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Louisville Emergency Communications Network: MetroSafe

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Overview

On September 2, 2005 a multi-millon dollar emergency communications project began. This project will allow police, fire and emergency medical services in Louisville and the surrounding counties to communicate with one another.

Housed at 510 East Liberty St. Louisville, KY. dispatchers for Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services are now located in one facility, thereby,making it faster for first responders to reach any emergency situation. Equipped with the state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and trained staff, Louisville Metro Government MetroSafe stands ready to quickly handle any emergency condition that may arise.


Communications Center

The Communications Center receives all 9-1-1 calls within urban and suburban jurisdictions of Metro Louisville and is responsible for dispatching calls for service for Police, Fire and EMS.

MetroSafe Communications Center is responsible to obtain, document, disseminate and track activities and information of members of the Metro Police Department, Louisville Fire and Rescue, Louisville Metro EMS, Local Government Radio and Suburban Fire Districts.

MetroSafe Communications Center also has the ability to link radio communications with other emergency agencies outside of our jurisdiction via a process called Motobridge. This process can be beneficial in the event of pursuits, large hazmat incidents, mass casualty incidents, special details, multi-alarm fires or any other situation that may arise.


Communication Services

The Communications Services is responsible for the proper maintenance of all communications- related electronic equipment for the Louisville Metro Police, Metro Emergency Medical Services, Jefferson County Fire Services, Louisville Fire & Rescue and Public Works. There are 110 Civil Defense Sirens, located in Jefferson County, which are maintained by our facility. Also, this unit is responsible for many specialty types of electronic equipment such as Doppler speed radars, electronic sirens, digital voice scrambling direction finding equipment, aircraft electronics packages, video monitoring, intercom, and special investigations surveillance equipment. Within the systems above, we are responsible for system design, preventative maintenance, installation and removal, and breakdown repair for Police, Fire and EMS radio equipment. In addition to vehicle installation, Communications Services provides light bar and Mobile Data installation for the Louisville Metro Police vehicles.

The Communications Services traditionally has designed and provided expertise on major and minor communication systems and electronic purchases for both, Louisville Metro Police, Fire and EMS as well as other outside agencies. The Shop is responsible for all purchase transactions such as preparing requisitions, receiving reports, maintaining accounts balance, specifying equipment, preparing proposals, maintaining FCC licenses, and central property control over 15,000 radios and various other equipment which is kept at the Shop.

The Communications Services is responsible for radio console, base stations, and remotes at the Louisville Metro Police, Louisville Fire & EMS and Jefferson County EMS dispatch centers. The Communications Services maintains twenty five (25) microwave transmission paths and satellite receiver sites, used in the Louisville Metro Police, Fire, and EMS communications systems. The Communications Services is responsible for receiving and decoding equipment used by County Alarm in approximately 150 locations throughout the county.

  • Louisville Metro Police has over 1,300 sworn officers with portables and mobiles radios.
  • Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services has over 110 EMT’s with portables and mobiles radios.
  • Louisville Fire & Rescue has over 610 fulltime fire-fighters and EMT’s with portables and mobiles radios.
  • Jefferson County Fire services have over 1,000 fire-fighters. Most of them are currently volunteer personnel.


Training Unit

The Communications Center - Training Unit handles yearly academy training and in-service training for all new Communications Specialists.

The Training Unit staff also teaches Communications Overview for new police recruits, in-service classes to sworn and civilian members of Louisville Metro Police Department, and NCIC certification. All instructors are Kentucky Law Enforcement Council certified and some instructors have additional certifications such as American Heart Healthcare Provider CPR instructor, APCO emergency medical dispatch instructor and others. Each instructor has been promoted from working in the MetroSafe Communications Center. Combined, they have over 50 years of experience.

In addition to scheduling and conducting training and writing lesson plans, the instructors compose policy for Standard Operating Procedures, meet with communications trainees to chart progress, assist in developing a new computer aided dispatch training course and renew ongoing certifications


The Future of MetroSafe

To better respond to emergencies in a post-9/11 world, Louisville is investing in a $70 million-plus, state-of-the-art emergency communications network . This system will connect thousands of emergency responders throughout the region. The second phase is now complete, and work will begin soon on the implementing the new 800 MHz P25 digital radio system.

