 |
Demo
Location for
First-Responder
Medical Surge
Training
Exercises |
In the demo,
information was
provided via a
RadioSTAT
Station to the
general public
and media as if
it were a real
emergency. |
|
 |
Steve Johnston
(2nd from right)
trains first
responders. |
|
 |
Incident
Command,
Registration &
Communication Tents in Place |
|
 |
Mock school bus
explosion at
fictional
"Sunrise Middle
School" helps
Ventura County
Public Health
test response
capabilities. |
|
Ventura County Health,
California |
Spring 2009 |
County-Company Collaboration Produces New Portable
Station for Public Health & Safety Use |
California’s
Ventura County forms the
northwestern portion of
the greater Los Angeles
area. Covering nearly
2,000 square miles of
land and crisscrossed by
several major highways,
this growing region
boasts a population of
nearly 800,000 people.
One third are
Spanish-speaking.
Early in 2008, county
emergency preparedness
specialist Steve
Johnston approached
Information Station
Specialists with a set
of needs that ultimately
led to finetuning a new
means of reaching the
public with health /
safety information in a
crisis. The RadioSTAT
Portable Emergency
Advisory Radio Station
is designed to be used
in conjunction with
portable road signs that
instruct motorists to
tune to a special AM
radio frequency for
critical information. On
average, each station
covers 25-75 square
miles and can be quickly
moved into position in
an emergency and/or
operated from a fixed
location at other times.
In late summer 2008, Information Station Specialists
assisted Steve Johnston
in debuting this new
capability at “Operation
Sunrise,” an annual
training event the
County hosts for
volunteer Citizen
Emergency Response Teams
(CERTs), first
responders and other
emergency professionals
to help them hone their
skills.
Below, Health Official
Johnston shares his
perspective on the
RadioSTAT experience at
Ventura County.
“Ventura County Public
Health/Emergency
Preparedness Office has
a robust Point of
Dispensing (POD) plan,
which we exercise
frequently.
'After-action' reports
from these sessions
indicated much time and
staff were spent
repeating basic
information to citizens.
Also comments were made
regarding the lack of
bilingual signs and
directions to the POD
site. So we looked to
technology for
assistance.
“We determined that Information Station Specialists’
new RadioSTAT AM
solution was what we
needed to help resolve
those issues. The system
is portable, easy to use
and allows us to create
and broadcast
information to incoming
persons, greatly
reducing the need to
answer questions at the
site as well as reducing
the need to get the
media to broadcast
driving directions.
“The system is easy to
set up and get on the
air quickly. Our Public
Health Officer is now
recording scripts on fl
ash drives so we have
material ready to go in
the event of a disaster
or response to an event.
The ability to broadcast
‘live’ via microphone
allows us to create and
broadcast timely
information. Coverage is
great in our county, and
we are considering
letting other county
agencies use our
RadioSTAT station for
non-medical response
information and events.
“By broadcasting basic
information to arriving
citizens we have
increased our throughput
during mass vaccination
exercises and we have
relieved our staff of
repetitive questions and
answers. In fact another
after-action report
suggested a portable AM
radio receiver at
check-in areas for
people waiting for
vaccination, which we
did. This eliminated
many questions. And by
alternating bilingual
information we covered a
larger segment of our
population than with
just signage alone.
“We used contributions
from several grants we
administer to buy our
RadioSTAT station.; CDC,
Homeland security and
pandemic flu
preparedness funds were
pooled. The expenditure
was in compliance with
preparedness
requirements for each
grant. I think the point
is that grant recipients
need to look at the
deliverables and think
out of the box on how to
comply with them. Our
work plan was approved
before any purchases
were made.
“I want to thank
Information Station
Specialists for their
assistance in designing
and refining this
concept into something
highly user friendly and
important to our
response plans. They
provided assistance in
frequency monitoring and
selection, FCC license
application; and they
listened to our feedback
on what was needed and
affordable.” |
Update |
"Recently we got a
chance to deploy our
RadioSTAT station during
the swine flu event.
Early in the crisis, we
received requests from
physicians to test
patients for suspected
swine flu. Concerned
about bringing them
[inflected people] into
our building to collect
specimens and the need
for social distancing to
keep potential cases
from infecting others,
we decided to have
citizens drive into our
parking lot where
specimens could be taken
from them, while they
remained in their cars.
"To facilitate the
process, our AM radio
station was deployed
along with the
information signs. When
patients drove into our
lot, they were
instructed to tune their
radios to 850 AM. There
they received all the
information on the
process and how they
were to interact with
our [public health]
staff. This eliminated
personnel from talking
to each driver and
exposing him/herself to
a potential swine flu
virus."
The County also plans to
use RadioSTAT for
drive-through clinics
and bilingual
applications. In 2011, Ventura County
introduced its VoiceStar
Portable
Radio System with
Changeable Message
Sign.
See that case study.
Email Steve Johnston
Ventura
County Public Health |
Why
RadioSTAT? |
 |
Learn more about
RadioSTAT. |
|
© 1983-2021 • Information Station Specialists,
Inc. • All Rights Reserved
PO Box 51, Zeeland, Michigan, USA, 49464-0051, Phone
616.772.2300, Fax 616.772.2966,
Email the Editor
• • •
|
Information Radio Stations is a generic term
synonymous with Travelers Information Stations (TIS), Highway
Advisory Radio Stations (HAR) / Highway Information Systems &
Low Power Radio Stations (LPR). Operation of the stations is
governed by FCC Part 90.242 Rules. A FCC license is required.
Information Radio Stations may be fixed or portable.
Subcomponents may include transmitter, antenna and ground
system, digital voice player, wattmeter, cabinet with
conventional or Corbin locks, lightning arrestors for RF, power
and telephone lines, coaxial cable. Most stations employ black
maximized antennas to discourage ice accumulation and security
measures to prevent unauthorized program access. Options include
synchronization, battery backup, solar power, remote programming
by local, network or telco, multi-station audio distribution via
RF or LAN / WAN or wireless network. |