Sanford Health F-M Ambulance. ARMER 800 MHz Radio System Participation Plan

Transcription

1 Sanford Health F-M Ambulance ARMER 800 MHz Radio System Participation Plan

2 Sanford Medical Services (FM Ambulance), North Dakota 800 MHz ARMER Radio Participation Plan Contents 1. Introduction and ARMER System Application Client and Project Overview... 2 A. Agency Summary and Jurisdictional Coverage of New System... 3 B. Existing Agency Operations and Equipment Fargo-Moorhead Ambulance and Dispatch Air Ambulance Operations Local County-based EMS/Ambulance Operations Local City/County Hospitals ARMER/800 MHz Radio System Technical Planning A. System Planning Fargo-Moorhead Ambulance and Dispatch Air Ambulance Operations Local County-based EMS/Ambulance Services Local City/County Hospitals B. Local Enhancements C. Mobile and Portable Subscriber Radios D. Sanford FMA Talk Groups, Fleetmap and ID Requirements E. 800 MHz ARMER Traffic Usage Review F. 800 MHz System Coverage G. Legacy VHF Equipment H. Contingency Planning I. Training J. Interoperability K. Standards L. Maintenance M. System Administration Project Costs and Budget Project Implementation... 28

3 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 1 ARMER Participation Plan 1. Introduction and ARMER System Application Sanford Health System consists of multiple primary EMS/ambulance, Air Ambulance (AirMed), and Hospital service entities operating in many areas of Minnesota, providing these services to many local municipalities and public safety jurisdictions in western Minnesota, as well as the Fargo/Cass County, North Dakota area. Included in these entities are F-M Ambulance Service (FMA), AirMed Ambulance Services (five locations), and numerous city and county-based operations. Most of these entities are existing ARMER 800 MHz radio system users, operating through either an existing Limited Participation Plan or by the associated local county ARMER Participation Plans. As the Sanford F-M Ambulance, AirMed and other local ambulance operations have expanded, so has the need for additional radios, talk groups and radio system coverage, along with the need to incorporate all Sanford divisions into a single, Full ARMER Participation Plan. Sanford Health System and associated entities are requesting approval as a Full ARMER system user for the service entities included in this ARMER Participation Plan. Sanford requests that this application and plan be reviewed and approved by the following agencies and committees: Northwest Minnesota Regional Advisory Committee (NW RAC) and Emergency Communications Board (ECB) Central Minnesota Regional Advisory Committee (CM RAC) and Emergency Communications Board (ECB) Southwest Minnesota Regional Advisory Committee (SW RAC) and Emergency Communications Board (ECB) ARMER Operations and Technical Committee (OTC) State of Minnesota Emergency Communications Board (SECB) This ARMER Participation Plan for Sanford and associated entities has been developed based on the requirements for participation in and use of the ARMER radio system. Sanford desires to contract as required with the Northwest ECB, Southwest ECB, and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for use of the ARMER system once all approvals have been obtained. A list of the Sanford entities included in this plan are provided in Section 2. of this Plan document.

4 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 2 2. Client and Project Overview Sanford Health System is the parent company of the various EMS/ambulance, AirMed and Hospital services included in this ARMER Participation Plan. Most of these entities are current ARMER radio system users, and their use of ARMER is covered by either an existing county-based plan or Limited Participation plan. Sanford s operations have grown over the past several years, including expanded services and service areas for F-M Ambulance and AirMed operations, and the acquisition or management of these existing countybased ambulance and hospital services. As these expanded operations and radio needs have evolved, it became appropriate for Sanford to develop a Full ARMER Plan to encompass all operations. There are four agency components to this ARMER Plan: 1. F-M Ambulance (FMA) operations (including Dispatch services) 2. AirMed operations (Bemidji, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Bismarck and Dickinson) and dispatch services 3. Local county-based EMS/ambulance services and operations 4. Local hospital operations A review of each of these work groups is provided in the next section of this plan. The primary points of contact for this project and plan are: Don Martin Rey Freeman Operations Manager RFCC Consulting Fargo-Moorhead Ambulance Larkin Drive th St. So. Minnetonka, MN Fargo, ND Phone Phone rfreeman@isd.net Don.Martin@FMAmbulance.com It should be noted that future F-M Ambulance 800 MHz and ARMER radio operations and use have also been incorporated into the City of Fargo/Cass County, North Dakota 800 MHz/ARMER radio system plan, as well as the existing City of Moorhead/Clay County, Minnesota ARMER system participation plan. F-M Ambulance is considered an integral partner agency in public safety operations throughout the Fargo/Moorhead service area. As such, there may be some overlap in Talk Groups between these three agency plans and operations. However, Sanford and FMA will be obtaining and managing the actual ARMER radio ID s for all Sanford agencies through this new ARMER plan.

5 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 3 A. Agency Summary and Jurisdictional Coverage of System The following Sanford entities are included in this 800 MHz ARMER Participation Plan. As noted, most are existing ARMER system users through various existing ARMER plans: Table 1a: Sanford/FMA Ambulance and AirMed Agencies Entity/Agency Service Area Existing ARMER User? 1. F-M Ambulance Moorhead/Clay County, MN Fargo/Clay County, ND Yes (via Clay Co. MN) 2. AirMed Bemidji MN Northwest MN, Statewide Yes (Limited ARMER plan) 3. AirMed Fargo ND Northwest MN, Statewide Yes (Limited ARMER plan) 4. AirMed Sioux Falls SD Southwest MN, Statewide Yes (Limited ARMER plan) 5. AirMed Bismarck ND Western MN, Statewide Yes (Limited ARMER plan) 6. AirMed Dickinson ND Western MN, Statewide Yes (Limited ARMER plan) 7. Bagley Ambulance Clearwater County, MN No 8. Canby Ambulance Yellow Medicine County, MN Yes (YM County) 9. Hillsboro, ND Ambulance Norman County, MN No 10. Mahnomen Ambulance Mahnomen County, MN No 11. Murray County Ambulance Murray County, MN Yes (Murray County) 12. Rock County Ambulance Rock County, MN Yes (Rock County) 13. Thief River Falls Area Ambulance Pennington County, MN Yes (Pennington County) 14. Wheaton Ambulance Traverse County, MN Yes (Traverse County) 15. Worthington Ambulance Nobles County, MN Yes (Nobles County) F-M Ambulance, Hillsboro and Thief River Falls Area Ambulance services are dispatched by and receive calls for service from the F-M Ambulance dispatch center in Fargo. The remaining local ambulance services are currently dispatched by the local county PSAP, although calls are sometimes handed off to the F-M Ambulance dispatch center in Fargo. The AirMed services receive their dispatch services from the Sanford AirMed dispatch center in Sioux Falls, SD. Hospitals are shown on the next page.

6 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 4 Table 1b: Sanford Hospital Agencies Entity/Agency County or City Existing ARMER Plan 1. Bemidji Hospital Beltrami County NW RGNL EMS 2. Bagley Hospital Clearwater County NW RGNL EMS 3. Canby Hospital Yellow Medicine Co YM County 4. Fargo Hospital Cass Co/Fargo ND NW RGNL EMS 5. Hallock Hospital Kittson County NW RGNL EMS 6. Jackson Hospital Jackson County Jackson County 7. Mahnomen Hospital Mahnomen County NW RGNL EMS 8. Ortonville Hospital Big Stone County Big Stone County 9. Perham Hospital Otter Tail County Otter Tail County 10. Sioux Falls Hospital Sioux Falls SD SW RGNL EMS 11. Thief River Falls Pennington County NW RGNL EMS 12. Tracy Hospital Lyon County Lyon County 13. Westbrook Hospital Cottonwood County Cottonwood County 14. Wheaton Hospital Traverse County Traverse County Refer to the map on the next page for a general location of the Sanford agencies.

7 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 5 Map of Sanford Health System Ambulance and Hospital ARMER Locations

8 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 6 B. Existing Agency Operations and Equipment As noted in the previous section, many of the Sanford entities listed are existing ARMER radio system users, and will be incorporated into this plan for Sanford operations. The use of the ARMER 800 MHz Trunked Radio System has been shown to provide the best technology solution to meet the operational radio needs of public safety agencies throughout Minnesota. The key performance benefits provided by the ARMER system include: Radio Coverage (mobile and portable communications) System Capacity (Talk Groups through Trunking technology) Interoperability (a shared statewide radio network platform) Reliability (multiple tower sites, overlapping coverage, redundant site links) A review of each Sanford work group is provided in this section of the ARMER plan. 1. F-M Ambulance (FMA) operations (including Dispatch services) The F-M Ambulance division of Sanford is based in Fargo, North Dakota. From this location, they are the primary BLS and ALS ambulance/ems service provider for the following areas: City of Fargo and eastern Cass County, ND City of Moorhead and most of Clay County, MN Existing Operations: FMA currently owns and operates a VHF P25 repeater system located in downtown Fargo, along with remote voting receiver locations in other areas of town. This system provides reasonable good coverage in the Fargo area, as well as some coverage into Moorhead and Clay County MN. FMA also jointly operates an Alpha Numeric paging system with the RRRDC (Red River Regional Dispatch Center) and Cass/Clay County operations. The existing FMA dispatch center is equipped with a 2-position Motorola MCC5500 radio console system. This console system is connected to the existing VHF repeater system through VHF RF control stations. The MCC5500 console system is also connected to one 800 MHz RF control stations for access to ARMER talk groups, which is used for the following communications: Thief River Falls Area Ambulance, now on ARMER/800 Dispatch Operations: The F-M Ambulance dispatch center is a Secondary PSAP, whereby it does not receive direct calls from the public. A large percentage of their calls are transferred from the Red River Regional Dispatch Center (RRRDC) in Fargo, which is the primary PSAP for the Fargo/Cass County ND and Moorhead/Clay County MN service areas. Most of the radio communications for F-M Ambulance units is currently conducted on the VHF radio system, as the mobile and portable radios now in service are primarily VHF, although a few 800 MHz ARMER-capable radios have been purchased. It is the goal of FMA to replace all VHF radios with new 800 MHz ARMER-capable units in the near future.

9 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 7 The Fargo-based FMA operation currently has an inventory of 38 Mobile and 67 Portable radios. Most of these are VHF, but the same total number of 800 MHz/ARMER radios would be implemented at this location once the project is completed. Refer to Section 3.C. of this plan for details on mobile and portable radio inventories. 2. Air Ambulance (AirMed) Operations Sanford AirMed (Air Ambulance) operations are based in five locations, all of which provide service to agencies and locations in Minnesota. These locations are as follows, with the associated aircraft types: Fargo, North Dakota: One fixed-wing, one rotor-wing Bemidji, Minnesota: One rotor-wing Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Two fixed-wing, one rotor-wing Bismarck, North Dakota: One rotor-wing Dickinson, North Dakota: One fixed-wing Technisonics multi-band radios installed in the helicopters. All aircraft provide service to agencies in Minnesota. AirMed s current use of the ARMER system includes the Technisonics multi-band radios, as well as a group of five (5) 800 MHz portable radios (used in Bemidji), which is covered by the existing Limited Participation Plan established in July An existing Talk Group was established for AirMed use through the Limited plan; the EMSSA AIRAM is the only current talk group established in the ARMER system for use by Sanford AirMed, and it has Statewide Roaming privileges due to the nature of Air Ambulance operations. Dispatch Operations: The AirMed dispatch center is located in Sioux Falls SD, which serves the aircraft for all locations. Local and county agencies in Minnesota needing the AirMed services contact AirMed dispatch in Sioux Falls via 800 telephone number. The AirMed dispatch office then contacts the AirMed locations via telephone, UHF or ARMER 800 (Bemidji) radio systems. AirMed operations staff at these locations carry portable radios for local communications as well as with AirMed dispatch. The AirMed dispatch center is equipped with a 2-position Motorola MCC5500 radio console, which controls the various radio systems and resources, including two 800 MHz RF control stations. One control station is used on the EMSSA AIRAM1 talk group, and the other has been setup on the new AIRCOMM talk group. These RF control stations communicate over-the-air with the Beaver Creek ARMER site in southwest MN. A diagram of the AirMed Dispatch Center in Sioux Falls is shown on the following page.

10 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 8

11 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 9 3. Local County-based EMS/Ambulance Services and Operations All of the nine (9) city or county-based EMS/ambulance services listed in Section 2.A. of this plan (and shown below) receive their dispatch services from the local county PSAP which they are associated with. Many of these EMS agencies were locally owned and/or operated at some point in time, but have since been purchased or are managed by Sanford and now incorporated into Sanford and FMA operations. The 800 MHz radios being used by these entities are using ARMER ID s from the local county ARMER plan. A component of this Sanford ARMER plan is to bring these radios into the Sanford operations inventory, and assign new ID s obtained through the planning process. Table 2a: Sanford Health City/County-Based Ambulance Services Entity/Agency Service Area Existing ARMER 1. Bagley Ambulance Clearwater County, MN No 2. Canby Ambulance Yellow Medicine County, MN Yes (YM County) 3. Hillsboro, ND Ambulance Norman County, MN No 4. Mahnomen Ambulance Mahnomen County, MN No 5. Murray County Ambulance Murray County, MN Yes (Murray County) 6. Rock County Ambulance Rock County, MN Yes (Rock County) 7. Thief River Falls Ambulance Pennington County, MN Yes (Pennington County) 8. Wheaton MN Ambulance Traverse County, MN Yes (Traverse County) 9. Worthington MN Ambulance Nobles County, MN Yes (Nobles County) As noted above, Hillsboro ND and Mahnomen County Ambulance are not currently ARMER system users, but are included in this plan for future capability. Hillsboro is included because they provide Mutual Aid response to Norman County MN. No major operational changes are planned for these agencies, however Sanford intends to obtain one new talk group for each of these locations, to allow direct communications between F-M Ambulance dispatch in Fargo and the local ambulance service. This would be used to allow direct communications and event tracking after the initial call for service from the local agencies. The local EMS agencies have experienced issues with some of the local PSAPs not having sufficient personnel to provide good EMS service interaction, call tracking and event follow up.

12 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan Sanford City/County Local Hospital Operations Sanford Health System operations include 14 city or county hospitals in Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. These hospitals are ARMER users through the associated ARMER plans as shown: Table 2b: Sanford City/County-Based Hospitals Entity/Agency County or City Existing ARMER Plan 1. Bemidji Hospital Beltrami County NW RGNL EMS 2. Bagley Hospital Clearwater County NW RGNL EMS 3. Canby Hospital Yellow Medicine Co YM County 4. Fargo Hospital Cass Co/Fargo ND NW RGNL EMS 5. Hallock Hospital Kittson County NW RGNL EMS 6. Jackson Hospital Jackson County Jackson County 7. Mahnomen Hospital Mahnomen County NW RGNL EMS 8. Ortonville Hospital Big Stone County Big Stone County 9. Perham Hospital Otter Tail County Otter Tail County 10. Sioux Falls Hospital Sioux Falls SD SW RGNL EMS 11. Thief River Falls Pennington County NW RGNL EMS 12. Tracy Hospital Lyon County Lyon County 13. Westbrook Hospital Cottonwood County Cottonwood County 14. Wheaton Hospital Traverse County Traverse County Each of these hospital locations is equipped with one or two ARMER radios, programmed for operations on statewide and local EMS and EHM talk groups. No changes are planned for these locations through this ARMER plan, other than to obtain new ARMER ID s for each of the radios.

13 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan ARMER/800 MHz System Technical Planning Sanford Agencies A. System Planning The 800 MHz ARMER Trunked Radio System has been shown to be the best technology solution to meet the operational needs of the agencies included in this plan. Many of the entities included in this plan are existing ARMER system users, but the Sanford operational expansions noted previously will add radios and talk groups to their ARMER user base. It should again be noted that F-M Ambulance has been included in the existing Clay County, MN ARMER Participation Plan (2015), as well as the Cass County/Fargo, ND 800 MHz/ARMER Participation Plan that has recently been presented to the various ARMER committees and governing groups for review and approval. The ability of the Sanford agencies to work seamlessly with local public safety agencies on a daily basis and having a common radio system in place for all agencies is key to the success of operations. A review of the planned ARMER system use and/or changes to ARMER use for each group of Sanford operations is provided in the following sections. 1. F-M Ambulance (FMA) and Dispatch Operations The F-M Ambulance service division of Sanford is based in Fargo, North Dakota. From this location, they are the primary BLS and ALS ambulance/ems service provider for the following areas: City of Fargo and eastern Cass County, ND City of Moorhead and most of Clay County, MN F-M Ambulance plans to convert from their existing VHF system to 800 MHz ARMER operations. FMA desires the use of 800MHz/ARMER throughout the Clay County/Moorhead MN and Cass County/Fargo ND service areas, but recognize that these are potentially considered two different radio system and coverage service areas. Clay County has an existing ARMER plan (which includes FMA) and the new 800 MHz/ARMER radios to be implemented by FMA would be used for operations within Clay County under both the Clay County and this FMA ARMER plan. However, the Cass County/Fargo geographic area is currently not considered an ARMER system service area, even though the Moorhead tower site provides excellent coverage to mobile radios as well as portables when used on-street around the Fargo area. Nonetheless, FMA desires to use 800 MHz radio services throughout the entire service area. As such, they have been included in the 800 MHz/ARMER Plan recently completed by Cass County/Fargo ND, which establishes a 9-site 800 MHz P25 Trunked Radio subnetwork, which (if approved) would be connected to the ARMER Master Site in Detroit Lakes. If for some reason the Cass County/Fargo plan is not approved for connectivity to the ARMER Master Site, FMA will nonetheless be part of a new Cass County/Fargo 800 MHz network, and will program radios to work on both systems.

14 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 12 Dispatch Operations and Equipment: F-M Ambulance is planning for the purchase and installation of new Motorola MCC7500 radio control consoles at their Fargo dispatch facility. Four operator positions are planned for this installation, and it will be connected to the ARMER network through the Moorhead tower site via microwave radio link. MnDOT has advised that there are ports available at the Detroit Lakes Master Site for the connection and operation of this new console system. A total of 20 CCGW ports will be required in the new console system for the control of conventional VHF radio channels, along with 800 MHz RF control stations for recording and backup of 800 MHz Talk Groups. A total of four 800 MHz RF control stations are planned for backup operations and talk group recording. Refer to the diagram on the next page for an overview of the proposed dispatch console system for FM Ambulance. Voice Logging: The dispatch center will continue to use its existing local voice logging recorder for the recording of 800 MHz, ARMER and conventional channel radio traffic, through the local ARMER 800 MHz RF control stations planned for the dispatch center. A Trunked logging system is not included in the plan at this time. New Talk Groups will be established for FMA operations in the Cass County/Fargo and Clay County/Moorhead service areas. Some of these Talk Groups will potentially be sourced from the Clay County ARMER plan, others from the Cass County plan, as well as this new Sanford plan. The final configuration will ultimately depend on the approval (or lack) of the Cass County/Fargo 800 MHz system plan and connectivity to the ARMER Master Site in Detroit Lakes. Refer to Section 3.D. of this plan for an overview of the talk groups planned for F-M Ambulance operations. The F-M Ambulance dispatch center in Fargo will require access to the new individual talk groups established for the separate city/county-based ambulance services outlined in Section 3.A.3. of this plan. Because the field radios associated with these talk groups will be located in geographic areas away from Fargo, FMA recognizes the need for direct network connectivity to allow the routing of these talk groups to FMA Dispatch without causing traffic loading on the Moorhead or other local 800 MHz RF tower sites. Mobile and Portable Radios: The FMA 800 MHz/ARMER implementation for the Cass County/Fargo and Clay County/Moorhead operations would include the following new radios: 34 Mobile radios 67 Portable radios Refer to Section 3.C. of this ARMER plan for a summary of all 800 MHz/ARMER radios planned for Sanford agencies.

15 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 13 Sanford/F-M Ambulance Fargo Dispatch 800 MHz/ARMER Architecture

16 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan Air Ambulance (AirMed) Operations The Sanford AirMed (Air Ambulance) operation is based in five locations, all of which provide service to agencies and locations in Minnesota. These locations are: Fargo, North Dakota Bemidji, Minnesota Sioux Falls, South Dakota Bismarck, North Dakota Dickinson, North Dakota All locations have aircraft (as noted in Section 2.B.2.) that provide EMS air transport services in Minnesota. Additionally, a group of five (5) 800 MHz portable radios are used at the Bemidji location. The AirMed s current use of the ARMER system includes the Technisonic multi-band radios installed in the aircraft, using the EMSSA AIRAM talk group. All of these radios are covered by an existing Limited Participation Plan established in July The existing EMSSA AIRAM1 Talk Group was established for AirMed use through the Limited plan; it has Statewide Roaming privileges due to the nature of Air Ambulance operations. The goal of the operation and this plan is to equip each aircraft with two 800 MHz ARMER-capable portable radios, for ground ops use when in Minnesota, in conjunction with the existing Technisonic multi-band radios. The Sanford AirMed dispatch center is located in Sioux Falls SD; The Sanford AirMed Dispatch Center currently contacts the individual AirMed offices via telephone or through VHF, UHF, or 800 MHz ARMER radio systems. The AirMed operations staff carry ARMER portable radios for communications when operating in Minnesota. The Bemidji AirMed operations group desires to use the ARMER system for ground operations at this location; The AirMed service is seeking a new dedicated talk group for communications with the Bemidji operations staff. It is understood that the ARMER system cannot be used for the operations in Sioux Falls, even though the ARMER system does provide on-street radio coverage at this location. Use in Fargo will be dependent on the Fargo/Cass County ND 800 MHz/ARMER system implementation. Five additional portable radios would be added for the Bemidji operation, and one base unit (control station). These radios and this talk group would only be used in the general vicinity of the AirMed operations base, located at the Bemidji airport. As such, access to only a limited number of ARMER tower sites would be needed for these operations (the east and west Bemidji tower sites). The AirMed dispatch center in Sioux Falls would access this new talk group through an 800 MHz RF control station, communicating with the Beaver Creek ARMER tower site in southwest Minnesota.

17 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan Local County-based EMS/Ambulance Services and Operations The existing city/county-based EMS/ambulance services shown below will continue to receive primary dispatch services from the local county PSAP with which they are associated. The Bagely, Hillsboro and Mahnomen locations are new ARMER users, and they will also receive primary dispatch services from the local PSAP. Some existing agencies have expressed a need for additional ARMER radios, which is to be addressed through this project. The table below shows the current and future ARMER radio inventories for these agencies. Table 3: Sanford/FMA City/County Ambulance Service ARMER Radio Inventories Entity/Agency Qty of Existing ARMER Radios Total Future ARMER Radios 1. Bagley Ambulance Canby Ambulance Hillsboro, ND Ambulance Mahnomen Ambulance Murray County Ambulance Rock County Ambulance Thief River Falls Ambulance Wheaton MN Ambulance Worthington MN Ambulance Totals Note: The new ARMER radios for the F-M Ambulance service in the Cass County/Fargo and Clay County/Moorhead areas are not included in the above totals. Refer to Section 2.C. of this ARMER plan for a summary of all 800 MHz/ARMER radios planned for Sanford agencies. The 800 MHz radios being used by these entities are using ARMER ID s sourced from the local county ARMER plan. A component of this Sanford ARMER plan is to bring these radios into the Sanford operations inventory, and assign new ID s obtained through the planning process. The total number of ID s for all Sanford radios is presented in Section 2.D. of this plan. Another element of this plan is to establish one new talk group for each of these local agencies for direct communications with F-M Ambulance dispatch in Fargo. Even though the local city/county PSAP will remain the primary dispatch center for these agencies, there have been some operational challenges with lack of event follow up and support once the ambulance has been dispatched to an event. F-M Ambulance has implemented an event tracking and support system for these remote ambulance services, but they currently have limited communications capabilities for effective use. The only existing county-based ambulance service using this function is Thief River Falls Area Ambulance, which has been assigned the talk group EMS TRF via the Greater Northwest EMS ARMER plan. This talk group has tower site authorizations for the Pennington County area, as

18 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 16 well as at the Moorhead tower site, which allows the FMA Dispatch center in Fargo to access it through the 800 MHz RF control station at FMA. All other locations are currently using cellular telephones to communicate with FMA Dispatch in Fargo. It is the intent of F-M Ambulance to establish a new talk group for each of the other city/county based ambulance services. These talk groups would be established with ARMER tower site permissions for the general county-based service area required for their operations (as shown in Table 2 on page 7. FMA Dispatch in Fargo has implemented EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) procedures and protocols for working with the ambulance services. This is currently used only with F-M Ambulance units in the Cass County/Fargo and Clay County/Moorhead service areas, as well as Thief River Falls Ambulance. FMA Dispatch intends to implement this service for all of its ambulance services, once improved radio communications are in place via this project. In order to effectively connect these county-based talk groups to FMA Dispatch in Fargo, FMA is planning to implement a new MCC7500 radio console system in Fargo, with network-level connectivity into the ARMER network. This will avoid these remote county-based talk groups being routed through the 800 MHz repeaters at the Moorhead tower site, and causing for potential traffic congestion and site busies. F-M Ambulance also desires one new Talk Group with Statewide Roaming privileges for use by these city/county-based ambulance services. This talk group would be used and shared by all of these local ambulance services when conducting patient transport services. 4. Sanford City/County Local Hospital Operations As outlined in Section 2.B.4. of this plan, Sanford Health Systems owns or manages 14 hospitals within the operating range of the ARMER radio system. All of these hospitals are currently equipped with ARMER radios for use on statewide, local EMS and EMH talk groups. These radio are currently covered under Regional EMS or local county ARMER participation plans. No equipment or programming changes are planned for these locations, other than to obtain new ARMER ID s for the radios and incorporate them into the new Sanford ARMER plan. B. Local Enhancements There are no ARMER tower site or 800 MHz RF channel expansion enhancements planned with the Sanford/FMA ARMER implementation. The only local enhancement will be the new MCC7500 radio dispatch console planned for the FMA Dispatch center in Fargo, along with microwave radio connectivity into the ARMER Zone 6 Master Site through the Moorhead tower site.

19 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 17 C. Mobile and Portable Subscriber Radios Most of the EMS/ambulance and hospital agencies included in this plan are existing ARMER system users, but additional radios will be needed for other agencies as well. The conversion from VHF to 800 MHz ARMER for the other Sanford FMA services will require the purchase, programming and installation of new mobile and portable radios. The table below shows the existing and (future) total number of ARMER radios planned for Sanford/FMA Ambulance Service operations. The table on the next page shows the existing radio inventories for the hospitals included in this plan. Table 4a: Total Sanford/FMA Ambulance Service ARMER Radio Inventories Entity/Agency Existing Mobiles Existing Portable s Total Mobiles Total Portables Total Ctl Stations 1. F-M Fargo Dispatch F-M Ambulance a. AirMed Bemidji (Aircraft) b. AirMed Bemidji (Grnd Ops) a. AirMed Fargo (Aircraft) b. AirMed Fargo (Ground Ops) a. AirMed Sioux Falls (Aircraft) b. AirMed Sioux Falls Dispatch AirMed Bismarck (Aircraft) AirMed Dickinson (Aircraft) Bagley Ambulance Canby Ambulance Hillsboro, ND Ambulance Mahnomen Ambulance Murray County Ambulance Rock County Ambulance Thief River Falls Ambulance Wheaton MN Ambulance Worthington MN Ambulance Sanford Cache Radios Totals A total of 286ARMER/800 MHz radios are included in this plan for the Sanford/FMA Ambulance and AirMed agencies listed above. Hospitals are shown on the next page. The above quantities include a variety of different models of radios, with various features, options, and associated costs.

20 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 18 Table 4b: Total Sanford City/County Hospital ARMER Radio Inventories Entity/Agency County or City Total Portables Total Ctl Stations 1. Bemidji Hospital Beltrami County Bagley Hospital Clearwater County Canby Hospital Yellow Medicine Co Fargo Hospital Cass Co/Fargo ND Hallock Hospital Kittson County Jackson Hospital Jackson County Mahnomen Hospital Mahnomen County Ortonville Hospital Big Stone County Perham Hospital Otter Tail County Sioux Falls Hospital Sioux Falls SD Thief River Falls Pennington County Tracy Hospital Lyon County Westbrook Hospital Cottonwood County Wheaton Hospital Traverse County 1 2 Totals A total of 44 ARMER/800 MHz radios are included in this plan for all Sanford hospitals. A total of 330 ARMER radio system ID s will be needed for all Sanford agency radios, as identified in Section 3.D. of this ARMER plan.

21 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 19 D. Sanford FMA Talk Groups, Fleetmap and ID Requirements A new Fleetmap has been developed for Sanford FMA operations, based on the needs of participating agencies, and will have a total of 18 talk groups. Shown below are the talk groups planned for Sanford Health and FMA operations: Talk Group Name TG Alias Service Area 1 FMA Dispatch EMSSN FMA Disp Clay Co/Moorhead 2 FMA 1 Primary EMSSN FMA PRI Clay Co/Moorhead 3 FMA TAC 2 EMSSN FMA TAC2 Clay Co/Moorhead 4 FMA TAC 3 Encrypted EMSSN FMA TAC3E Clay Co/Moorhead 5 FMA Statewide Roam (new) EMSSN SW ROAM Statewide 6 AirMed Bemidji Base Operations EMSSA AIRAM2 Bemidji 7 Bagely Ambulance Operations EMSSN BAGELY Clearwater County 8 Canby Ambulance Operations EMSSN CANBY Yellow Medicine Co. 9 Luverne/Rock County Ambulance Operations EMSSN ROCK Rock County 10 Perham Area EMS Operations EMSSN PERHAM Otter Tail County 11 Murray County/Slayton Ambulance Operations EMSSN MURRAY Murray County 12 Thief River Falls Area Ambulance Operations EMSSN TRF Pennington County 13 Wheaton Area Ambulance Operations EMSSN WHTN Traverse County 14 Worthington Ambulance Operations EMSSN WORTH Nobles County 15 Mahnomen Ambulance Operations EMSSN MAH Mahnomen County 16 EMS SAAIRAM (AirMed Bemidji; existing Talk EMSSA AIRAM1 Statewide Group with Statewide Access) 17 Future Use 1 EMSSN Future 1 TBD 18 Future Use 2 EMSSN Future 2 TBD As noted previously in this ARMER Plan, Sanford FMA radios and operations have been included in both the existing Clay County, MN ARMER plan, as well as the proposed Cass County/Fargo, ND 800 MHz ARMER plan. Some talk groups for Sanford FMA use may be sourced from those plans as well. All regional and statewide interoperability talk groups will be incorporated into Sanford/FM Ambulance radios as defined and required by ARMER standards. A total of 330 ARMER system IDs are being requested for the Sanford FMA system implementation, which includes three year estimated totals: 266 for mobile and portable subscriber units 39 for PSAP and control station use 25 for future expansion Note 1: Of the total 330 ID s, 130 are existing in the system, and 200 are new ID s, so the net impact on the ARMER system will be an increase of 200. Note 2: The existing ARMER radios being used by the local city/county agencies will receive new ID s as part of the Sanford FMA ARMER plan and implementation.

22 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 20 E. 800 MHz ARMER Traffic Usage Review An ARMER plan typically includes a review of the amount of traffic expected to be added to the radio system from the mobile and portable radios identified in the participation plan. In this plan for Sanford entities, most of the radios are now in use by existing agencies, and therefore present no additional traffic loading on the system. The majority of the new radios being proposed for use on the system are associated with the F-M Ambulance service in the Cass County/Fargo ND and Clay County/Moorhead, MN service area. The use of these new radios in Clay County/Moorhead was included in the existing Clay County ARMER plan, and were included in those traffic calculations. The Clay County ARMER implementation included the addition of an 800 MHz RF channel at the Moorhead tower site to accommodate FMA traffic along with other local public safety operations traffic. The use of these new radios in Cass County/Fargo ND are included in the proposed 800 MHz system plan for these agencies, and were included in those traffic calculations. Also, the traffic generated by these radios when used in Cass County/Fargo will have no impact on ARMER tower sites in Minnesota. The remaining new radios are associated with the AirMed services, which will be operating on a wide area, statewide basis and as a result have minimal impact on ARMER system 800 MHz tower site resources. The only caveat to this is the AirMed dispatch center located in Sioux Falls SD, which communicates into ARMER through an RF control station into the Beaver Creek ARMER tower site. A single control station is now used, which is capable of access to dedicated Sanford AirMed talk groups. This is being expanded to a total of 3 control stations, however, the FSD AirMed dispatch office only has an average call volume of only 2 calls per day, which results in minimal radio traffic activity and associated radio system loading. F. 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Coverage Radio system range or coverage is considered the most critical function of any radio system, especially in public safety operations. While there are other important elements to a good system (equipment reliability, channel capacity), the ultimate factor by which a system s measure of success or failure is usually measured is how reliably it covers the intended service area. The Sanford city and county local EMS/ambulance services identified in this plan are existing ARMER radio system users, and report good ARMER system coverage throughout their service areas. The new radios planned for use by F-M Ambulance in the Cass County/Fargo ND service area are expected to have excellent mobile and portable radio coverage once this system is built and operational. Coverage maps for this proposed system are provided on the following pages. The new radios planned for use by F-M Ambulance in the Clay County/Moorhead, MN service areas will also experience excellent coverage from the existing ARMER tower sites. Coverage maps for these areas are provided on the following pages.