For the first time ever, MetroSafe will link communications for 911, the Louisville Metro Police Department, the Louisville Fire Department, Suburban Fire Districts, Local Government Radio, and Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services. In addition, MetroSafe will offer enhanced communication for all of the remaining 911 public safety answering points, or physical locations where 911 calls are received: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, suburban city agencies within Louisville Metro and the 13 counties surrounding Jefferson county.


October 2009 Update

Combine all public safety communications into one facility (Completed) Implement new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system (Completed) Remediation of permanent MetroSafe facility and migration of operations (Completed) Some of the current major milestones include:

Build a facility to consolidate public safety communications (Completed) Create interoperability at the console level by use of Motorola Motobridge and new radio consoles in Fall 2005 (Completed) Co-locate existing technologies (CAD and 911 systems) in Fall 2005 (Completed) Facility remediation (410 South Fifth Street - former Federal Reserve Bank Building) (Completed) New APCO Project 25 Digital/Trunked Radio Infrastructure implementation (Beginning in October 2009) Implementation of new 911 voice infrastructure Implementation of new information technology infrastructure Implementation of new public safety Wireless technology infrastructure Migration of existing operations to permanent facility (Completed) Ongoing testing and maintenance of fail over facility (Completed) The city's plan is to design a 30 to 35 channel 10 to 15 site 800/700 MHz P25 Digital/Trunking radio infrastructure. This system would encompass up to 535 base stations. In order for them to put all public safety, local government, public works and small towns, would require up to 5,000 subscribers. They will also be using VoIP gateway technology to communicate with legacy UHF, VHF, 800MHz conventional radio systems from agencies using conventional analog infrastructures. The dispatch center will be state of the art display driven consoles with touch screen.

They also have plans to build out a 4.9GHz broadband infrastructure possibly using Mesh technology. The radio system will also be capable of being firmware flashed to 700MHz when this band becomes available in the Metro Louisville area. Obviously there are many unknowns, and funding concerns.

This System is in the late stages of testing and It is not expected to be complete until sometime in 2010.


Radio IDs

  • The first digit is represented as:
  1 - Fire Service
  2 - Louisville Metro Police Department
  3 - Medical
  5 - Other Law Enforcement
  7 - Public Works


Jefferson County Fire Four Digit Numbering System

  • The FIRST and SECOND (XX00) digits represent the name of the fire department.
  Anchorage - 20
  Buechel - 37
  Camp Taylor - 50
  Dixie Suburban - 30
  Eastwood - 77
  Fairdale - 90
  Fern Creek - 71
  Harrods Creek - 12
  Highview - 11
  Jeffersontown - 33
  Lake Dreamland - 40
  Lyndon - 16
  McMahan - 55
  Middletown - 99
  Okolona - 80
  Pleasure Ridge Park - 22
  St. Matthews - 26
  Worthington - 18
  Trench Rescue - 64
  Haz Mat Team - 66
  Water Rescue - 68
  • The THIRD (00X0) digit represents the type of apparatus.
  2X Engine Company
  3X Engine Company
  4X Quad Combinations
  5X Truck Company: Aerial, Snorkel, Elevating Platform, Ladder Tower, Tele-Squrt.
  6X Water Tanker
  7X Brush Fire Unit
  8X Heavy or Light Squad, Ambulance
  9X Service, Utility or Special Purpose Vehicle
  • The FOURTH (000X) digit represents the apparatus number.
  00 - Chief Officer
  01 - Fire Department Chief
  09 - On Duty/Floating Commander

Example:

  • Unit 1632
  16 – Lyndon Fire Department
  3 – Engine Company
  2 – Unit two
  • Unit 5047
  50 – Camp Taylor Fire Department
  4 – Quad
  7 – Unit seven

Note:

  • Telesqurts shall be classified as Truck Companies (Third Digit - 5)
  • Articulating Squrts shall be classified as Engine Companies (Third Digit - 3)