EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS TO BE STUDIED

A committee studying the feasibility of a new radio system that would link all emergency response agencies in Cape Girardeau County into one central dispatching operation ultimately will have to decide whether advantages of such a system outweigh its costs.

That will require a careful evaluation of the radio systems and procedures in use by Cape Girardeau and Jackson's fire and police agencies, the Cape Girardeau County sheriff's office and rural firefighting departments that serve the county.

The system being considered is called an 800-megahertz trunk radio system. It can bring together radio dispatching of not only emergency response, but non-emergency response agencies such as public works, roads and parks departments. All dispatching would be done from one place, likely the sheriff's office at Jackson.

The system wouldn't be cheap. The estimated cost of equipment alone is $750,000. The system has proved beneficial in some places and an absolute disaster in others. In Kansas City, for instance, the system didn't work as promised. But in Oklahoma City, it was the only communication system that did work following the bombing of the federal building there.

The committee will have to decide if the system is workable in Cape Girardeau County and, if it is, whether its benefits are worth the high cost of investment.

In addition to the cost of acquisition, consideration must be given to how all of the agencies involved would coordinate dispatching services. For instance, one agency couldn't be expected to bear the entire cost. Another consideration is how a centralized dispatching operation would be staffed considering it would serve so many agencies.

Among current radio problems mentioned last week when the County Commission discussed the system was that not all agencies in the county can communicate by radio with each other. The new system also would make it more difficult for people to listen in to radio conversations, it also was pointed out.

Radio communication is something that is generally taken for granted until such time as it becomes the only vital link in an emergency or disaster. The committee might find that the system is so much better in that scenario that it would well worth the cost.

It is good to know that the committee is made up of people with expertise in emergency radio operations and emergency response so that they can make a sound judgment on whether the system is right for Cape Girardeau County.