I Can't Hear You...Over!

Kansas City, Mo. – Radio communications between fighters and paramedics are a vital connection for public safety. And a faulty system is getting keen attention before a special Kansas City council committee.

Fire Chief Smoky Dyer reports to the panel after a first transitional meeting this week, bringing MAST ambulance into the fire department. Focus is on six issues including staffing of the reorganized ambulance sector.

Dyer had this to say about the radios--"The technology is there but it is not user friendly for the fire unit and the ambulance assigned to the same incident to be able to have radio communication."

The city is about to activate what Dyer calls the most modern radio system of any city in the country. The chief says ambulance service is improving even during the transition.