The Cooper County Public Health Center is aiming to strengthen the public health system with the purchase of two new stationary ham radios.

The use of ham radios will allow the health center to have uninterrupted contact with the Department of Health and Senior Services and with the local Emergency Operations Center.

CCPHC administrator Melanie Hein explained that having ham radios is a very important part of communicating during an emergency.

“Ham radios do not fail when regular cell phone towers and frequencies fail,” Hein explained. She said that after the disater in New Orleans, ham radios were the only way for emergency communications.

Hein said that while ham radios may seem like old technology, they are the “old tried and true.”
Purchasing the ham radios was the first step. The next step is obtaining an operators license. Hein said that training isn’t required, but the staff is required to pass a test. CCPHC staff will be trained in early 2009 and will be provided by local Ham radio operators.

The ham radios were purchased with Community Pandemic Preparation Planning funds.