While some northwest Iowa counties are switching to a new radio system with a focus on interoperability with other agencies, others are not. When O’Brien County’s communication system gets an update, if they go with what is proposed, some equipment will be new, but the bulk of the technology will remain the same.
This week, O’Brien County Emergency Management Director Jared Johnson met with the O’Brien County Supervisors to review a project proposal for new radio repeaters. Johnson says he’s asking for up to $185,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to replace up to seven fire/ems repeaters and three law enforcement repeaters.
Johnson explains that local first responders use the repeaters to talk to their own responders, the other departments, and the O’Brien County Communications Center in Primghar.