Nevada County radio upgrade project will provide better communication during disasters
GRASS VALLEY — A year-long radio upgrade project aimed at improving communication during emergencies and natural disasters was completed in Nevada County.
The project was paid for through a grant from Homeland Security and includes hard-wired antennas that provide radio signals 10 times stronger than what they had been using for the last decade.
"Nevada County has unique challenges when it comes to communication signals," said Brett Fletcher with Nevada County Public Health Emergency Preparedness. "You don't have to go very far outside of Grass Valley for your cell phone signal to die out."
Communication during emergencies is crucial, especially in a place like Nevada County that's already lacking in signal.
"In an emergency, often, communication is the first thing that breaks down," said Kimberly Elliot, an emergency preparedness coordinator with Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital.
"Our solution is the good old-fashioned handheld radio," Fletcher said. "It has withstood the test of time for a reason. It's simple to use, easy to maintain and resilient during multiple emergency scenarios."
The county has installed enhanced antennas at seven different health care facilities that will allow for direct communication with the office of emergency services, county resources and first responders. This is a huge step up from the basic equipment they'd been using over the last ten years.
"The signal that was essentially 5 watts would have to fight through the LED lighting, roof, wood, metal insulation. Then, outside, it would have to fight past anything in the air like smoke, snow, rain and plentiful and tall trees," Fletcher said.
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital says that before this project, the radios could only be used in a specific area outside the building, which posed issues during extreme weather events.
"She was standing outside in the cold. One of the firefighters gave them her jacket because she couldn't use the radio inside and was trying to coordinate resources," Elliott said. "We don't have to go outside and try to get a signal. Now, we can be inside. We can be in our boardroom, in our command center and still be able to communicate."
Elliot said it's a game-changer because they will be able to more efficiently get in touch with first responders about how many patients they may be receiving during an emergency.
Next, the county will upgrade communications in the east part of the county, like Truckee.