Muskogee County Needs Funding to Replace Outdated Radios

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(TNS) – Muskogee Fire Chief Jody Moore says Motorola radios he and his firefighters use are hard to replace or repair.

“Most everything on this radio is obsolete,” Moore said. “Most of the parts on these radios are no longer being manufactured. So it makes them difficult to get them fixed if something breaks or no longer works. We’ve been told that a lot of the parts have been purchased from places like eBay.”

Muskogee County agencies are seeking funding to help buy several hundred new radios for county fire departments, law enforcement and emergency medical services in the county.

Replacing all the radios could cost $3 million to $4 million, said Muskogee County Emergency Medical Service Executive Director Laurel Havens .

“All the radios are end of life,” Havens said. “We’re having to use older radios and scavenge parts from them for the current radios. Motorola doesn’t service them. Batteries are an issue.”

The county has a chance to get a rural development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture , Havens said, adding that county representatives will meet with the USDA early in December.

“There is grant funding through them for infrastructure and radio communication under the current administration,” he said. “There is focus on emergency response on the USDA funding.”

Several other counties have obtained grants to increase their radio capacity, he said.

Muskogee Emergency Management Director Jeff Smith said the agencies have had the radios for more than 10 years.

“They have reached their useful life of those radios,” Smith said. “Parts are hard to get for them. Batteries. We’re starting to lose some of those radios.”

Havens said Muskogee Police Department would need at least 100 radios for its fleet. The 911 center also needs radios. Sheriff’s department and EMS would need close to 50 each. Radios also are needed for police departments in Fort Gibson , Haskell , Warner , Webbers Falls and Porum .

Smith said the 17 fire departments in the county could need 25 each.

“You have mobile unit which are in vehicles — ambulances, trucks, cars, police cars, sheriff’s department cars,” Smith said. “You also have hand-held radios. Some agencies assign each individual responder their own radio. Some just have docking station for radios.”

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