Finance Committee - 10/18/2017 Page 21
Fire Department would give. | mean that, not to be melodramatic but they are prepared to do all to save lives.
That’s the motto of the fire department and mutual aid fits right into that.
Alderman Cookson
| appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Mayor Donchess
We do have mutual aid with Hudson, Amherst and Merrimack, the adjoining towns, correct?
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That is correct. Each geographic location, you notice the fire box goes by a coded
number. They do have a card, maybe not a card now, a computer. Basically it lists up to seven alarms on that
particular location. All the fire alarm dispatcher has to read that particular computer screen and they know up
to seven alarms who is coming in. The mutual aid is clearly spelled out on the card. If that community is
having an issue at the time, and let’s say a blizzard, thunder storm activity, brush fires, other things that are
going on, it also gives options that they can call in somebody else. One thing when | was the Deputy Chief, |
used to get an odd call in the middle of the night saying somebody somewhere was requesting assistance. |
say, give it to them. That’s what Nashua does. That’s what the fire service does, helps each other out. That
was with the dive team or other different things as well as maybe an engine company to their particular fire.
Alderman Cookson
| appreciate that. | Knew we had mutual aid. My follow up question is going to be: How do you communicate
with those departments that are providing mutual aid?
Alderman O’Brien
We would discuss with Mr. Mansfield and follow back with Mr. Mansfield the patching in capabilities with
mutual aid companies that come in.
Mr. Mansfield
Right now, the City of Nashua, all police and fire apparatus have our 800 MHz radios. They also have a VHF
radio in them. All the surrounding communities around us are VHF. If we have to respond for mutual aid, we
can speak with any community, any community, not just surrounding us, any community in the state. Our
radios are programmed for that. All the police radios are programmed for every police department in the state.
All the fire radios are programmed for every fire department in the state. There is one bank in every one of
those radios. When | say bank, it’s a zone in the radio. It’s called H Bank. H Bank is supposed to be, and it is
in the City of Nashua, in every VHF radio in the state. The H bank has what they call V fire, V law, V EMS
because it’s VHF. Then have they V tax. So there’s 16 channels that every radio in the state has that we can
use for interoperability. We also have, as Alderman O’Brien was stating, the capability of patching when
somebody comes to us if they are operating on a VHF radio. Usually it happens more with a fire department.
On the VHF side, they would come into the city. They would know to go to the Nashua channel because we
have VHF frequencies as well. The fire dispatcher would connect the two together by clicks on the computer
and patch those radios together. The same capability happens on the police side as well.
Alderman Cookson
Is that yet another backup to the situation that we’re trying to address with this Memorandum of
Understanding?
