Resolution is near for response, radio communication issues

Emergency response officials are looking at a plan to consolidate communication with all fire departments to ensure mutual aid is automatically being provided to a rural fire department that is understaffed.

A plan was discussed with Bourbon County Commissioners on Thursday.

Commission Chair Barbara Albright said she was asked to speak with Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, and in turn, contact was made with Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou, who oversees the central dispatch.

"We've had about three incidents that we thought needed a little more backup," Albright said.

Bourbon County Emergency Manager William Wallis has been reviewing a mutual aid agreement between the Scott Township and Garland fire departments.

"There's been confusion, a lot of mix up," Bourbon County Emergency Manager William Wallis said.

He said the question of whether Scott Township should automatically respond to calls in the Garland Fire District has been resolved.

He said on Aug. 3, he met with Ballou and Dispatch Supervisor Traci Reed. On that day, the Garland Fire Department received a call to an emergency and Scott Township was automatically called as a backup.

"There was no delay, no time lapse or anything," Wallis said.

He said during their meeting, Reed and Ballou presented the idea of placing all departments on one radio frequency. Currently, Garland Fire Department operates on its own radio frequency. Wallis said the reason the radio communication has not been coordinated is due to the location of repeater towers and "difference in electronic devices, that at their current location at that time was unable to catch that frequency."

Later Ballou said Garland was placed on a different frequency when the county's emergency communication system was placed on a narrow band. He said the company installing the new system didn't believe using a two-repeater system for Garland was going to work. It was recommended Garland use its own frequency. Ballou said they made it "perfectly clear" the Garland department would be separated.

"Which didn't make sense because they would have to get on and off the channel they're on now (to hear other radio communication)," Ballou said. "Well, that's what we're experiencing right now."

He said Garland can't hear the other departments and the other departments can't hear Garland.

"Their frequency and their tones and their calls they're getting over their frequency have been working great," Ballou said. "None of the rest of us know what's going on down there if we don't scan them."

Ballou said a different radio communication company has stated a two-repeater system might work to connect Garland to the LEPC channel.

He said the immediate goal is to move Scott Township off of the city fire frequency, then get Scott and Garland on the LEPC channel.

Wallis said placing all departments on the same radio channel is just the beginning. During several meetings, there also has been discussion of creating one tone for all departments. Currently, dispatchers set off a different tone for each department, and each department has its own page, Wallis said.

"This is big-time safety we're talking," Wallis said.

He said using one tone for all departments would reduce the deployment time, which could save lives and decrease the number of structures lost to fire.

Wallis said he invited Bourbon County District 3 Fire Department Chief Delwin Mumbower and Hiattville Fire Chief Lou Howard, to Thursday's meeting. Besides the city of Fort Scott, District 3 receives the most amount of calls, Wallis said.

He said he also has spoken to Mercy ER and EMS Supervisor Kenny Wunderly, who was unable to attend Thursday's meeting.

"Everybody I've talked to about this -- just kind of a broad brush approach -- they've thought, 'this is a great idea, can it work?'" Wallis said.

He said there is one "sliver glimmer of areas that could be a negative."

He said one of those negatives could be the cost of fuel and wear and tear on equipment when having six or seven trucks responding to the same emergency

"If it's going to save lives, if it's going to save structure fires, anything to help limit that," Wallis said. "There's some instances no matter how fast you get there, the building is (lost). There's no way around that."

He said the ultimate goal is getting the entire county working together.

Ballou said with each department having its own tone, there is a "bid delay" when multiple departments are needed, especially during a weather event. Each tone has to be "stacked" in order to go through the repeater and sometimes the repeater skips.

Ballou said he and Reed have been testing Active 911, which can be used as a backup system for the pagers. With Active 911, emergency information transmitted over radios can be received on cell phones.

Reed said the one tone system will be easier for dispatchers, who currently have to check fire district boundaries to ensure the correct department is being contacted.

Ballou said the contract between Garland and Scott Township fire departments was for two types of mutual aid.