SCAD communications get A+ during simulated power outage

The power failed and the building went dark Wednesday at the Stoddard County Ambulance District office, but 911 communications never went down. It was all part of an exercise to test the backup systems at the SCAD station in Dexter.

SCAD Manager Dave Cooper said it was the first time a complete backup check had been done on the communication center since the center went digital in October 2013. Cooper said the test went smoothly, and a few things were identified that needed improvement. At no time during the test did 911 communications fail. If they had, the system is designed to automatically switch to the 911 Call Center in Sikeston.

"I would have to give our communications drill an A+," said Cooper. "Our 911 system remained solid through everything."

Electrician Rick Wheatley, standing with back to camera, and Technician Kevin Francis check through wiring in the electrical room of the dispatch center.

The test was to include four phases of power loss at the communications center.

* The first involved the loss of electricity to the building. The backup generator is designed to automatically take over in in the event of a power outage.

* The second test was the loss of the generator, which could happen in the event of a catastrophic event. The system includes battery backups on all communication devices in the Dispatch Center, and the batteries continued to power the center.

* A generator from the Dexter Fire Department was brought in to the electrical grid to take over for the batteries. Electrician Rick Wheatley, with Quality Electric, chose not to tie the FD generator into the building grid because there was not enough time to check all the wiring. Still, Cooper said the exercise allowed them to mark on the electrical panels to curb power if an outside generator was needed.

Cooper said one thing that was learned during the emergency exercise was that the battery backups are good for only about 30 minutes, so a backup generator to the regular SCAD generator has to be ready within that time frame.

EMT-EMD Crystal Gibson ran through a series of communication tests during the exercise between the SCAD stations in Dexter, Advance, Puxico and Bernie. Electricians and technicians, Assistant Manager Chuck Kasting and Cooper were on hand to assist during the emergency exercise as varying degrees of communications were purposely shut down in the center.

The digital system was taken off line first, which also took down the State Patrol digital communication system (MOSWIN). The backup for that system is the SCAD repeater. The repeater was then taken off line, reverting radio contact to the analog radio system. Radio communications between all the stations was successful using the the tower at the Dexter station. All the stations were able to communicate with each other using the radios.

Cooper said that was not always possible. At one time, Dexter was not able to communicate with the station at Puxico. At that time, they had to relay information to Puxico through the Advance station. SCAD installed a new tower when the facility was upgraded in Dexter, and that upgrade made for successful radio communications during the emergency exercise. The final exercise utilized the "holler" communication system. The "holler" system is an App for iphones. SCAD has a module in the center which allows personnel to talk to each other by radio communication. It was also successful.

One area discovered to be in need of improvement was in the Safe Room at the Dexter station. The room, which is used as the Emergency Operations Center by the Stoddard County Emergency Management Agency, is equipped with emergency radios in the event of a tornado. Those radios were missing a power transformer, so were not available when the generator went down. Cooper said a new transformer would be installed.

Cooper said the exercise/drill was held to see what would happen in a variety of unforeseen circumstances since the Dispatch Center went digital in 2013, with the installation of a Motorola Astro 25 Radio System. The dispatchers have full access to all eight of the old analog frequencies, while adding three local digital dispatch channels, five channels used by the Highway Patrol in Region E and links to major event channels with the Highway Patrol and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

Cooper said he was very satisfied with the results of the exercise/drill on Wednesday.