Adams County emergency responders need new radios
Adams County Sheriff Rich Wagner said the county is looking to upgrade radios for EMS and the sheriff’s office. Wagner said the radios are old, faulty and lose signal in some areas.
www.wgem.com
QUINCY (WGEM) - Adams County Sheriff Rich Wagner said the county is looking to upgrade radios for EMS and the sheriff’s office. Wagner said the radios are old, faulty and lose signal in some areas.
Wagner said the radios in their vehicles haven’t been replaced in more than a decade and their portable radios are about seven years old.
“This is the equipment we use every day. And I mean, think of your cell phone, if you’ve got a cell phone over 10 years old, how old is that cell phone function? Not very well,’ Wagner said. “So we need to enhance and bring our radio infrastructure up to the technology that’s out there today.”
He said without upgrades, it’s difficult for deputies to have reliable communication when out doing their job.
hat’s our lifeline for our deputies. Sometimes our deputies might be out there by themselves on a call. And without that radio working at that one critical time can be life or death for that officer,” Wagner said. “Or once again, it could delay our response to a victim of a crime.”
He said it’s an issue that stretches across the county.
“Unfortunately we’re on a bluff so anywhere below the bluff on Highway 57 or North Bottom Road there’s dead spots, but what we’re seeing is now we’re getting dead spots and very random areas,” Wagner said. “So we believe a new radio system is something the county needs. "
Adams County Ambulance and Emergency Management Chief John Simon said the county has found a solution to the problem, buying new radios that use more than radio waves.
“We were looking at technology that would leverage multiple platforms, not only radio communications but take advantage of LTE networks, potential Wi-Fi connections,” Simon said.
“For instance, if we’re out at one of our schools out in the county, we can program their Wi-Fi into the radio. So if we’re in that school, and we can’t get out via VHF signal radio signal, then tap into their Wi-Fi system and we’ll work off their Wi-Fi system,” Wagner said.
They said they just need to find the money to get them.
Before new radios will be installed into sheriff’s office vehicles or ambulances, they need to assess how much the upgrade will cost.
Simon said they’ve done an assessment on how many they need but they still have to work with the county board to determine where the funds will come from.
“Certainly have been looking at what those funding mechanisms are, what the price tag is, and we want to make sure that we’re financially responsible, but any part of that financial responsibility is making sure that the technology that we put in service today as we replace these are compatible with where we think technology is going in the future,” Simon said.
Simon said they’re estimating a need for about 100 new units collectively for the county.
He said they haven’t put out for quotes or bids yet, but expects it to be more than a million dollars.
“We’d just like to let everybody know that we’re working with the county board on this issue. They completely understand that we’re having some radio problems and we need to increase our technology. And we have their support and don’t do what they can to help us with this project,” Wagner said.
