MARCS radio proving useful for fire departments

For nearly a month, fire departments throughout Medina County have been operating with the MARCS radio system, with fire officials praising the resulting improvements. MARCS, which stands for Multi-Agency Radio Communications System, allows departments to have not only better communication with other stations in the county but also allows for communication with mutual-aid stations in bordering counties as well. Brunswick Hills fire Chief Anthony Strazzo said the increased communication with out-of-county departments has greatly paid off as there have been "a couple of significant fires in November," that required mutual aid. "Before, communications were difficult at best because (departments) outside of the county were on MARCS and we were either on the UHF (ultra high frequency) system or the Harris System," Strazzo said. "Now that we are on MARCS, those mutual-aid partners coming in are able to communicate with us. Long before they arrive on scene, we can start relaying information to them or they can relay information to us." According to the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, which operates MARCS, there are more than 2,800 public safety/service agencies that use MARCS, approximately 350 towers throughout Ohio that provide connectivity between departments and more than 135,000 radios and 1,800 unit computers are on the system. There are also three 80-foot "Towers on Wheels" which can be requested for "events or emergencies that require interoperable communications." Prior to the implementation of the system, which went live to all departments in the county Nov. 2, Strazzo said working with a neighboring city such as Strongsville was made much more difficult due to the lack of communication before arriving on a scene. The only departments to not switch over to the state-owned and operated MARCS System are the cities of Medina and Wadsworth, which are remaining on the county-owned and operated Harris System. "We didn't even have the ability to talk with Cuyahoga County (prior to having the MARCS system)," Strazzo said. "What would happen is, if we went to Strongsville or if Strongsville came to assist us, we would have to arrive at the scene, go up to whoever was in charge and hope that they would have a radio to hand us or that we would have a radio to hand to them." To get these radios, the departments each applied for a grant through the State Fire Marshall's Office. In total, Strazzo said those grants totaled about $550,000. Along with those grants, individual departments applied for FEMA grants as needed to outfit their departments with additional radios for each vehicle. In Brunswick Hills, Strazzo said the department received a grant for about $170,000. The departments in Hinckley, Granger and Sharon townships applied together for a grant and received just over $600,000. Brad Winter, chief of the Seville-Guilford Fire Department, said the shift to MARCS has also helped his department's communication with its mutual aid departments in Wayne County. Prior to the change, he said the department was still able to communicate with Wayne before they switched over as well, but MARCS has simplified and streamlined the process. "It's been a huge step up in our communications," Winter said. "One big stumbling block that we had up until we got MARCS radios was being able to communicate with our partners in Wayne County, that being Rittman, Sterling, Creston and Town and Country (fire departments) and the Central Fire District. We were not able to use the UHF system at all. "Before Wayne County went to MARCS, they were on VHS. It required us at Seville to have two different radios. We had the UHF radio and the VHS radio, and that's how we were able to communicate when we went to their departments." It isn't just fire departments that use the MARCS system to their advantage. Strazzo said state agencies including the Ohio Department of Health, State Highway Patrol, local health departments and hospitals, each county's sheriff's department and several school districts throughout the state. "Whether they use MARCS or not, each (sheriff's department) has a MARCS radio given to them by the state of Ohio," Strazzo said. "How (the schools) use it is, if there were to be an emergency within the school, they could push a panic button that is linked to the MARCS radio system. That transmits an alert to whatever their local dispatch center is. "There is a lot of use beyond just the fire department of people that use the MARCS radio system." Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.