This clock radio could save a life

By Johnny Johnson

Published: December 16, 2007

ENID — Still trying to figure out a Christmas present for that person who has everything? Garfield County emergency management officials have a suggestion — how about a new clock radio that might just save a life?

These aren't like other clock radios that can be purchased at big box stores or through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Garfield County Emergency Management Director Mike Honigsberg said. The viaRadio system in Garfield County is the first system of its kind in Oklahoma that can send out personalized emergency messages to everyone or to specific areas in the county within seconds.

"The neat thing is we can send messaging for just about anything,” Honigsberg said. And unlike the outdoor warning sirens used by hundreds of municipalities, Honigsberg said, the new viaRadio system can be heard indoors and gives residents immediate information about the nature of the alert.

The technology for the viaRadio system is nothing new, but Honigsberg said it has just not been used a lot in this country.

"This system has been used in Europe for 15 to 20 years around nuclear power plants,” he said.

For all practical purposes, the early warning clock radios both look and act like a run-of-the-mill clock radio.

In the event of an emergency, however, when officials need to alert people to a particular situation, the radio will loudly announce a message and then scroll a more detailed message across a digital screen.

"These particular radios work on the same kind of technology as those digital radios that tell you what song is playing and who is singing it,” Honigsberg said. "That's done through a side band message, using a subcarrier frequency. ... Well, this uses the same kind of sideband.”

In Enid, the county's system is attached to the Williams Broadcasting radio tower, which can broadcast FM signals across the county.

The radios themselves essentially have two tuners — one for the clock radio, and one that is always locked on to a local emergency channel, so that no matter what station the radio is on, or even if it is turned off, Honigsberg said, the device will still broadcast emergency messages.

"And if you need to, you can even unplug it and take it with you,” Honigberg said. "As long as you are in the broadcast area, the message will show up."

The Garfield County emergency radio network has been operational for about five months but was only recently made available to the public, Honigsberg said.

"We've done a lot of testing and used it during inclement weather with no problems,” he said. "We feel very confident in this system now, if people want to get them, or if civic groups want to help purchase them for day cares, schools and assisted living facilities.”

But in addition to use as a civil emergency warning device, Honigsberg said the system can also be used as a sort of backup device for emergency dispatch, especially in rural areas, where officials can use it to recall hazmat or fire responders. It also could be used to communicate a major event that would require responders from across the county

"It has so many uses,” he said. "But my ultimate goal, is to have these in all of the schools — from day cares to high schools — and assisted living facilities, malls and anywhere else people get together.”

The public is welcome to order the $100 radios from their local emergency planning committee, and Honigsburg said they could usually be delivered within a week.

While the Garfield County system is the first of its kind in the state, Honigsberg said he wouldn't be surprised if other cities, counties and schools follow suit, because the viaRadio system offers an effective method of distributing emergency data simultaneously to those who need the information.

"Let's say hypothetically that something were to happen in Oklahoma City that was going to affect all east-central businesses,” Honigsberg said. "And let's say that there are 500,000 of these radios throughout Oklahoma City, in homes and businesses. If this was something that those people needed to know about, they could send one message and in 15 seconds, 500,000 people would have that message. That's pretty impressive.”

Comments