Andrew
e-mergencista experimentado
Un nuevo sistema de radiocomunicaciones en Louisville vincula a todos los cuerpos de seguridad ciudadana - policía, bomberos, y ambulancias. El el primer fase del proyecto Metrosafe con un costo previsto de $71 millones de dólares (€57,758,650). Con el nuevo sistema, las llamadas no tendrán que estar derivadas a otros centros tampoco. Ahora todos los teleoperadores están en la misma sala. En 2007, se va a trasladar el centro al antiguo Federal Reserve Bank que puede resistir un ataque nuclear. El centro actual se transformará en el centro respaldo.
---
Radio system links emergency workers
Faster responses are MetroSafe goal
Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson tested the first phase of the MetroSafe emergency communications system yesterday at the dispatch center on Barret Avenue. (By David Harpe, Special to The Courier-Journal)
The first phase of MetroSafe, a $71 million emergency communications system, is now fully operational, allowing police, fire and emergency medical services in Louisville and surrounding counties to communicate with one another.
That can mean faster response to 911 calls.
A $7 million Motorola radio-communications system has been installed in the new dispatch center at 768 Barret Ave. It allows dispatchers to connect area police, fire and EMS workers so they can speak to each other despite being on different radio frequencies.
Previously, a dispatcher had to leave the desk, flip a switch and make a telephone call to tell the other agency to switch to a particular radio channel to talk.
Callers to 911 no longer will be told that they have to be transferred to whichever agency will handle their emergency, said Doug Hamilton, director of emergency management.
That will shave seconds off the time it takes for callers to get help.
In medical emergencies, those seconds can be vital, said Dr. Neal Richmond, director of Metro EMS.
"A minute of response time is humongous," he said.
Chances of survival for certain medical emergencies decrease as more time passes. For example, 1 percent of heart muscle can be permanently lost for every minute a person continues to have a heart attack.
The Barret Avenue center has space for 32 dispatchers. It cost about $800,000 to renovate the center.
The new center also means that 911 dispatchers in Louisville now all work out of the same site, making it easier for them to communicate and coordinate with each other during emergencies, Hamilton said.
Officials expect to complete the entire MetroSafe project by 2007. It will be housed at 410 S. Fifth St. in the former Federal Reserve Building.
When complete, MetroSafe will put all Louisville emergency workers on the same radio system, eliminating a need for the Motorola system. The Barret site will remain as the backup center.
About $31 million of the total cost of the project has been raised so far. That includes some federal and state homeland security funds, as well as money raised through telephone fees for 911 use. Officials continue to seek grants to cover the rest of the cost.
Richmond said this is "exactly where the (homeland security) money should go" because it builds an infrastructure in which all emergency officials can easily talk to one another.
Richmond, who worked for the New York Fire Department during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Louisville metro government is going in the right direction by improving communications.
---
Radio system links emergency workers
Faster responses are MetroSafe goal
Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson tested the first phase of the MetroSafe emergency communications system yesterday at the dispatch center on Barret Avenue. (By David Harpe, Special to The Courier-Journal)
The first phase of MetroSafe, a $71 million emergency communications system, is now fully operational, allowing police, fire and emergency medical services in Louisville and surrounding counties to communicate with one another.
That can mean faster response to 911 calls.
A $7 million Motorola radio-communications system has been installed in the new dispatch center at 768 Barret Ave. It allows dispatchers to connect area police, fire and EMS workers so they can speak to each other despite being on different radio frequencies.
Previously, a dispatcher had to leave the desk, flip a switch and make a telephone call to tell the other agency to switch to a particular radio channel to talk.
Callers to 911 no longer will be told that they have to be transferred to whichever agency will handle their emergency, said Doug Hamilton, director of emergency management.
That will shave seconds off the time it takes for callers to get help.
In medical emergencies, those seconds can be vital, said Dr. Neal Richmond, director of Metro EMS.
"A minute of response time is humongous," he said.
Chances of survival for certain medical emergencies decrease as more time passes. For example, 1 percent of heart muscle can be permanently lost for every minute a person continues to have a heart attack.
The Barret Avenue center has space for 32 dispatchers. It cost about $800,000 to renovate the center.
The new center also means that 911 dispatchers in Louisville now all work out of the same site, making it easier for them to communicate and coordinate with each other during emergencies, Hamilton said.
Officials expect to complete the entire MetroSafe project by 2007. It will be housed at 410 S. Fifth St. in the former Federal Reserve Building.
When complete, MetroSafe will put all Louisville emergency workers on the same radio system, eliminating a need for the Motorola system. The Barret site will remain as the backup center.
About $31 million of the total cost of the project has been raised so far. That includes some federal and state homeland security funds, as well as money raised through telephone fees for 911 use. Officials continue to seek grants to cover the rest of the cost.
Richmond said this is "exactly where the (homeland security) money should go" because it builds an infrastructure in which all emergency officials can easily talk to one another.
Richmond, who worked for the New York Fire Department during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Louisville metro government is going in the right direction by improving communications.
)
