Every second counts when it comes to saving lives during an emergency. Communication is key. But, believe it or not, first responders in St. Landry Parish do not have the ability to directly talk with each other.
Officials say that creates confusion and wastes time. But, that lack of communication is now changing.
Countless numbers of emergency personal from all over St. Landry Parish responded to a hazardous materials spill in March of 2004. Officials say things went well, but communication among first responders could have been better.
Monday afternoon, 38 St. Landry Parish agencies, such as police and fire departments, ambulance companies and public works departments, got their hands on 800 megahertz portable radios. Officials say the radios will cut down on wasted time by allowing parish agencies to directly speak with each other.
Chief Lee Cahanin/Opelousas Fire Department: We're gonna be able to monitor what is going on with state police, with other fire departments, everyone is going to have the information at the incident...
Say there's an emergency, like a hurricane or a hazardous material spill. All an agency has to do is flip a switch and it is automatically connected to other responding agencies.
Chief Gary "Goose" Fontenot/Eunice Police Dept.: I wish we would have had something like this when we had the train derailment
because we had 20 different agencies. We couldn't communicate with anyone except our own agency. It was a cluster... Jude Moreau/St. Landry Parish: This way we can better coordinate and have a quicker response. In an emergency situation, every second counts...
All in all, 88 new radios were passed out to a total of 38 different agencies in St. Landry Parish, including one hospital.
Coordinators of this program say this is only the first step. Plans are in the works to give the St. Landry Parish school system access to these radios.
But, cost is always an issue. Organizers of this program say the radios are expensive, roughly $2500 each. Currently, the cost is being taken care of through a grant from the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Officials say they need to wait for more grant money before adding additional agencies to the program.
