 King County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team practicing hoist drills.
From the Director
The PSERN team continues to make major progress as we continue with civil site development.
Currently, there are 51 radio sites-41 will be developed by King County and 10 by Motorola Solutions Inc. and there may be 3 additional sites added at some point in the future. In addition there will be 3 major communications centers or more commonly known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP’s). Leasing and permitting work continues to be a slow process but we have taken measures to streamline this process and developed an escalation plan.
As part of our reporting process, we were scheduled to provide briefings for two King County Council committees this month—the Regional Policy Committee and the Law and Justice Committee. Each briefing consisted of updates on project schedule, status and milestones. We successfully briefed the Law and Justice Committee, however, due to a power outage the RPC briefing will be rescheduled.
We are currently in the process of forming an PSERN Operations Board. The board will consists of members from various disciplines including Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS, hospitals and utilities. The PSERN Operations Board will responsible for providing information about users' operational needs to the Project, operational impacts of pending Project decisions, solutions to operational-related issues and shall communicate Project information to users, collect and analyze information from users, and coordinating activities between users and the Project.
I’m proud of the hard work my team has done thus far on such a large complex project. Each member of the team is dedicated to do what it takes to ensure the Project is successful and we can deliver a new and improved emergency radio system to the region.
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-David Mendel, PSERN Project Director |
 Close up and personal look at a radio tower microwave dish!
Our construction management team is working hard to keep
radio site tasks moving. Geo-tech work is near complete on all sites and is finished at the mountain sites. The CM team is also focusing on
foundation and tower designs. Lastly, we are close to selecting a General
Contractor. Once this happens, site construction work will begin on 9 sites
this summer.
 A glimpse of what geo-tech work looks like at the sites.
 FF Mic takes a turn in the driver's seat of an emergency response vehicle.
FF Mic and Officer Squelch Learn How First Responders Perform Rescue Missions
While on the road talking with first responders about the PSERN Project, FF Mic and Officer Squelch also had a chance to see first responders in action during their rescue drills.
This time of year, is a busy time for Search and Rescue teams. With the awesome weather many people go hiking and backpacking in the mountains and get lost so the King County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team is often flying high in Guardian 1 and 2 to find them. In the city, its high construction time and the Seattle Fire Heavy Rescue team is busy saving workers from trenches in the ground and even building collapses!
 Close up of Guardian 1 in the air practicing hoist rescue techniques.
Bandera Air Field was the first stop on the road trip for Officer Squelch and FF Mic. This is where the King County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team practices. This amazing team of 5 orchestrates several mountain rescue missions each year and spend a lot of time practicing. They often find themselves in rugged terrain rescuing hikers and campers who are lost.
 KCSO rescue mission hoist drill using an actual person.
The next stop on the PSERN Mascots road trip was to see the Seattle Fire Heavy Rescue team practicing for deep trench rescues. During the summer when construction projects are at a high, the Seattle Fire Heavy Rescue Team responds to incidents such as construction workers falling into a trench and get stuck. The rescue team often has to use special tools to keep dirt and mud out of the trench during a rescue.
 Seattle Fire Heavy Rescue Team practices using tools for a trench rescue.
As an added bonus while at the Seattle Fire training facility, the PSERN Mascots saw new recruits in action! They were doing drills on how to scale down buildings and jump through windows during fire rescues.
 Seattle Fire new recruits practice building rescues.
 Special thanks goes out to Deputy Hersh Hoaglan with the King County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and Captain Chris Lombard with Seattle Fire for letting the PSERN Mascots come and see how rescue missions are done. FF MIc and Officer Squelch understand how important the new emergency radio system will be these groups.
For more pics and info on the Mascots road trip visit the "From the Hip" Blog on the PSERN Web site.
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In addition to the King County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team there are several additional volunteers who donate their time to help find lost or missing hikers each year.
Next Issue: June 2016
Email us: psern@kingcounty.gov
Web site: www.psern.org
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