radio system question!

[jacobsmith]

So, our EMS company is going to be joining the statewide system, they said "98% coverage with portables statewide" but 100% coverage with mobiles well the mobiles are like $5000 and portables are about $3000 so our chief wants to just ONLY use portable radios. i think this could be a problem... what does everyone else think? is anywhere aware of any other agencies that only use handheld radios? thank you so much

 

[DaveNF2G]

I would expect the problems to begin when the first batch of batteries begins to wear out. Public safety agencies are not the best at battery maintenance, so this will probably occur sooner than the salesman says (if he mentions it at all). Complaints about the crummy radio system will follow. Batteries are not covered under warranties, either.

 

[KAA951]

So, our EMS company is going to be joining the statewide system, they said "98% coverage with portables statewide" but 100% coverage with mobiles well the mobiles are like $5000 and portables are about $3000 so our chief wants to just ONLY use portable radios. i think this could be a problem... what does everyone else think? is anywhere aware of any other agencies that only use handheld radios? thank you so much

I don't know of any EMS agency that operates on portable radios alone. Those costs seem pretty high for a state bid price though. Our state system there are multiple vendor public safety radios available with portables radios as low as $1800 and mobiles as low as $2000.

 

[N4DES]

Check to see if your state has an EMS plan, and if so see if it has minimum radio requirements for transport units.

 

[GTR8000]

You're not really providing us with enough information to give informed opinions. What state? How many square miles does your agency cover? What is the makeup of your area: urban, suburban, rural? What is the geography and topography like: flat for miles around, hilly, or mountainous? Where are the nearest radio towers for the statewide system in relation to your area? Etc.

Anyone claiming "98% portable coverage statewide" is making a very suspect claim. For starters, that figure usually refers to coverage on the street, and often doesn't take into account using the portable inside a vehicle, or even having the antenna jammed up against your body at waist level. It doesn't take into account using that portable inside buildings, which probably accounts for a solid 75% of portable usage in the first place.

Truth be told, if you have solid on-street coverage with the TRS, especially if your area is not that large and you have a TRS site nearby, you can get away with using a portable in place of a mobile. If the radio tower is 1-2 miles away and you have a small, flat area, you're not gaining much advantage using a mobile vs a portable. But again, if you're sitting inside the vehicle with the portable radio on your belt, there's a good chance you'll kill the reception enough to miss calls. At the very least, you'll have to develop a policy that states the portable has to be kept out in the open inside the vehicle. Which of course now presents an "unsecured flying object" issue. And as Dave said, portable batteries die, then you're up the creek without a paddle if you don't have a second portable or spare battery. The mobile radio is much more reliable in that regard. If you lose power to the mobile radio, well you probably don't have to worry about missing a call, since the vehicle will likely be OOS at that point anyway.

How many vehicles need to be equipped with mobiles? Will portables be issued 1 per crew/vehicle, or will each EMT/Medic have their own portable? Again, we start getting into issues of having a backup should one of the portables fail and it's your only portable on the street.

In my opinion, every vehicle should have a mobile radio, and each crew should have at least 1 portable along with a spare battery charger mounted in the vehicle.

 

[n5ims]

So, our EMS company is going to be joining the statewide system, they said "98% coverage with portables statewide" but 100% coverage with mobiles well the mobiles are like $5000 and portables are about $3000 so our chief wants to just ONLY use portable radios. i think this could be a problem... what does everyone else think? is anywhere aware of any other agencies that only use handheld radios? thank you so much

See if you can borrow (or get a ride-along from someone) with a portable radio on that system. Ask them about that 2% non-coverage area and take one of your ambulances along that route to see how coverage really is INSIDE of the box (basically worst-case). If things work out than you may not have any coverage related issues. If things work out poorly (as might be expected) bring your chief along on a second test ride and ask if that level of communication would be OK if his child were in critical condition and you were trying to communicate with the hospital on how to stabilize his critical child.

 

[RodStrong]

Find out what brands and models of radios are allowed on the system. I wouldn't be surprised if there are options other than the prices you stated.

Good luck.