Julie Yates
Mayes County Emergency Manager Johnny Janzen addressed Pryor’s industrial plant representatives about direct radio communication with emergency personnel.
Janzen talked about the communication issue in last Thursday’s Local Emergency Planning Commission
meeting.
In an emergency situation, Janzen said a plant is “one of the worst places to get a call from.” Janzen said when an emergency comes up at a plant, often someone is just told to call 911 without being given further details. Dispatchers end up radioing emergency personnel with very little information about what is happening at the industrial plant.
“We want to make sure we’re taking the right apparatus,” said Mike Dunham, assistant emergency manager for the county.
Assistant Fire Chief Sherman Weaver said the people at the plant know more about the layout, even if the fire department has
done a walk-through of the building.
Janzen has a list of the radio frequencies used by each plant. His plan is to program all the business frequencies into emergency radios so emergency personnel will have direct communication with each plant. When a plant makes a 911 call, the fire department or ambulance service can communicate with plant personnel as the emergency vehicle is in route to the scene.
“It’s a benefit to their employees,” Janzen said.
A number of industrial plants are gated with guard shacks. Janzen said the dispatcher will request someone meet the ambulance at the gate and often there will be no one at the gate when the emergency vehicle arrives.
“It cuts down on our response time,” said Janzen, and “it could mean the difference between somebody living or somebody dying.”
Chouteau Fire Chief Ted Key said the fire department has a number of trucks and needs to know which unit to take to the scene. The fire department responds with specific units depending on if the call is a rescue, medical emergency or fire.
“It’s no big deal to cancel back,” Key said. “But it’s also nice to get the right truck the first time.”
“More communication would definitely lessen the problem,” said Janzen.
One plant representative said her company has an emergency response team. A Siemens representative said his company uses a script as part of their emergency plan. Before a 911 call is made, the script is used to determine what the emergency is and where it is located.
Pryor Fire Chief Tim Thompson said the fire department doesn’t want to send anybody extra into a building until they know what’s going on.
“We want to take care of everybody that we can,” he said.
Janzen hopes to program all industrial plant radio frequencies into emergency radios by the end of summer. He said he plans to notify all the industrial plants so he can get their feedback on the communication plan.
