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Puyallup gets ready to showcase new communications capabilities very soon
Chris Albert
Next week, Puyallup will go through a tri-county test of it’s new 800 mHz dispatching system. The exercise will give Governor Chris Gregoire a chance to see the systems new capabilities when she visits the city for a test scenario.
“It facilitates a lot of communication that wasn’t able to be done before,” said Merle Frank, Puyallup’s Emergency Management director.
Communications centers in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties will connect in a way never possible before.
“It’s a combined regional effort to better our communication for public safety and emergency operations,” said Ron Tiedeman, Puyallup’s information and technologies director.
Emergency agencies are not only able to communicate with each other, but also more “talk groups” or agencies are able to speak to each other at the same time. With the previous VHF system, communication was limited in the number of communications that could occur at any given moment and the number of agencies that could be on the channel.
“The traffic was such that dispatch had to wait to dispatch calls,” Frank said.
In an emergency, situation Puyallup wouldn’t have been able to talk over the radio to a neighboring jurisdiction, Tiedeman said. Often they would be busy working the phones hoping to get a response, he said.
In the case of a catastrophe, like a lahar or even flooding, Puyallup would be able to talk to emergency responders throughout the state to coordinate efforts and provide a quicker response. Likewise, Puyallup would be able to communicate with agencies that are in need of emergency support.
Before those communication capabilities were not available.
“Now it’s possible for us to patch directly through a communication center,” Tiedeman said.
As an example, Puyallup’s one-radio capabilities throughout it’s Urban Growth Boundary with the VHF system had a coverage area of 68 percent, with the 800 mHz system the coverage area is 97 percent worst case, Tiedeman said.
The new system has allowed for the ability to have better communication in areas that were hard to transmit to and from, Frank said, like the South Hill Mall.
Puyallup’s system alone can cover areas as far as Kent, Orting and parts of Graham, Tiedeman said.
“We have a very large footprint for the regional purposes,” he said.
Earlier this summer, the city began shifting services that use dispatch like public works and the police department from a VHF signal to 800 mHz. They also added the Bonney Lake Police Department and this fall the Puyallup Fire Department will use the system.
It’s all in an effort to form better regional communication for public safety, said City Manager Gary McLean.
The 800 mHz system is a direct response to the 911 Commissions findings that first responders need to have better communication capabilities in the event of an disaster.
“It’s very important that they can be on the same system,” McLean said. “The fact that you can speak to each other in an emergency situation make it more likely that you actually will.”
It has taken the effort of not only Puyallup, but other jurisdictions, like Tacoma, state and federal agencies to improve the communication capabilities of first responders, McLean said.
“The community should be proud of this project as an example of how cities, the state agencies and the federal government work together,” he said.
The cost has been shared by all involved and cities, like Puyallup and Tacoma, are working with other jurisdictions to get them switched over to the 800 mHz system.