Directors Report for November 2013

During the month of November:
Telephone calls received: 21, 234 / 708 per day
Fire Incidents: 893
EMS Incidents: 2,911
Police Incidents: 27,649

Advanced Technology Projects:
-Rebanding:  This project is almost complete.  We are successfully operating on the rebanded channels.

-Voice Radio:  Emphasis continues on finalizing the leases for the 19 towers sites.  The Factory Acceptance Testing for the system infrastructure is planned for February 2014.

-New CAD System:  Significant progress has been made in the design of the dispatcher and mobile client graphical user interface.  Work on RadioIP, the solution to incorporate both a high speed and RDLAP connection into CAD, will begin with the signing of the amendment.

-Next Generation 911: The South East 9-1-1 group continues to work on the PEMA funded NG9-1-1 and cyber security assessment.  The goal of the assessment is to create a regional path forward to deploy NG9-1-1 related functionality.

Public Safety Training Campus:  The Tactical Village construction bids have been reviewed and submitted to Contracts Department for processing.  Construction is planned to begin in January 2014 with completion in the winter of 2015.
     We continute to work with Weston Solutions, environmental study contractor, to get the Federal funds released for the Range.
     In November, we hosted 867 people at 39 events at the Campus.

SE PA Regional Task Force:  Work continues with PEMA to fully establish Montgomery County as the agent for the Task Force.  The immediate focus is to spend the 2011 and 2012 grant monies before the July 31, 2014 deadline.

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On November 3rd, Change your Clock, Change your Battery

Chester County residents are reminded to change the battery in smoke alarms

West Chester, PA -  Daylight saving time ends Sunday, November 3, 2013 and Chester County residents are reminded when you change your clocks, change and test the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

“This one simple step can help save lives,” said Harrison “Digger” Holt, Chester County Chief Fire Marshal, “Each year communities nationwide witness tragic fatal home fires.  The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms is worn or missing batteries.”   Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year, testing those alarms and reminding others to do the same are some of the most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries. 

This marks the 26^th year that the International Association of Fire Chiefs, in association with Energizer, have sponsored the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery program.

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11pm and 7am when most families are sleeping.  Children and senior citizens are most at risk and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.

Families are encouraged to use the extra hour “gained” from the end of daylight saving time to review their home fire safety plans; change and test the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, practice your fire escape plan, check your supplies in your go kit or make a go kit for each member of your family and remind your family, friends and neighbors of these life saving habits.

“Sometimes saving a life can be that simple – Change Your Clock Change Your Battery,” added Fire Marshal Holt.

For more information on the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery visit www.chesco.org/des

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Director's Monthly Report - September

Monthly Statistics:

21,858 Telephone calls - 729 per day
804 Fire Incidents
3,226 EMS Incidents
     BLS - 1,533
     ALS - 1,693
Average Fire/EMS dispatch time-1 min. 23 sec.
28,485 Police Incidents
Average Police dispatch time-1 min. 28 sec.

Projects:
Rebanding:  The cutover to the re-banding frequencies was successfully completed on 25 September.  The next step is to complete the infrastructure re-tuning and then begin the process of validating that the post re-banding system is as good as the pre re-banding system.  The project is on track to be completed in February, 2014.

Voice Radio: We still continue to finalize the interference study for the CDR and to identify a tower location in the Ludwigs Corner area.  Other site development work is progressing smoothly.

CAD:  During September several administrative training sessions were held.  Data maintenance and response stream input training was completed and planning for telecommunicator and responder input for configuration was begun.  As operational questions are raised during the training the group reaches out to the appropriate response organizations or telecommunicators to ensure that the new CAD meets the needs of all involved.  Project still on track for cutover during July 2014.

Paging:  In September ACD Telecom performed testing that confirmed the harmful interference from North Penn School District when the paging system is operated in either the primary microwave or back up radio frequency modes.  A letter was sent to the FCC with this report asking for their plan of action to fix this issue.  Awaiting their answer.

PSTC:  The first meeting with potentional construction bidders for the Tactical Village was held in September.  Bids are due on November 6 with construction to begin in January 2014 and completed by  winter of 2015.  The environmental study for the firing range was completed and submitted to the Federal Transit Authority.  Approval of this study will release $3.7 million of Federal funds for the project.  Last month the Campus hosted 1,241 people at 72 events.

