[Scan-DC] City finishes emergency radio fix

[Punworg]

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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City finishes emergency radio fix
By Matthew Cella
Published October 2, 2003


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    The D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer
has completed a 19-month, $31 million upgrade to the
city's emergency radio system, which had proven
unreliable because "dead spots" prevented firefighters
from communicating as they battled blazes. 
    The formal announcement of the project's
completion is scheduled to be made Tuesday by D.C.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams, and will include a
demonstration of the radio system from some buildings
where communications formerly were impossible. 
    The Washington Times first reported in June 2001
that the radio system failed in several key locations
such as Union Station, the MCI Center, the State
Department and the John A. Wilson Building. But the
problems were far more pervasive, often affecting
firefighters on a daily basis at emergency scenes. 
    Since the communications system was brought on
line in January 2001, radios frequently emitted a
"honk," signaling they were out of range, and
firefighters routinely communicated using their
personal Nextel cellular telephones. 
    "There are no more dead spots that we know of in
the District any longer," said Linda Argo, chief of
staff for D.C. Chief Technology Officer. 
    Upgrades to the system included installing seven
new radio transceivers and improving three existing
antennas. The city also installed 63 repeater systems
on rescue vehicles to boost radio signal strength at
emergency scenes. The system improvement also includes
a microwave antenna as a redundancy system, in case of
a catastrophic failure with the communications system.

    Mrs. Argo said the final transceiver was installed
at Sibley Hospital last week, and that the project was
completed by OCTO's Sept. 30 deadline. The radio
improvements were funded with $46 million in federal
homeland-security money awarded to the District in
February 2002. 
    "I think this is the singular greatest improvement
in public safety in many years," said Margret
Nedelkoff Kellems, deputy mayor for public safety and
justice. "The people who put their lives on the line
deserve nothing less than the best communications
system we can give them." 
    She said new transmitters and antennas in
Metrorail tunnels should be completed by the end of
the year and will allow firefighters and police
officers to communicate underground. 
    "All in all, from a customer satisfaction
standpoint, we're happy," said James Martin, the
assistant fire chief of operations. "We're running
into very few areas of the city where we are not
getting our messages in or out." 
    Chief Martin said a stopgap measure of using an
extra fire company to respond to fire calls and
provide a system of runners to relay messages has been
discontinued. He said an extra engine still responds
to fires, but the firefighters are used to supplement
water supply and serve as a safety team in case a
firefighter is endangered at a working fire scene. 
    The new communication system is designed to put
police and fire department radios on the same
frequencies so public safety personnel can communicate
with one another and other agencies throughout the
city. Previously public safety radios operated
independently within each agency. 
    The system upgrades still face an "acceptance
test" by officials from Motorola, which performed the
upgrades, and independent city tests that will include
firefighters. 
    "As far as meeting the deadline, from that
standpoint I think they have" succeeded, said Lt. Ray
Sneed, president of the D.C. Firefighters Association.
"The jury's still out because we have to go out as the
end users and test the system." 
    Lt. Sneed said firefighters will conduct tests in
more than 100 locations around the city where "dead
spots" with the radios had been detected. He said the
testing period will begin Oct. 14 and should last
about two weeks. 
    "We have noticed an improvement, but you still
have to go out there and test those trouble areas."
Lt. Sneed said one trouble area was the 3rd Street
Tunnel, where radio communications often were
impossible. He said he has noticed that communications
have improved, at least at that site. 

=====
Peter Vieth
KB4FVJ
Roanoke, VA

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