New York City Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen disarmed his critics recently when he stated that new digital radios purchased for the Fire Department of New York had not been sufficiently field tested in live-fire situations before being distributed to firefighters. He explained that in an effort to get the radios into firefighters� hands quickly, enough time was not spent testing them in the field or training firefighters in their use, although the radios had been tested for quality, durability, and reliability.
Von Essen had recalled the radios from use on March 19 because of concerns raised when a firefighter in the basement of a burning building declared a �Mayday.� His call for help was not heard by other firefighters at the scene. The radios will undergo additional testing and reprogramming.
The Motorola hand-held, digital radios have been at the center of a controversy that has been raging between the FDNY members and management. The firefighter and officer unions have charged that the Fire Department had put new hand-held radios into service without adequate testing. Management countered that testing done in training scenarios brought only a few complaints of echoes or a half-second delay in transmission�conditions that, management said, were typical among firefighters not familiar with digital technology. Fire Department management had maintained that the radios are in need of reprogramming, not repairs. The city had paid about $18 million to purchase 3,818 hand-held radios for firefighters and ambulance crews.
Union officials, however, said that dozens of complaints have been received about the new radios, at least six of which arose the middle of March, when about 80 fire companies used the new radios in the field. The complaints, union officials added, went beyond the echo or delay problems cited by management. They cited reports of lost messages (among them two Maydays).
A spokesperson for Motorola attributed the difficulties over the new radios mainly to the fact that the firefighters were not accustomed to the different characteristics of digital technology. In fact, he noted that the issues of echoes and delays had been anticipated and that the department has addressed them in a training video on the new radios that was sent to every fire company in the city. Regarding the testing that began in March, he said reports of only a few lost messages were received. Eighty-one fires had been reported during that time.
Sources: �Say Fire Dept. Ignored Concerns Over New Radios,� Kevin Flynn, New York Times , and �Blame Me for Radio Static,� Michael Saul, New York Daily News; Apr. 11,2001; WCBS, New York, Mar. 22, 2001)