SEPA RTF:  The reorganization of the Task Force is going smoothly.  We still are working with PEMA to transition fiduciary responsibilities form the PHMC to Montgomery County.  During the month of August the Task Force funded 25 Tactical Ballistic Vests for the Northern Chester County ERT and 5 Vests to the Sheriff.

Director's Monthly Report

July, 2013

During the month of July, the Department of Emergency Services processed 23,513 telephone calls; 946 Fire incidents; 3,044 EMS incidents; and 29,472 Police incidents.  We experienced a four-hour failure of the CAD system due to a failed Network Interface Card.  During the outage we operated using our established manual backup system with no issues.

Rebanding Project;  the project is on track to be completed around February, 2014.  On August 28, there will be a “dry run” for the infrastructure cutover to the rebanded frequencies.  During this time, the entire radio operations will be on the backup system.

Voice Radio Project;  the Customer Design Review was completed in June.  Tower acquisition is still a major issue; some sites being more difficult than others.  Some of the present tower sites have failed structural analysis and they are being reviewed to determine the best path forward for these sites.

Computer-Aided Dispatch System (CADs);  We have begun the process of preparing data for transfer from the old CADs to the new system. 

Training Facility;  The site work for the Tactical Village is done.  The bid package for the actual building/prop construction should be released in early September with the award anticipated in November.  Last month the Campus hosted 399 people at 26 events/training.

Director's Monthly Report

June, 2013

 

During the month of May, 2013, the Department of Emergency Services processed 22,913 telephone calls; 791 fire incidents; 3,260 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) incidents; and 29,249 police incidents. The average dispatch time for fire and EMS was 1 minute and 35 seconds. The average dispatch time for police incidents was one minute and 30 seconds. We conducted 382 formal quality reviews for telephone, radio, and emergency medical dispatch. The combined weighted average of 98% remains above the Department objective of 90% and well above the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency's requirement of 80%. COMM-1, the Department's mobile communications vehicle, deployed twice during the month. The first time was in conjunction with the Incident Support Team (IST) for a barricaded subject in West Whiteland Township. The second was for a gasoline tanker fire in West Goshen Township. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -mandated re-banding project contiues with an anticipated completion date of February, 2014.  The major activity is focused on completing mobile (vehicle mounted) radio installations.  Of the 1,432 mobile radios, 931 (65%) have been installed. We continue to work wit the interested parties at South Coatesville; Embreeville (West Bradford Township); West Vincent Township; and White Clay Creek in London Britian Township concerning new towers for the Vocie Radio Project.  White Clay Creek continues to be the most difficult. Data  connectivity equipment has been delivered and is being installed fo rthe new Computer Aided Dispatch Systems (CADS).  Cutover is anticipated in July 2014; and system acceptance should be in November 2014.

Site Work for the Tactical Village at the Public Safety Training Campus should be completed in June. The construction bid package for the Tactical Village is being compiled with an issue target of July and planned contract award in October. We should be ready for Training at the Tactical Village by late 2014. The environmental study required by the $3.7 million U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant for the Range at the Public Safety Training Campus will be conducted by Weston Solutions in Exton. Once that study is completed and approved by DOT we can begin the process of hiring the architect. This will probably be late this year. In May, we hosted 834 people at 41 events at the Public Safety Training Campus.

Department Yearly Report

Please click on the link below to view the Chester County Department of Emergency Services 2012 Yearly Report.

2012 Yearly Report

If you have any questions, please email the Public Information Officer at eoc-pio@chesco.org

VRP Newsletter - March 2013

Director Ed Atkins welcomed all to the first face-toface meeting for the Voice Radio Project. The meeting was held at the Public Safety Training Campus with all responder agencies represented.

John Struhar, Project Manager, Harris Corporation, presented the status of the Project. Tower site surveys have been done in the last month. The surveys included space on the towers as well as space in the tower shelters. Some sites were OK and others will need to be modified. Final report on the surveys is due in about 3 weeks Ed Toner, FOP representative, inquired about how long we are asking to be on the towers. Levin Czubaroff, attorney with Fox Rothschild LLP advised that each tower site agreement is

for 20 years with options to renew the agreement up to 29 years.

