Schumer Announces FEMA Aid for Local Fire Departments

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, revealed Monday that he has secured more $650,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide 71 Nassau County Fire Departments and Volunteer Ambulance Corps (VAC) with updated radio equipment in order to meet a looming federal radio mandate.

The mandate, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, requires that all emergency communications equipment operate on a new frequency that current communications equipment does not support.

"This is a huge victory for Nassau fire departments that were set to get socked with huge fees to meet this federal mandate," Schumer said in a release. "Now, help is on the way – FEMA has agreed to pick up the tab, and Nassau taxpayers are spared the cost."

The Nassau County Police Department (NCPD), which operates the Emergency Ambulance Bureau through local fire departments and ambulance corps, had applied for the funding to meet the mandate. If they had not received it, the costs would have been passed on to what Schumer described as the already "over-burdened" fire departments – and then on to Nassau County taxpayers.

Schumer, in a press conference in Nassau County in January, and in a personal call to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, had urged the agency to support Nassau's application for the funding. The senator said that today's announcement was a huge victory for Nassau County and for those who risk their lives to protect local the county's residents.

As of January 1, 2013, the FCC will require that all emergency communications operate on a narrow-band frequency at 12.5 kHz efficiency. Currently, all medical communications between NCPD's Medical Control, the local fire departments and VAC's is conducted over a UHF frequency. According to Schumer, this antiquated system is plagued with static, interference and compatibility issues.

After Jan. 1, 2013, anyone not operating at the new frequency could be subject to fines.

“We run five ambulances and this grant will assist us in the purchasing of the new radio’s as well as lessening the burden on taxpayers,” said Michael Antonucci, Superintendent of the .  

Officials for the did not respond for comment on the grant or complying with the new FCC requirements.

According to Wantagh-Levittown Volunteer Ambulance Corps Chief Michael Muccio, the Medical Control communication system is used to communicate between ambulances and hospitals, as well as online direction for EMS providers. The new equipment, according to Muccio, will dramatically improve these communications.

"The introduction of new, updated radio equipment would allow EMS providers clearer and more concise communication with medical control, as well as the capability to send 12 Lead EKGs, via the radio, to Medical Control so that the appropriate STEMI hospital may be notified to provide a continuum of care," he said. "The radios would also allow EMS providers in the field to comunicate clearly with a centralized medical command should a mass casualty incident occur."

Muccio's corps is in the process of upgrading their EKG monitors in anticipation of the new radio technology. He said that the grant for the new radios is a great help to his volunteer organization.

"We do not get tax resources from the state, county or town," he said. "We are a not-for-profit organization that is funded through donations from the
community. This grant and new equipment allows us to defer the cost
of the radios and use that money to purchase other life-saving
equipment."

Justin Izzo and Andrew Coen contributed to this report.