There have not been hospital "patches" in Loudoun since the 800 MHz trunked system replaced low band. Previously, the hospital had a tone remote console that needed to be patched through the dispatch console to low band. Now, each ER has its own talkgroup, including separate ones at the Inova Lansdowne adult and pediatric ERs. They are not patches, however, the phrase "patch" has never died. Units call Loudoun dispatch to request to talk to the hospital, but that too is a legacy. They call the hospital on the direct phone line and tell them to answer the radio. Alternately, they could do what all the other regional hospitals are told: "This is your channel. If someone calls, answer it. It's for you." But that's the way we've always done it...
Back on subject, they are looking forward to eliminate the FDMA "dual dynamic" mode so they can use both Phase II TDMA slots on all channels for capacity. I'm sure they would love to add to the pool of available channels.
