Volunteer firefighters in Todd County and members of the Todd County Rescue Squad will soon have digital radios like police and EMS carry following action Friday afternoon in a special-called meeting of Todd Fiscal Court.
Magistrates approved up to $91,000 to purchase the Nexedge digital radios for all of the fire departments and rescue squad, according to minutes from the meeting. Todd County’s four law enforcement agencies and ambulances are already equipped with Nexedge radios and Christian and Logan County also use the same system.
Emergency Management Director Daniel Smith described the issues with the current 40-year old analog system at a recent meeting, noting it’s incompatible with the digital radios of EMS and police who are often responding to the same scenes.
He says reception is also poor in outlying parts of the county for volunteer firefighters and rescue.
The new handheld and mobile radios should last at least a decade.
In other action, magistrates amended the ordinance that created a natural gas utility in Todd County, increasing the number of board members from five to nine.