Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New emergency radio equipment expected to be ready next summer

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 05:02:35 -0400

New emergency radio equipment expected to be ready next summer
Sunday, August 03, 2003

By Brad Stephenson

Officials will breathe a sigh of relief when Butler County's new 911 center and
emergency radio system are finally a reality.
County commissioners recently approved a $51 million bond issue that includes
nearly $16 million for the upgrades.
"There will be a feeling of greater safety, not only for the fire companies but
for our residents as well," Commissioner James Kennedy said.

The county's 911 center, in the basement of the county-owned Sunnyview Home
nursing facility in Butler Township, was the first of its kind in the state when
it opened in 1970, according to county emergency services director Frank Matis.
"It's very small and crowded in here now," he said. "Our equipment room is
woefully overfilled."
County Commissioner Glenn Anderson said the new 911 center will be built on the
Sunnyview hospital site.
The timeline for construction of the 911 center has not been determined..

No such uncertainty applies to the purchase of new radio equipment. The county
signed a contract with Motorola in April and some of the new equipment should
begin arriving in the fall. It is expected to be ready for testing by next summer,
Matis said..
The existing emergency dispatch equipment was last updated in 1985 and has not
been working as it should for some time. The low-band radio system is 30 years
old, and replacement parts can't be had anymore.

Emergency workers frequently encounter dead spots where they are unable to pick up
a signal on mobile radios, Kennedy said. "We sometimes can't get communications
from 911 to a fire truck or a person inside a building," he said.
"The new system, while it's not the most fancy or high-end, is very stable, and it
will serve the county for a significant period of time," said Matis, one of
several county officials to review the Newcom emergency dispatch center in Shaler.
The radio system in operation at Newcom is similar to the one Butler County will
be installing.

Anderson said fire companies have had several close calls in the past because of
poor radio reception. The most notorious came during a 1999 fire in Center, when a
fire engine was parked across railroad tracks and dispatchers couldn't reach
firefighters to let them know a train was heading their way.

The train stopped and no one was hurt, but the incident helped make the problem
clear.
Kennedy said he would like to have seen the upgrades completed sooner, but that
there are many things to consider when tackling an issue this costly.

"We had to find out what the real problem was," Kennedy said. "You don't just do
these things overnight, because when you're spending this much money you want to
do it wisely."

In 2001, the county hired L. Robert Kimball & Associates, a telecommunications
consulting firm, to take a look at the existing dispatch equipment and advise
officials on the best course of action, Kennedy said.

The two radio systems recommended by Kimball were similar in cost; the county
decided to go with Motorola radios that operate on UHF frequencies because they
are compatible with dispatch equipment used by most neighboring emergency services
units, according to Matis.

One reason for the high cost of updating the radios is that they require more
communication towers than the existing system.
The county has four towers, three of them built when the system was upgraded
nearly 20 years ago. The new radios will require 10 towers, Matis said. The county
will use the existing structures and lease space on several communication towers
in the area, he said.

The county will also replace the tower at the 911 center with a larger,
high-capacity tower, he added.
The new system will provide "95 percent portable coverage," meaning that only five
percent of the county will experience any signal failure, Matis said. That means
fewer dead spots to put emergency workers in danger.

Lowe said there is no better way to describe the danger of poor emergency radio
reception than by pointing to what emergency crews in New York City experienced on
Sept. 11, 2001. Some firefighters and rescue workers responding to the World Trade
Center were unable to communicate because of outdated equipment.
"That was a wake-up call for us and others all over the country," said Lowe. "We
need to update our system to make sure [emergency workers] are able to provide the
best service when they are called upon."

http://www.post-gazette.com/printer.asp

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