Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service receives Community Foundation Grant for new radio system

The Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Ambulance Service was awarded $18,000 by the Allamakee County Community Foundation last spring for the purchase of a new radio system, referred to as Ambulance Communication Interoperability Enhancement. The hospital matched the nearly $5000 remaining dollars to purchase this new system which has now been installed.

Three new Kenwood Viking mobile radios were purchased, one for each ambulance, which enhance the communication abilities of the Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service to communicate directly with local law enforcement who began utilizing digital P25 radio technology in 2018. This upgrade also encompasses use of the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communication System (ISICS) as well as other regional networks used for emergency response in various scales of incidents.  These installed radios have a remote mounted head installed in both the cab and the patient compartment to ensure immediate work area access when it is needed.

“Prior to this project’s completion, two of our three ambulances could not directly communicate with even our local law enforcement partners in Allamakee County and our third ambulance that could monitor this digital traffic had outdated technology which often caused interruptions in communication,” explains Jacob Dougherty, Paramedic and EMS Manager. “Two of our neighboring counties have already upgraded or are in the process of upgrading their county-wide radio systems, meaning without the completion of this project our EMS service would not have the ability to communicate with their systems directly. Often we are called upon to assist our neighbors and on occasion we call upon their assistance as well, making seamless interoperable communication imperative.”

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service continues to experience higher volumes each year. The service ended calendar year 2023 with a total of 1,051 requests for EMS service which was a 22.2% increase over calendar year 2022.  Over a five-year period (2018-2023), a 47.6% increase in EMS request volume has been experienced. Mutual aid requests from neighboring EMS agencies increased by 300% from calendar year 2022 to 2023.

“Thanks to these funds granted by the Allamakee County Community Foundation, our EMS service has already experienced great benefit in having this upgraded equipment installed in each ambulance since June of this year. Although the project is currently still ongoing with being new users of the ISICS, our early benefits gained simply by having standardized equipment between trucks with the most current technology has been invaluable,” adds Dougherty. “Our benefit of ISICS participation is best described as a measure of additional redundancy in communications being established should our primary local means ever be interrupted. There is also opportunity for regular operational usage should future need arise. Being approved ISICS users will also add another pathway for interoperability with other agencies outside of our immediate region should a large-scale incident ever occur requiring additional resources.”