A recent request from 911 Director Julie Sears has caused questions as to her willingness to work with Calhoun EMS and other County Agencies. One of the greatest necessities in the world of Emergency services is communication. In 2018, Calhoun 911 had switched over to West Virginia Statewide Interoperable Radio Network, a digital system (WVSIRN), while Fire Departments continued to stay on the Very High Frequencies (VHF) which were installed in their trucks and had been used for several years. It is also the frequencies that local citizens can listen to on their scanners and know if there is an issue in their community. This too can be of great help in our small community.
At that time, all three Fire Department Chiefs, requested through a letter written to Julie Sears, that the ambulances continue to use the VHF frequencies so that that the Fire Departments could hear their traffic and know if they were on a call that might require their department’s assistance. Also, for safety’s sake, Fire department staff could respond if someone was in need of help.
More recently, when Minnie Hamilton Health System took over for Calhoun EMS upon their suspension, Minnie Hamilton used the County VHF frequencies without issue. However, Sears has requested that they not use the county frequencies and go to WVSIRN only; Knowing that this creates an issue with the Fire Departments and also does not allow the community to hear ambulance runs.
Jason Wilson, Interim Director, is currently trying to keep up with both 911 calls and transports having had over 80 runs in the month of October. Under the old regime of Calhoun EMS the average was 29 runs monthly. Although Calhoun EMS at that time did not do all transports, that is still a considerable difference in agency coverages.
Sears’ reasoning for not wanting Minnie Hamilton Health System on the county frequencies was that “they didn’t want to have to chase the Ambulance’s communication, trying to figure out what frequency they were on. VHF has 3 towers that they communicate on, Mule Knob, Brookstick and a Central county. This has not been an issue for at least 30 years of using the VHF system in Calhoun.
The WV Office of Emergency Services yesterday informed Ridgeview News that there is currently no new information, but the Calhoun EMS investigation is still ongoing.
Wilson is currently working with the State in hopes of securing grant funding for EMS and Paramedic training as well as the possibility of capital expenses for new equipment on the trucks.
Fire Chief Letter from 2018:
