No more static for firefighters

Alicia Boisson
South Peace News

High Prairie town council has budgeted $10,000 in their 2007 final budget for a new dispatch system for the High Prairie Fire Department. This new system is something that is needed in the community, says town manager Larry Baran. “Our firefighters get really frustrated whenever they get an emergency call,” says Baran. “The call is always intercepted with static and in most cases even after the dispatcher repeats the message three times, they still have to call the back door number for 911 with their cell.” Currently, the message is dispatched through a radio frequency, which passes from the dispatch centre, through three towers, then down to the truck. Baran says, by the time the message reaches the emergency truck the clarity of the message is lost and filled with static. The new system will have a message leaving the Dispatch Centre and travelling directly through an internet line to the emergency radios of the firefighters. It is expected to be installed soon. “This will remove any communication problems that we’ve been having,” says Baran. He adds the town contacted 911 dispatch in December to discuss the possibility of improving the local system. “They wanted to make sure it worked before continuing the switch over,” says Baran, adding so far everything has run smoothly. “The new system will give us a triple backup system, with the primary being the internet. If that for some reason goes down then we will be able to use the towers and from there cellphones can be used.” The money will go toward paying for the two transmitting black boxes — one at the dispatch centre and one in High Prairie. Baran says 911 will take the responsibility of doing the switch. He anticipates the change will come in slightly under the allotted money budgeted by council.

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