Preliminary Design

Harris is working on the preliminary design. A detailed schedule, diagrams, site drawings, microwave channel plans, system configuration for each site and a list of equipment needed at each site will be presented at the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) scheduled for April 25 and 26. Agenda for the PDR will be forth coming.

Future Meetings:

Webinar scheduled for April 9th at 10:00am.

Please check the DES website for the most up to date information: www.chesco.org/des

Responders: please address any questions or concerns you may have to the Fire Chief, EMS Council or Police Chiefs association presidents.

Pager Testing for the next 2 weeks

 

NOTICE TO PROVIDERS

  

13- 0318-01A 

  

Over the next two weeks there will be a variety of testing conducted on the paging system related to overall system parameters / performance, timing for each site and physical equipment inspection.  The testing, evaluation and inspection should have no direct impact on day to day operations. Should a test affect changes in the system, we ask that the issue be reported immediately to the 9-1-1 Supervisor so an evaluation can be done of the test being performed at that time.

The first testing process will occur Wednesday morning starting around 09:00 and be completed within a 1-2 hour window.  During this testing phase one site at a time will be taken offline and test conducted with that site.  All the work will be done with technicians at the GSC; constant communications between the 911 center and the Technicians will occur to coordinate normal dispatch operations. 

A NOTAP will be put out prior to the testing on Wednesday. We will keep you informed to the progress as we move through the next couple of weeks.

Authority:   Alt. Supervisor Scott B Fredericks          

Date:                              03/18/13

To:              Fire      XXXX      

EMS    XXXX      

DES Director's Monthly Briefing

March 2013

18,597 Telephone Calls last month:  664 per day.

699 Fire Incidents

2,886 EMS Incidents:  BLS = 1,226 ALS = 1,660

Average Fire/EMS Dispatch time of 1 minute and 17 seconds

25,425 Police Incidents

Average Police Dispatch time of 1 minute and 27 seconds

We conducted 484 formal quality reviews for telephone, radio, and emergency medical dispatch.  The combined weighted average of 99% remains well above the Department objective of 90%.

Technical

Ø  Re-Banding:

o   We experienced delays in mobile radio installations so the project completion date has slipped from the end of December of this year to the end of February of 2014.  Of the total 1,432 mobile (vehicle mounted) radios, 778 (54%) have been installed.  Installation is expected to be complete by the fall of this year. 

o   Portable (handheld) radio distribution is essentially complete.  We will hold one final training/distribution session to catch the stragglers. 

o   Four voice channels on the entire system have been successfully re-banded.  The concern that there would be interference from these new frequencies has proved to be unfounded. 

Ø  Voice Radio Project: 

o   About 40 people attended the Kick Off meeting on 26 February. 

o   We will conduct monthly face-to-face meetings and monthly webinars half way through each month.  

o   Harris has begun the site surveys that should be complete by the middle of this month. 

o   On 27 Feb we had an initial meeting with the State Radio Project Office concerning the new, higher tower at White Clay Creek.  They are very amenable to this idea as they also need improved coverage in the area. 

o   We will need emergency responder help to get municipal approval to build new towers at White Clay Creek, Ludwig’s Corner, and other yet to be identified sites.

Ø  Paging:  Interference is coming from North Penn School District in Montgomery County.  The FCC had North Penn reduce power which did not correct the issue.  The FCC is now working with North Penn to transition to a new channel.  The voice degradation issue is still unexplained.  ARINC has deployed site monitoring equipment to better characterize the issue.  SONIK has deployed their lead engineer to Chester County to help find a solution. 

Ø  New Computer-Aided-Dispatch System (CADS)

Ø  Data connectivity design work completed and equipment is being ordered.

Ø  Updated schedule: 

§  System Staging:  August 2013,

§  Training November 2013,

§  Cutover January 2014,

§  System acceptance April 2014. 

Training Facility: 

Ø  Site work at the tactical village will be complete this month.  Curbing should be installed in the next week or so and work on the drafting pit should begin. 

Ø  Structural design for the Tactical Village is complete.  Once the cash flow problem is resolved, the Facilities Department will be able to publish a bid package for construction of the Tactical Village.

