[Scan-DC] New Communication Helps Emergency Management

[Alan Henney]

http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/topstory.asp?id=1531

New Communication Helps Emergency Management
By JOSH DAVIDSBURG  (CAMBRIDGE, MD -- WMDT) 5/17/2005

Photographer: Stephen Donoway


Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich unveiled new radio technology for the
Eastern Shore Emergency Management crews Tuesday.

Cambridge Assistant Fire Chief Calvin Stack says a 10-alarm warehouse
fire two years ago sparked the interest in a new communication system.

"The communication are very poor because we didn't have the system we
have now," says Stack.

Fourty companies from six counties worked for hours to get the flames
under control.

Stack says about the new system, "If I had that then, we wouldn't have
had the problems, we probably wouldn't have needed that many fire
departments."

The new radio system is up and running to correct any communications
problems that happened before. Cambridge Mayor C.L. Rippons stood
answered the Governor's inaugural radio call from Reisterstown to test
the system Tuesday.

Steve Williams is the Cambridge Public Safety Director.

"We're all aboe to communicate now and that makes public safety
paramount," says Williams.

A 5.6 million dollar set-up connects all nine Maryland counties
through the 800 megahertz radio system the counties have already
implemented.

"We'll be able to talk to everyone, we won't have to send no runners,
we'll be able to do what we wanted to do with that one we couldn't
do," says Stack.

City officials say the new radio system will make everyone in
Cambridge much safer, and everyone on the Shore.

Officials have been working on the project since 2003.