Subject: [NEXTEL-1] St. Joseph News Press, MO - New channel links emergency units

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 02:11:20 -0500

St. Joseph News Press, MO

Monday, January 26, 2004

New channel links emergency units
By JOSH BREWSTER
[email-masked]

In the event of a major emergency, law-enforcement agencies, first-responders
and fire departments throughout Missouri now have the ability to interact with
each other via radio.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has announced the implementation of the “MTAC”
public safety radio channel, which is designed to allow emergency personnel to
communicate through wireless means during critical incidents or other events
when interagency communication is necessary.

The wide-band channel currently is available to all agencies and should be
installed in all Highway Patrol cruisers by Feb. 6, said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon, a
spokesman for the Highway Patrol’s Troop H Headquarters in St. Joseph.
More than 60 agencies statewide already have signed up to use MTAC, the Highway
Patrol said.

The new frequency is a significant addition to radio communication in Northwest
Missouri, an area that often has multiple agencies working together at a certain
location.

“What it comes down to is that it’s going to help the safety of the citizens in
our area and all of Missouri,” Mr. Lyon said. “If anything major happens, we
will get control of it quicker and get the resources we need to get the job done
more efficiently. It will eliminate the confusion between agencies.”

MTAC is a product of the Missouri State Interoperability Executive Committee and
the Missouri Security Council, both formed by Gov. Bob Holden following the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Lyon said the channel could be used only if authorized by the Highway Patrol
and would be accessed during natural disasters, emergency situations and
whenever multiple public safety agencies need to communicate, such as a serious
traffic accident.
Any agency within Missouri can access the MTAC frequency, regardless of its
department function, geographic jurisdiction or communications infrastructure,
the Highway Patrol said. But it is strictly intended for fieldwork, meaning that
communication between agencies is limited only to mobile and portable radios.

Interagency communication in Northwest Missouri has long been a challenge for
local law enforcement. Currently, Mr. Lyon said Troop H officers can’t
communicate directly with officers from the St. Joseph Police Department, Fire
Department or Heartland Regional Medical Center’s Ambulance Services Department.

MTAC would allow such communication to exist in the case of an emergency.

“It will be a great advantage to be able to communicate with them in an event of
a large-scale emergency,” Mr. Lyon said. “Right now our troopers can’t make
direct radio contact with another unit, say in an ambulance or in a police car.
MTAC will allow us to speak directly to that other agency through their radios.
”
The frequency can be integrated into most existing public safety radio
equipment, said Roger Strope, chief projects engineer with the Highway Patrol.

But with a new radio system in the works for the St. Joseph Police Department,
Heartland Ambulance and the St. Joseph Fire Department, implementing MTAC using
the outdated system doesn’t seem likely for these agencies.
“With our old system being shut down in a matter of months, it wouldn’t be the
best decision to add that frequency right now,” said Cmdr. Jim Connors, Police
Department spokesman, who estimated the new system to arrive in about a year.
“But we have discussed adding MTAC with our new system.”

The MTAC Common Channel is a state police frequency in the VHF 150 MHz band
(154.680), which is most commonly used by public safety agencies in Missouri.

http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=49379

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