“We’re going to be no good up here unless we can talk to each other,” said Mountain Disaster Preparedness President Mike Feyder.

MDP depends upon radio communication.  With eight Disaster Aid and Assembly Stations spread throughout Idyllwild, Pine Cove, and Mountain Center, radio communication from those units to an incident command center as well as to MDP search and assessment teams is a vital link in reporting structure damage and reporting injuries and casualties following a disaster.

MDP plans to use the Idyllwild Community Fund grant to purchase four Kenwood TK 3160 military grade radios specifically for use by core medical personnel under the direction of Dr. Richard Goldberg.  Radios will be used to communicate with MDP field personnel and incident command center to ascertain numbers of injuries, consequent medical needs, supplies needed, and treatment and/or medical transportation options.  The additional radios augment current MDP equipment.

“Our ability to communicate disaster assessment information is critical,” Feyder stressed.  He said the ICF grant would greatly expand MDP’s ability to respond to medical situations and better facilitate transmission of sensitive medical information.