Key Files Bill to Equip Rural Emergency Responders with Better Communications Equipment
Contact: State Rep. Charles Key
Capitol: (405) 557-7354
Key Files Bill to Equip Rural Emergency Responders with Better Communications Equipment: Says Would Help Responders Better Prevent, Respond to and Recover from Mutli-Jurisdictional Emergencies
OKLAHOMA CITY-(February 1, 2007)- Tragedies such as the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing and the recent grassfires that have plagued rural Oklahoma are exactly why the state needs an interoperable radio communications system for emergency responders, said State Rep. Charles Key.
Key has filed House Bill 2060, which would create the Small County Emergency Responders Grant to provide funds for counties with populations of less than 30,000 to purchase equipment capable of communicating with emergency responders across several jurisdictions and to take actions necessary to bring County Emergency Management Programs into National Incident Management System Compliance.
"Combining every state emergency responder on one system would make our state response to disasters and multi-jurisdiction emergencies much more effective," said Key, R-Oklahoma City. "Right now, emergency responders cannot communicate when responding to multi-jurisdictional emergencies. Not only is it dangerous, but it also prevents our state from receiving federal funding necessary to protect our citizens."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has provided nearly $30 million to Oklahoma in federal funds to set up an 800-megahertz system along the Interstate 44 corridor that would cover the state's most populous areas.
Key's measure would appropriate $20 million for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) to distribute to the qualified counties to purchase equipment that would work on both the current VHF system and any future statewide 800-megahertz system.
To qualify for the funding, the county must have populations of less than 30,000 and submit, for OEM's approval, a plan for the county to purchase the equipment and implement the interoperable communications system. Upon approval, each county would receive approximately $450,000 to make the upgrades.
Each county would also be required to submit a plan to bring the county into NIMS compliance.
In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security developed the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to develop compliance regulations to ensure that states and local governments can effectively work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters. Federal funding is withheld from states that are not in compliance with NIMS regulations.
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