Published: December 02, 2007 12:19 am         

New radio system ready for public

By Kevin Hassler

Associate Editor



A donation from Integris Bass Baptist Health Center has the ball rolling; now Mike Honigsberg is hoping other organizations come on board to help fund a new type of emergency warning system.

The $6,000 Integris donated has paid for equipment set up on the Williams Broadcasting radio tower for the viaRadio warning system, said Honigsberg, emergency management director for the city of Enid and Garfield County.

“Without that initial funding, this wouldn’t be happening,” he said.

The viaRadio system works over FM radio in tandem with clock radios, purchased from viaRadio, a company based in Melbourne, Fla., that have emergency warning system chips in them.

Honigsberg, who also is chairman of Garfield County Local Emergency Planning Committee, said he is ready to demonstrate the system to any civic group or organization interested. He’s hoping groups step forward to fund the purchase of the $100 radios to put in schools, nursing homes and businesses.

“We want to put these where people are congregating,” he said. “We want these where people are.”

His first priority is to have the radios in schools. Anyone making a donation to fund radios, though, can specify where they would want the radios to go, he said, including schools, nursing homes and daycare centers.

“However an organization wants these radios distributed, is how we will do it,” he said.

Any organization or business making a substantial donation, Honigsberg said, can have its logo put on the radios it funds. Integris will have its logo on radios for making the initial equipment donation.

Private citizens, too, will have the opportunity to buy the radios and receive such warnings as weather alerts or Amber Alerts, Honigsberg said. Emergency management officials would have to determine what warnings would be sent out to the public, he said.

A variety of warnings can be sent out on the radios, and they can be targeted to specific groups. For instance, Enid Fire Department plans to purchase radios for all members of its hazardous materials unit. In the event of an emergency requiring those firefighters, Honigsberg said, an alert can be sent specifically to those radios, telling the hazmat-trained personnel to report for duty.

In fact, warnings can be tailored to more than 4,000 groups that can be programmed into the system, Honigsberg said.

The system is accessed through the Internet, he said, but in the event that access is not possible, he could go to the Williams Broadcasting tower and hook into the system there and send out warnings.

Because the broadcast tower has a backup generator and emergency organizations such as Enid Police Department, EFD, the 911 center and Garfield County Emergency Management also all have backup generators, “this system would never be down” for more than a few minutes, Honigsberg said, if electrical power is lost. The radios also have a battery backup, he said.

Anyone wanting information on the viaRadio system or to schedule a demonstration can call Honigsberg at 249-5969 or Enid Fire Department Chief Phil Clover at 234-0541. Honigsberg can be e-mailed at gcemcd21@yahoo.com or mhonigsberg@enid.org.

Donations can be sent to Garfield County LEPC, in care of Mike Honigsberg, 114 W. Broadway, Enid OK 73701.