Dixie Regional adds amateur radio to its back up communications systems

Written by Mori Kessler on February 7, 2013 in Local News, News - 2 Comments

Steve Ikuta, (left) the emergency management coordinator for Intermountain Healthcare’s southwest region, Bob Vosper (middle) and Jim Ashby (right) of the Washington County Emergency Amateur Radio Service, posing by Dixie Regional's newest back communications system, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2013 | Photo courtesy of Bob Vosper, Washington County Amateur Radio Emergency Service

ST. GEORGE – On Wednesday, Intermountain Healthcare Southwest Region’s Dixie Regional Medical Center completed installation of two special antennae on the building that serve as a part of its backup communications system powered by amateur radio.

“We’re pretty pleased with this,” said Bob Vosper, technical manager for Washington County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (WCARES).

Much of Intermountain’s communications system is Internet-based, Vosper said. If the web goes down, a possible communications blackout could occur. To counter this potential problem, the hospital arranged for WCARES to install an amateur radio broadcast system as a back up that can function without the aid of the Internet or local radio repeaters. The system will also be able to broadcast large blocks of text over amateur radio bands.

“IHC is dependent on the web for some of its communication,” Vosper said. Other backup systems were already in place, he said, “this is just an added redundancy.”

Related

When all else fails, Washington County Amateur Radio is there

Email: mkessler@stgnews.com

Twitter: @MoriKessler

About the Author

Mori Kessler serves as Assistant Editor of St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2010-11. He began writing news in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in 2010. When not writing, he can be found loitering around local bookstores and libraries looking for something good to read.

2 Comments on "Dixie Regional adds amateur radio to its back up communications systems"

Biff February 7, 2013 at 10:07 pm · Reply

Biff here, ready to troll any and all ham radio nerds. Any takers?

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Knine February 8, 2013 at 12:18 pm · Reply

Great to see Dixie Regional complete this project. This will be a great asset to back-up communication. Good job guys & gals.