Father and son Kevin and Jason McSherry have a lot of interests in common.
Now that they’re both participating this year in Kosciusko Leadership Academy – the first time a father-son team has been in KLA in the same year – they’re teaming up to improve communications for local fire departments and other emergency services.
“My wife took this (KLA) in ’93,” Kevin said. “She thought it was a great thing. She was born and raised here in Kosciusko County, too. I had heard great things about it. Ron Truex, my boss at Creighton Brothers, called me in to his office one day and wanted me to take it. Creighton Brothers has long supported KLA.”
When Kevin got home, he told his wife, Marsha, that he was going to join KLA. Marsha told him that was funny because his son, Jason, was taking it, too.
Kevin has been a volunteer firefighter with the Seward Township-Burket Fire Department for 32 years. Jason, the Kosciusko County clerk, has been a volunteer for the past 17 years.
Firsthand, they knew what needed to be tackled for their White Paper Project – communication problems between emergency services caused by the new radio frequency requirements. Joining their White Paper Project team were Jim Griest and Andy Manes from 1st Source Bank.
By January 2013, the federal government is requiring, in part, that all emergency services must go to narrow bandwidth frequencies. Kosciusko County switched over early so as not to be caught “with its pants down,” Kevin said. The switch was made in early December.
“You talk to any firefighter in the county and they will tell you it’s not anywhere near as good as it was,” Kevin said.
Fire stations have trouble communicating with firefighters. Firefighters have issues getting messages to other firefighters.
Kevin said the solution is a countywide dispatch simulcast system. It would include having five to six towers. When a dispatch is made to a fire department, it would go through all the towers simultaneously. Fulton and Wabash counties already have the system in place, Kevin said.
On the flip side, Kevin said, if a firefighter is going home and sees an accident, the firefighter can pull out his radio and make a call and it will hit all nearby towers at the same time. The system picks the strongest signal, drops the weakest, and sends the message to dispatch. This all happens within milliseconds.
A firefighter could be in Syracuse and talk to someone in Silver Lake, if necessary, too, Kevin said, although that isn’t what they’re after.
A firefighter is on duty 24 hours, then off 48 hours. During those 48 hours, a firefighter works his other regular job. Sometimes, if a big call comes in, extra drivers are needed. Under the narrow bandwith system, not all the firefighters can be reached. Before the narrow bandwith, the fire departments didn’t have these kind of problems.
“They took our frequencies and chopped them into pieces to sell them,” Kevin said. “They have sold out emergency services to make money.”
Now, emergency services have to deal with lower ranges, lower modulations, volume cut in half and lower range and clarity with its radios.
“There’s so much information we can gather en route,” Kevin said. “Knowing what we need to know when our feet hit the ground is invaluable.”
Firefighters start formulating a plan of attack once they get in their truck and are on the way to the scene. With their handheld and truck radios having troubles, that can cause delays and problems at the scene.
“There’s just a lot of concern the message isn’t going to get out,” Kevin said.
And cell phones may not reach everyone quickly enough.
“Many messages we relay, you want more than one person to hear. On cell phones, you can’t get that,” Kevin said.
Different stuff – like sea level, foliage, etc. – can block the signals. This spring will be the first time the fire departments will have to deal with foliage with the new narrow bandwith frequencies, and it could be worse than it is now, Kevin said.
To fix the radio problem in the county for the fire departments, McSherry said they need to raise $500,000. The police have similar issues, and the EMS are using 800 megahertz, which also has its setbacks. Some existing towers can be used for the simulcast, but Kevin said what they need at these locations are auxiliary generators so if the power goes out they aren’t dead.
The McSherrys and their White Paper Project team have taken their project to the K21 and Kosciusko County Community foundations. The foundations are interested in providing financial support, but want to hear more about it when the team gets its proposal together. Kevin said the finished White Paper Project will include the proposal.
Griest said funding for the simulcast will have to come from a combination of private and public funds. “It will just have to,” he said.
The 911 Dispatch receives tax money from each landline telephone. Now that most people have cell phones, local dispatches receive less money.
Emergency services are part of the local infrastructure that businesses and people consider when moving to an area.
“If we can’t protect our assets,” said Jason, “they’re not going to come.”
