Firefighters, paramedics and police officers face potential dangers every day on the job, and in the Twin Counties, those threats are compounded by an aging communications system that keeps them out of contact with the dispatchers that can be their lifeline in a hazardous situation.
Local emergency services took a major step toward improving communications on April 22, when U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) visited Galax to deliver a $3 million check for equipment upgrades.
He was joined by U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-9th District) in a demonstration of the Virginia lawmakers’ bipartisan support for the local efforts.
At an event in the public square outside the Galax Police Department — attended by dozens of the region’s first responders, state and local officials, and community members — Warner presented federal funding that will pay for new equipment to replace the aging and less efficient 911 communications equipment and enable the upgrade to a P25 UHF digital system.
Griffith said the $3 million came from federal community development funding, and he worked with Warner and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in a bipartisan effort to identify needs in Southwest Virginia where the money could be spent.
The money will benefit the entire region, but was presented in the city because the Galax Police Department houses the regional E-911 dispatch center that serves as a central hub for the entire Twin Counties.
“Our radio system is a lifeline to our responders… but not always do communications come across clear,” said Tim Webb, director of Twin County E-911, who has worked in emergency communications for 26 years. “We have an opportunity to take the money that is being awarded here today and apply it to making the system much safer… If we can save one life, that’s all that matters.”
Dangers of the Job
First responders speaking at the event said the upgrades will improve communications throughout the 933-square-mile response area in Galax, Carroll County and Grayson County.
They also spoke of the life-threatening situations that first responders can encounter when out of radio contact.
Gary Hash is chief deputy of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Department, chief of the Independence Fire Department and a member of the Twin County Radio Taskforce. He described scenarios where a lack of emergency communications could put first responders at risk.
“Imagine you’re a police officer, and you’re going to serve a felony warrant on someone, and you know that when you get out of that car, you have no contact with dispatch until you get back,” Hash said.
“Imagine if you’re a firefighter arriving on the scene of a house fire and you have no contact to call dispatch for updates or call for assistance until you get back in that truck,” he continued.
“Imagine that you’re an EMS [worker] on a normal medical emergency call, only to arrive on scene and find a combative mental patient and the only way to call back for help is to get back to that ambulance,” he said.
Adding to the potential danger is that remote areas of the counties don’t even have cell service, said Carroll County Administrator Mike Watson.
Warner said the upgraded radio system “will make sure that, when you make that call [to 911], somebody will be on the other end of the line to get you the assistance you need. It will save lives. It will save property. It will make this community even better.”
Communication Breakdown
Hash — who has 35 years in public service, as a firefighter, dispatcher and deputy — talked about the history of the Twin Counties’ emergency radio system, and how it degraded over time.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he said the radio system was strong. “You were able to talk on a portable radio from inside a patrol car on Middle Fork Lane in Whitetop, back to [a tower at] Point Lookout in Independence, or from the Hanes Mall parking lot in Winston-Salem, N.C.”
In 1990s, two deputies responded to a call, and the suspect fled in a vehicle. A chase ensued that lasted for 75 miles, ending in Statesville, N.C., all while maintaining radio contact with dispatch. “We knew where those guys were at all times,” Hash said.
“We’ve gone from that radio system I just described to one that struggles sometimes to communicate from one end of Grayson County to another,” he said. “Oftentimes, our portable radios struggle to talk within the town limits of Independence.”
Hash said he doubted anyone had a 35-year-old electronic device at home that works 24 hours a day, as the 911 radio system is expected to function. “Some of the components are that old.”
Some of the problems with the radio system were created by the growth of private communication systems, and changes mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). “In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, we really didn’t have many cell phones in the Twin Counties,” Hash said. “The FCC had to create space for these,” by allocating telecommunications bandwidth to them.
“In 2002, the federal government mandated that emergency communications switch to a digital radio system, which it was believed would not work in the mountainous regions of Virginia,” he continued. “Taking the advice of a radio company, Grayson County applied for and was granted a waiver to keep using an analog radio system.”
Around that same time, Virginia State Police began working on a statewide digital radio system called STARS. After it was installed, Hash said it was discovered that digital radio was indeed a viable system for mountainous areas.
Around 2007 or 2008, Hash said, the Twin Counties received a grant to update the existing radio system to digital. It continues to be in use today, but “those upgrades are now 17 years old.”
“The existing system has aged out… and is at the end of its life cycle,” Hash concluded. “Much like an old police officer or an old firefighter, there comes a time when our mental and physical abilities decrease. The radio system has done its job, but we must move on.”
Watson said most citizens don’t understand how bad the radio system has become. “We just expect that, when we call, that emergency services will respond.”
He spoke about the process of studying the radio system’s needs, which took a large partnership of emergency response and law enforcement agencies working together. According to Watson, one of the main goals was interconnectability — ensuring that all the agencies in Galax, Carroll and Grayson can communicate with each other.
The mountains were not the only barrier to improving the radio system — there also was a mounting cost. “At one time, this developed into about a $17 million project,” Watson said.
Over time, the local radio task force settled on less costly options.
After the presentation, Galax Fire Chief Mike Ayers said he was glad to see the Twin Counties receive funding for the upgrades. Asked when the improvements would be rolled out, he wasn’t sure, but noted that much of the advance legwork has already been completed by the Twin County Radio Taskforce.
The group has already identified what is needed and where it needs to be installed throughout the Twin Counties.
Pay for Dispatchers
After the presentation, Warner and Griffith shared the spotlight for a brief update on some of their shared goals in Congress, aimed at helping Southwest Virginia. The congressmen also took a few questions from the audience.
Warner said he and Griffith also shared a common goal to “treat those folks who work in the dispatch office as first responders,” a comment that drew appreciative applause from the crowd.
“When you’re a dispatch officer, you don’t get a break… They literally are the frontline of defense in terms of first response,” Warner said. “But they don’t get the benefits or the pay” that is comparable to other first responders.”