. That is another cost Krites said local agencies cannot afford with the number of radios they would need to go fully to the new system.
The cost of the radios alone is at least four times what departments pay currently. Even though grant funding would help cover costs now, emergency personnel wonder what would happen when it was time to replace the radios or even just their expensive batteries.
“The thing that bothers me personally, is why would we be required to upgrade state-owned infrastructure and then purchase products to use it?” Krites said. “It’s like a cell phone company telling you you need to buy a cell phone and by the way you also need to pay to help put up the tower.”
He said it may be a better solution financially to purchase enough radios for each department to have them available as an additional communication tool in case of a large-scale emergency, but not use them on a daily basis. The state at this point would charge a smaller per radio fee and a temporary tower could be used to allow the radios to be available during emergencies.
Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office deputies have communicated on their own frequency for several years, not allowing for easy back-and-forth information passing between them and other county police or fire departments during an emergency. The MARCS radios would allow for that, which is now only possible through a patching system that is not always available.
“Our current system isn’t broken, but there is a goal to get all Auglaize County agenices able to talk and communicate in an emergency,” Krites said. “Further, there is a goal to have all surrounding areas interoperable should there be an emergency. This would provide another communication tool to do that if we need it, but we haven’t worked out a way to afford it.”
Even with MARCS though, there are disadvantages, such as the system as it is now would not set off fire fighters’ pagers in an emergency. The current system would still have to be maintained at least for that, Krites said.
The fire chief said it seems like even with grant funding available, more departments are pulling back on purchasing equipment until more questions are answered. With grant required to be spent by 2010, chiefs also have to consider whether they can afford to lose funding for a system that may eventually be required in the state.
Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon said MARCS is a good system that needs to be looked at more closely and one for which he hopes more funds do become available.
“It’s not just firefighters to firefighters, law enforcement to law enforcement and EMS to EMS that needs to communicate during emergencies,” Solomon said. “It’s vital that we be able to communicate between agencies. The MARCS system would supply some answers to that problem, allowing us not to just communicate at scenes sometimes but 24 hours a day.”
For now, local emergency responders continue to shop vendors who supply the MARCS radios, looking for the lowest price and reading the fine print.
St. Marys Fire Chief Ken Cline said despite questions it’s worth looking at, even if the radios are only used for emergencies. He said those departments who have used them in emergencies, such as the flooding in Ottawa last year, said they are worth their weight in gold.
Auglaize County currently has fewer than 10 MARCS radios it keeps on hand within several departments to use in case of an emergency.
“We need to get over the hurdles before we can proceed,” Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Troy Anderson said. “There’s no reason to purchase radios until the tower issue is resolved. We need to talk to the state and the Ohio EMA and try to get some answers in writing.”
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 19 May 2008 )
|
