| Publisher: Information Station Specialists |
| Ventura County Health California | Spring 2011 |
| Ventura's New Voice: Radio + Digital Sign = Powerful New Communication Tool | |
| Early in 2008, Ventura
County Health's
emergency preparedness
specialist Steve
Johnston approached Information Station Specialists
with a set of needs that
ultimately led to the
birth of a new means of
reaching the public with
health and safety
information during a
crisis. The RadioSTAT
Portable Emergency
Advisory Radio Station
was designed through
this public/private
collaboration to be used
in conjunction with
portable road signs that
instruct motorists to
tune to a special AM
radio frequency for
critical information at
PODs, incidents,
disasters, evacuations
and events. Later that
year, Information Station Specialists assisted
Johnston in debuting
this new capability at
'Operation Sunrise,' a
special training event
the County hosts for
volunteer Citizen
Emergency Response Teams
(CERTs), first
responders and other
emergency professionals
to help hone their
skills.
See Ventura County Case
Study 1. Skip ahead to 2011 and the just-completed 'Operation Medical Shelter' event. Information Station Specialists and County health/safety officials again teamed to debut an innovative technology: this time VoiceStar - a communication solution that includes the visual component as well as the aural. VoiceStar Portable Advisory Radio Systems, manufactured by our partner American Signal Company, are composed of towable, all-weather trailers with information radio stations onboard. The versions displayed at the event included 6-by-11-foot changeable message signs to alert incoming traffic to the special radio signal. (Both the radio messages and sign text may be programmed remotely as well as in the field at the units themselves.) See more on VoiceStar here. Two VoiceStar systems were utilized during 'Operation Medical Shelter' – one on the approach road and one positioned near parking areas. Broadcast messages informed participants about directions, parking, hours of operation and schedule of events during the exercise. In an actual emergency, FCC rules give government officials wide latitude in how they may use information broadcast stations to protect the public. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office recently procured the two VoiceStar units, which were in operation during the event. Johnston describes the stations' purpose this way, "The RadioSTAT (and now VoiceStar) Portable Emergency Advisory Radio Stations are constantly being utilized by a variety of county agencies for a variety of missions. While its utility in disaster response is self-evident, it provides a valuable component to exercises, vaccine clinics and whenever we need to communicate information to a continuous stream of community members. Our Auxiliary Communications Volunteers have created a process to create messaging and respond whenever the equipment is activated." (VoiceStar systems are in use nationally, obtained recently by Pierce, King and Snohomish Counties (WA), Washoe County (NV), the Veterans Administration, the US Army Corps of Engineers and various State Departments of Transportation.) |
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PO Box 51, Zeeland, Michigan, USA, 49464-0051, Phone 616.772.2300, Fax 616.772.2966, Email the Editor
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