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  • Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency volunteer Jim Hertenstein looks at wiring in the ceiling of the old radio room in the Jefferson County Courthouse. The room is currently being renovated as a radio room for the EMA as a way to help communications in the event of severe weather. Pictured with Hertenstein are volunteers Wayne Sampson, bottom left, and Keith Hertenstein, front right. KANDACE MCCOY/REGISTER-NEWS

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March 3, 2010

Radio room to be used by EMA

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The old radio room in the Jefferson County Courthouse is getting a facelift so others can be helped in case of an emergency.

The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency plans to use the old room as a communications base of operations during severe weather or emergency situations.

“We needed a place to function on a regular basis in regards to meetings and communication and away from the county dispatch,” explained Jefferson County EMA Deputy Director Steve Leuker. “When the renovations are done, we’re going to have emergency radios and ham radios and eventually hope to get some CB’s in here. A SKYWARN coordinator will be on hand during a storm event as well.”

Old telephone wires have been ripped out of the ceiling during the renovation and baseboard heaters have been installed. Leuker said in addition to painting the room, volunteers have been getting the area ready to set up the radios and are waiting for vendors to install equipment.

He said the radio room will be a way to get information directly to authorities so “they can better determine what to do” during an emergency.

“This is the county’s effort to comply with the National Weather Service and the EMA in keeping with the state’s movement to the 2011 earthquake exercise,” Leuker added.

In January, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency formed the State Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES), a partnership with amateur radio operators, to enhance emergency communications between state and local responders during disasters.

According to Jefferson County EMA volunteer and local RACES officer Wayne Sampson, the partnership was spurred on as a result of the lack of communication in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“When I was down there, people who used ham radios and CB’s were the only ones who could communicate (after Katrina),” Sampson said. “Katrina took communication out for days.”

“People think that because there’s a storm and they have a cell phone, they’re always going to be able to call someone,” added EMA volunteer and ham radio operator Jim Hertenstein. “But what they don’t understand is that if their provider has been knocked off somewhere, they’re going to be knocked off.”

The renovations to the radio room are being funded by donations, local EMA funding and grant money, Leuker said.

Though most of the work has been completed through volunteers, it is unclear how much the project will cost upon completion or when the radio room will be ready.

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