By Rusty Marks
Charleston Gazette
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. — New equipment being tested by Kanawha County emergency workers may make it easier for deputies and ambulance drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.
County officials plan to buy three hands-free control units to allow emergency drivers to operate their radios and other equipment without taking their hands off the steering wheel.
“If you’re driving a vehicle 80 mph down the highway, your mind ought to be on your driving,” said Dave Erwin, director of the Kanawha County Emergency Operations Center.
Erwin said county officials will test three hands-free control units to see if the county should equip all its emergency vehicles with the devices. One of the units will be tested by county Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman, while one will go to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department and another to the Emergency Ambulance Authority.
Eric Waite, a sales representative for the company that manufactures the equipment, demonstrated the hands-free technology for local law enforcement officials and emergency responders on Tuesday. Waite took a car equipped with the devices to the Kanawha County Metro 911 center for a technological test drive.
Waite said high-end versions of the technology can do everything from turning on lights and sirens and operating police radios to running license plate numbers and calling up hazardous materials information. It can turn on dashboard cameras and play back videos. And the device can do it all with a simple touch screen or voice commands.
“It’s designed so the officer can be driving and not take his eyes off the road for anything he has to do,” said Waite. “The officer can be driving and not be distracted by anything by having to look down.”
A microphone clipped to the sun visor picks up voice commands and is linked to the emergency radio, or drivers can operate their vehicle’s emergency equipment with a simple touch screen. Waite said it costs about $4,000 to $5,000 per vehicle to install the technology if the software is compatible with the computers and equipment already in the cars.
Waite said representatives from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department and ambulance authority looked at the equipment on Tuesday. The Charleston police and fire departments, police from St. Albans and South Charleston and West Virginia State Police also got demonstrations.
For testing, county officials plan to buy a more modest system that operates an emergency vehicle’s lights, siren and radio. If the tests go well, county officials may equip the entire fleet with the devices.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” said Erwin.
Sigman, who was recently hired as county fire coordinator to help orchestrate responses to emergencies, was impressed with the equipment. “When you’re out here at 3 o’clock in the morning, anything that helps you pay attention to the road is a good thing to have,” he said.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, who asked county officials to look into the hands-free technology, said numerous studies have shown it’s dangerous to drive while trying to talk on a cell phone. He doesn’t see why police officers or firefighters trying to drive and talk on the radio is any different.
“I know there’s going to be a huge cost in this,” Carper said Tuesday. “But it’s just got to be safer for the emergency responder and for the public.”
Copyright 2009 Charleston Newspapers