Emergency services a challenge in Mineral County

Providing emergency services in small rural areas like Mineral County can be challenging due to the lack of volunteers and other resources needed. However, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, headed by George Gupton, and the LEPC Subcommittee on Communications is aiming to help overcome some of these challenges.

Creating better lines of communication between emergency crews such as the fire departments, sheriffs and medical responders is a top priority. This prompted the development of the Subcommittee on Communications. It was formed this past year and is chaired by Bryce Nordgren.

Some of the objectives the committee has worked on includes gather requirements for a radio programming kit, extending the West End fire channels to Superior and Alberton, and creating an Emergency Operations Center.

The committee is made up of local emergency personnel, as well as amateur radio or HAM, operators. It was through their association with this subcommittee that led to the formation of the Mineral County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) club.

During their monthly meeting on Dec. 1, members discussed the status of their objectives and what will need to be done as the group heads into 2017. One item up for discussion was the requirements for the radio programming kit. County agencies, such as fire and sheriff’s departments, medical responders, and road personnel need to make sure their radios are programmed consistently and remain consistent.

Oftentimes, radios that were initially identical can change over time because of maintenance, they may have been unavailable for batch processing, or other issues. A solution to this problem would be to assemble a shared resource which helps county agencies keep their radios consistent. It was also recommended to identify coordinate channels for example for fire, sheriff, road, and medical departments and color-code channels and so they are quickly and easily identifiable.

Another objective is to extend the West End Fire channels to Superior and Alberton. Upon investigation some West End Fire repeaters found, powered up and are now ready for use. A repeater is a combination of a radio receiver and a radio transmitter that receives a weak, or low-level signal and retransmits it at a higher level or power so the signal can cover a longer distance.

The repeaters were programmed into St. Regis Fire’s radios and were immediately ready for use. They also found some “squatters” from a commercial service using idle channels and this was causing harmful interference. The problem was resolved, according to Nordgren.

The committee also identified a common system for both county government and private HAM operators to work toward creating an Emergency Operations Center. Once in place, it will play a supporting role for large incidents within the county.

On Oct. 19, they participated in the Great ShakeOut Drill, along with the Mineral County’s Disaster and Emergency Services. The ShakeOut was conducted in conjunction with a worldwide event in which people were taught how to drop, cover and hold on in case of an actual earthquake. Local schools, along with Mineral Community Hospital, participated in the drills. The drills were also used for the amateur radio operators to practice in case of exigent circumstances. A deployment plan was implemented and analyzed for future improvements. Overall the exercise received good reviews from everyone involved.

Also during the meeting, St. Regis Fire Chief, Jerry Dockter mentioned that they had been picking up a lot of static on their radios. It was found out that the new LED lights on the fire trucks were causing the interference.

“Once we turned the lights off, the radios work great,” he said.

Tony Bacino, with Montana Rail Link also mentioned railroad crossing safety. He cited an accident that happened in Frenchtown in November when an ambulance was hit by an oncoming train. It was a foggy morning and the driver missed a corner and the ambulance got stuck on the tracks. The drivers managed to escape, but the vehicle was hit by the train. He warned that BNSF train traffic is on the rise and people need to be careful near crossings.

Before the meeting ended, Kat Kittridge, with the St. Regis Fire Department discussed Cardio Ready kits and said they were available for anyone who needed them. The kits have a compression dummy in them, along with instructions for how to perform CPR in cardiac emergencies. These kits are available to emergency personnel, schools, nonprofit organizations, or anyone else who is interested in learning how to save lives.

Following the Communications Subcommittee meeting, there was a Local Emergency Personnel Committee meeting. Matt Pearce with MaPS gave a brief presentation regarding mapping software their company had available. The information would be used in emergencies for example if a house was on fire, or if a wildfire was threatening homes.

The mapping software is capable of showing business and home addresses, the owner, a description of the structure and a photo of it. The program can be downloaded onto a laptop or a mobile tablet and has GPS capabilities.

Pearce noted that the tablets are lighter and easier to use than a laptop. He noted that other Montana counties have ordered them for their emergency crews, including Choteau using grant funding. The tablets cost $600 plus $150 set up fees. There is also a small plug-in that can update laptops and it costs $35, plus a half-hour of their time to install it.

His company is based out of Minnesota and they can update laptops or provide tablets when they are in the area. He said they don’t travel during the winter months but would be back in the spring if anyone was interested in the software.

During a follow-up discussion with county commissioners, Dockter asked if Title III Funds could be used to pay for the tablets. Upon investigation it was found that those funds cannot be used for emergency equipment and funding will need to be found elsewhere.