The news article is as most are in that the details needed to understand the main issue is lacking.
More like the details were left out by the speakers. Who is at fault? It really doesn't matter. The
issue here is that the radio dispatch console is not functioning as it needs to be.
My next question is who is to blame for the dispatch console not being able to control the radio
system like it should. Again I don't think we can point a finger, except to say the technical
people that speced it and installed it should be drawn and quartered. Who in their right mind
would install a dispatch system where the dispatchers don't have priority? Point the finger at
the radio company and the people that installed the console. Make them fix it before we go
any further.
In reading more into the news report, I get the impression that the radio shop and radio company
are pointing the finger back at the county. If that was me in the middle of it all, I would plant my
feet and start some strong legal action that it didn't work from day one and make those responsible
fix it at no cost to the county.
Now with that said, I want to quantify my position some because again we have not been given
all the facts and information. If by some chance the county made the statement that they
couldn't afford this from the start, what were they told by the radio company as to how this would
work? What were they told the fall out or problems might be if they chose to take this route?
More detailed information is needed before us Saturday night quarterbacks can even start to
point the finger. Having been in this field for well over 45 years now, I think there is enough
blame to go around to all parties. However, I have to tend to take the side of the county and
demand that it get resolved at little or no cost to the county. This all should have been laid
out on the table at the start. Not way down the road.
If they are now having to rely on cell phones to dispatch calls, there is a good case to go
after a number of individuals here.
keep us informed of what the next step and finger pointing is.
"We've been having to use cell phones more and more on calls because we can barely understand what's being said," Cumberland County Fire Chief Jeff Dodson said.
Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN - Panel seeks recommendations for radio system