Ø  Last month we hosted 726 people at 12 training events and 10 meetings. 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Task Force: 

Ø  Last month Task Force funded equipment delivered to Chester County emergency responders included:

o   HazMat detection/reconnaissance robot,

o   A building collapse/trench stabilization kit,

Six sets of self contained breathing apparatus, and three dynamic entry ballistic protection shields. 

Commissioners Sign Harris Contrat for the Voice Radio System

Below is the Press Release from the Commissioners Office:

THE COUNTY OF CHESTER

COMMISSIONERS Ryan Costello Kathi Cozzone Terence Farrell

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONERS 313 W. Market Street,  Suite 6202 P.O. Box 2748 West Chester, PA 19380-0991 (610)  344-6100

February 14, 2013

EDITORS:  The following is for immediate release.  If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Brain, Communications Coordinator, at 610-344-6279 or Mark Rupsis, Chief Operating Officer, at 610-344-6026.

COMMISSIONERS SIGN CONTRACT FOR NEW

EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM

            WEST CHESTER, PA _ The Chester County Commissioners today signed a contract with Harris Corporation for the purchase, installation and maintenance of a new emergency radio system.  The contract for purchase, installation and two years of maintenance totals $27.4 million of capital expenditure, with $14.7 million in operating expenditure allocated for maintenance of the system for an additional eight years following installation.

            Chester County operates an emergency voice radio system that provides emergency voice communication for the County’s law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) responders.   The current system was installed in the early 1990s and the technology is becoming obsolete and the equipment is in need of replacement. 

            The new system is an Association of Public Officials (APCO) Project 25 Compliant Voice Radio System that guarantees 97 percent coverage at Delivered Audio Quality (DAQ) of 3.4.   

            “The purchase of this new radio system, combined with the investment that we have made in the Public Safety Training Campus, positions Chester County as a standard bearer for public safety resources, not just in Pennsylvania, but nationally,” said Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Ryan Costello.

            “This is a big, but necessary investment,” added Commissioner Kathi Cozzone.  “The signing of this contract follows a comprehensive, thorough review of what we truly need for our county now, and in the future.  The collaboration between everyone in the emergency responder community means that we’re confident that we have purchased a radio communication system that will benefit our citizens as well as the first responders who place their lives on the line to keep us safe.”

            “When planning an investment like this, it is imperative to have the right criteria detailed within the initial Request for Proposal.  Our RFP was very comprehensive and the responses we received came from top industry firms.  This meant we had a good selection of systems to review, and could negotiate with these specialist companies to purchase the best communication system at a very competitive price,” said Commissioner Terence Farrell. 

             

/2.

            The new emergency radio system is a P25 Phase II design which avoids the cost associated with a federally mandated transition from Phase I to Phase II for the 700 Megahertz (MHz) band in 2017.  The system design includes remote transmitter/receiver sites configured in two fully-linked cells, modifications to the microwave transport system that connects the remote sites to the 9-1-1 Operations Center in the Chester County Government Services Center in West Goshen Township, replacement 9-1-1 consoles, and field equipment for the emergency responders, including 1,221 mobile (vehicle-mounted) radios, 2,750 hand-held radios, and 132 control stations for emergency responder station applications. 

           

Chester County is the first county in Pennsylvania to initiate a strategic planning process and has a Aaa rating on its bonds from Moody’s Investors Service as well as AAA ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.  Established by William Penn as one of Pennsylvania’s three original counties, Chester County has been named by Forbes.com as one of America’s best places to raise a family and is ranked one of the healthiest counties in Pennsylvania by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Notice to Fire and EMS Providers - Paging Update

As you may be aware, there has been an on-going audio quality issue with the Paging System.  Over the last several days, an escalation of the severity of the issue has occurred in the West Chester and Goshen areas.

Update:  The paging issues over the last several days in the West Chester and Goshen areas are resolved.  The paging vendor identified the problem and made corrections during the evening of 2/12/13.  DES has confirmed the corrections with a series of test pages.  We will continue to work with the paging vendor towards a resolution to the ongoing audio quality in general.

 If you are experiencing any change in the audio quality in your area, please report this issue using the Enterprise Wizard program and submitting a System Issue Report giving as many details as possible.

 Technical Engineers are scheduled to arrive at the GSC later this afternoon to begin to diagnose the current issues via testing of the paging system.