[Scan-DC] Eagle 1 in Frederick County

[Bruce Harper]

On Sat, Oct 19, 2019, at 1:57 AM Alan wrote:

Ed, I was referring to MSP helicopters on county/municipal radio networks.
> There's a problem getting the aircrews to communicate effectively.
>
> As for Ocean City, there too, I noted the same problem.  At least two of
> the last three medevac flights this past summer in O.C., the helicopter
> never made it through to the "Trooper channel" and ended up on the main
> group or something else.
>

Things like that should work given the communications equipment now
available, but it may be a training/"how often do I use this" matter. I do
search and rescue under the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
SAR groups across the state have access to several radio frequencies to
communicate during a search. There have been times that Va. State Troopers
respond to assist. Their hand-held radios have the SAR frequencies
programmed in, but several times the troopers had no idea what channel to
switch to to use them, or even how to change from their main channel. They
may have had a class on radio usage at the Academy or when issued a new
radio, but since having to change channels to an obscure one is rare, the
knowledge may be forgotten. One would think that the comms guys would
create a simple "cheat sheet" that shows what buttons to push and knobs to
turn to reach a specific channel.

Bruce in Blacksburg
-----

Bruce B. Harper

Management Team Member/Search Team Leader

Dispatch Officer

Search and Rescue/Technical Rescue Division

Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad