@deshipu true, but training is not at issue here as we are talking about federal agencies with trained personnel. Additionally, radios are not that much more expensive and have a much longer lifespan that the average cellphone. I feel like there has got to be something more to it that I’m missing, even if cost is one driving factor.

@duval@todon.eu I don’t think the foot canon came back out this time. Lots of resources were in all impacted states even before landfall of the hurricane. I was simply listening to some of the challenges that search teams in North Carolina’s mountains were having and remembering my own experiences in public service in the late 90’s / early 2000’s.

@deshipu emergency agencies, especially federal ones, don’t need certifications or licenses to use radios. It’s still standard practice for fire, police, and ems to use them in conjunction with cell phones. For example, police near me use ~150MHz and the county school buses use ~463MHz. Both travel very long distances, have been in use for this since before cell phones, and are current standards. It seems crazy to not send a similar handheld with ever search and rescue team.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why #FEMA search and rescue teams rely on cell phones for communications? That seems pretty short sighted for a disaster are. I’d have thought the norm would be low frequency radios and/or satellite phones.

Getting ready for another round of political theater… I’m weirdly excited for it.
[ #Politics #VicePresidentialDebate #USPolitics ]

@HeatherRojo unrelated to my other post, it looks like we have a lot of similar interests, particularly #Scouting & #genealogy. I’ve got some pretty deep roots including #Buffington who signed the West Jersey Compact. At least one direct ancestor was also in the Revolution, too. I’m still trying to connect my various ancestors across the ocean - the tended to have not-unique names from Ireland & England. Ancestry DNA is helping me make headway though.
#Geneadon