Jasper’s first responders will soon begin using a provincial wide radio system to help them communicate with each other more effectively and with other agencies across the province.
Known as the Alberta First Responders Radio Communications System (AFRRCS), the new radio system has already been adopted by EMS services in town and will soon be adopted by the RCMP.
“The main driver behind this is Alberta Health to get a provincial channel for EMS to talk on, but any other emergency service can use it, all they have to do is buy the hardware for it,” said Paul Kennedy, the executive director of operations for Associated Ambulance.
He said Jasper’s EMS service adopted the new system in June after the Whistlers radio tower went live.
“The primary dispatch will be on AFRRCS, but because of the repeater towers down the parkway they’ll still have to use the satellite system to communicate when they get into those areas where there’s no radio coverage,” explained Kennedy.
Jasper’s fire department has yet to decide if it will use the new system because of the associated costs.
“We’re going to evaluate it and look at the pros and cons and then develop a plan to adopt it slowly,” said deputy fire chief Don Smith.
“We have a good system in place and everything works so we don’t need to be an early adopter into the system, we can let them work the kinks out of it first and let them figure out what works and what doesn’t work.”
Currently, police, fire and EMS services in Alberta use their own stand-alone radio systems that don’t communicate with one another. The new radio system will allow first responders to directly communicate with each other rather than through a dispatch centre and talk to other first responders anywhere in the province.
“Right now we don’t have clear lines of communications between the three agencies so that gives us a really good tool to actually communicate with each other,” explained Smith, about the new radio system.
The new system was launched across Alberta on July 1, although it’s already been in use for months in other parts of the province and was put to the test during the Fort McMurray wildfire.
“In the case of a large-scale emergency or disaster the capability to use that system to speak to anybody else in the province, including the provincial operations centre, that’s really an important feature,” said Smith.
Construction of the $438 million system began in 2008 and will be completed by the province this summer.
“All the infrastructure is being provided at no cost to us all we have to do is buy compatible radios so if it fits into our capital cycle of replacing the radios that’s when we’ll decide if we should shift over to the newer system,” said Smith.
He said it would cost about half a million dollars to replace the fire department’s entire fleet of radios with dual-band radios.
Jasper RCMP Sgt. Rick Bidaisee confirmed the local police detachment will eventually adopt the system, but was unable to say when.
Parks Canada said it has no plans to adopt the new system.
"In Jasper, the radio system is supported by repeaters that provide coverage to and throughout the park. Through Jasper Dispatch, this system is accessible by first responders operating within Jasper National Park. This enables communication in areas their own systems cannot reach," wrote Steve Young, a communications officer for Jasper National Par
"Parks Canada will monitor developments with the Alberta First Responder Radio Communications System (AFRRCS) however, there are no plans at this point to adopt their additional system at the present time."
Paul Clarke [email protected]
