"Amateur radio operators are some of the first on the scene to help establish communication in an emergency," Wise said. "This funding will help our first responders continue the wonderful job they do to protect us every moment of every day."
The radio equipment will be used in the Emergency Operations Center at the Ned Chilton 911 Center, where emergency resources and public-safety response are coordinated in times of emergency, and in the Kanawha County Unified Mobile Command Post.
The Mobile Command Post is a joint venture among Metro 911, the Kanawha County Commission, the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority and the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority. It is a vehicle equipped with radio capabilities that will allow on-scene communications for use by any agency in need.
In addition, the call sign used to identify the station -- issued to the Kanawha Amateur Radio Emergency Service to provide emergency communication -- once belonged to the governor's father, who was an active member of the amateur radio community.
