Dyersburg acquires Mobile Command center

Public safety officers responding to a disaster often discover the greatest problems they face grow from a lack of organization at the scene and inadequate communications.

The City of Dyersburg took a giant step toward resolving those issues this week when it acquired a mobile command center that within two months will be outfitted with the latest radio, telephone and satellite communications equipment. A new unit of this type typically retails for between $95,000 and $100,000, minus the electronic hardware. To date, Dyersburg taxpayers have invested no money in the command unit thanks to the generosity of Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospitall, the 911 emergency board and local members of the federal Weed and Seed committee.

"We had a tornado drill last spring at Dyersburg High School and the consensus of opinion was that we needed a command post on site that could coordinate the efforts of all the emergency personnel," said Mark Grant, Dyersburg's public safety communications director.

Charles Barham, director of the hospital ambulance service, participated in the drill and offered the city a 1992 diesel vehicle. In turn, Grant and others began looking into revenue sources, including federal grants, which could be used to defray the cost of converting the vehicle and purchasing some of the necessary electronic equipment.

"We had the ambulance checked by a mechanic and it was in sound shape," Grant recalled. He then traveled to Newport, Ark., to visit the plant of the Taylor Made Ambulance, the firm that specializes in outfitting emergency vehicles.

The design of the command vehicle came as the result of a collaborative effort between the city's fire and police departments. Grant said there were scores of minute details to consider, from storage of delicate electronic equipment to complex wiring schematics. The Arkansas company offered a price of $11,000 for the refurbishing of the former ambulance.

Financing became the next hurdle.

"If it hadn't been for Methodist Hospital's willingness to support the community, the 911 emergency board and Mayor (Bill) Revell, we couldn't have done this," Grant said.

The 911 board offered a grant for the project. Through Weed and Seed, a federal grant was found to make up the additional funds with capital left over to purchase communications equipment.

Grant said the mobile command center will be outfitted with programmable radios keyed to all frequencies used by Dyersburg and Dyer County public safety workers. There will also be portable radios for volunteer response personnel, a computer for mapping and Internet access, wireless telephones and satellite phones.

"Having Internet access through cell phones allows us to collect and send real-time data in the event of a critical incident," Grant said. "For example, we can collect weather data. That would be important if we had a chemical spill where there was a possible problem with dangerous fumes. We could send to FEMA live video and audio feeds from the scene of the accident."

He said that once the unit is fully equipped it will be sent to Fire Station 1.

At the scene of a disaster, the vehicle will have a dispatcher who will feed information to all relevant agencies as the situation requires. Grant compared the new unit to a mobile command centers used by the U.S. military.

"If you could have seen this vehicle before we sent it to Arkansas for refitting, you would be amazed at the difference. They did a great job."

Grant said the mobile command center is only a portion of a greater strategy for dealing with local emergencies and disasters that began two years ago.

"Bill (Revell) wanted to make sure the city was ready for a disaster, so we created an Emergency Operations Center committee that included representatives from the police and fire department, public works and city hall," Grant explained. "We developed long-term strategic plans for the city."

He said that when the committee completed its work, members anticipated a seven- to eight-year timeframe to accomplish its basic goals as hundreds of thousands of dollars were slated for equipment and hardware purchases. Grant said that he has been amazed at the progress made towards realizing the committee's objectives.

"We have accomplished almost everything on that list in two years," Grant stated. "It is amazing what you can accomplish when you get people motivated."

Also, the lion's share of the purchases have been made from federal dollars from grants.

Grant said that while terrorist attacks on the U.S. gave new momentum to a move toward local disaster preparation, Dyersburg was well on its way to having a workable plan for dealing with a catastrophic incident prior to Sept. 11, 2001.