23 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 21 Map 1: 800 MHz ARMER Portable On-Street Radio Coverage Fargo ND This map was prepared and provided by Motorola for the Cass County/Fargo system plan. As shown, the predicted portable on-street coverage should be excellent throughout the entire service area.

24 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 22 Map 2: 800 MHz ARMER Portable 6db In-Building Radio Coverage Fargo ND This map was prepared and provided by Motorola for the Cass County/Fargo system plan. As shown, the predicted portable coverage from inside 6db loss buildings should be excellent throughout the entire service area.

25 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 23 Map 3: 800 MHz ARMER Portable On-Street Radio Coverage Clay County MN This map was prepared by RFCC for the Clay County/Moorhead ARMER system plan. As shown, the predicted portable on-street coverage should be excellent throughout the entire service area.

26 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 24 Map 4: 800 MHz ARMER Portable 6db In-Building Radio Coverage Clay County MN This map was prepared by RFCC for the Clay County/Moorhead system plan. As shown, the predicted portable coverage from inside 6db loss buildings should be very good throughout most of the service area. Overall, the portable radio coverage both expected and experienced from the Cass County/Fargo and Clay County 800 MHz ARMER systems will meet the service requirements of Sanford FMA agencies.

27 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 25 G. Legacy VHF Equipment Sanford and FMA agencies in the Cass County/Fargo area will continue to operate and control a number of existing VHF and UHF radio system channels, for local paging and interoperability. Emergency paging for fire and EMS operations is currently conducted through a UHF Alpha-numeric system shared with Cass County, Clay County, and the RRRDC. These existing systems will be retained for paging coverage. H. Contingency Planning In planning for ARMER system migration and connecting to the ARMER system the following failure modes are being addressed: 1. Loss of connectivity between the dispatch center and the 800 MHz and/or ARMER system. 2. Loss of network connectivity to the 800 MHz tower sites, which will result in the system reverting to Site Trunking mode. The primary method of redundancy for F-M Ambulance Dispatch operations in Fargo will be the implementation of multiple 800 MHz RF control stations for direct communications through the local tower sites, to be used in the event of microwave link failure. If scenario 1 occurs, the PSAP loses direct connectivity with the ARMER network, and talk group access and control is lost. The control stations will allow the Dispatch staff to access the agencyspecific and system interoperability talk groups over the air and function much like a mobile or portable radio. If scenario 2 occurs, (local ARMER sites lose connectivity to the master site in Detroit Lakes, or the master site experiences a failure), the sites will revert to a site Trunking mode, which results the sites operating independently from each other. The effect on field units is that they can only communicate with each other if they are in range of the same tower site. If they are not, communication is not possible. This is due to the local sites and network operating in a multicast mode of operation (rather than simulcast). I. Training Implementation of the 800 MHz Trunked Radio system for Sanford FMA agencies will follow the ARMER system requirement and associated operational standards which requires that all personnel who will be using the system receive proper training on the use, capabilities, and features of the system. Trunked radio systems, including the ARMER system, have operational requirements that differ from traditional conventional repeater systems, and it is necessary that dispatchers and end users be trained on the capabilities and proper operation of the system. The FMA administration recognizes this need, and will conducted in-house training for the all radio system users. Additional training is planned through the services of independent contractors recognized

28 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 26 by the state as proficient in the operation of the ARMER radio system. The program will include training for the following workgroups and functions: Radio end user training PSAP dispatchers Local system administrator Interoperability Funding for the end user and dispatcher training has been included in the project budget. J. Interoperability The need for interoperability is an important factor in Sanford FMA s plan to adopt the 800 MHz ARMER radio system, due to Clay County/Moorhead s recent conversion from VHF to 800 MHz ARMER. FM Ambulance operations in the Cass County/Fargo area remain on VHF, as do Cass County and Fargo public safety agencies. Radio interoperability will exist at multiple levels within public safety radio operations. However, having all local public safety operations using a common radio system platform is the preferred and easiest method to establish good interoperability. Sanford F-M Ambulance agencies and personnel will require access to both VHF and 800 MHz/ARMER radio systems for ongoing communications with the following entities: Clay County/Moorhead MN agencies operating on ARMER and VHF Cass County/Fargo ND agencies operating on VHF, eventually converting to ARMER 800 MHz Other local public safety agencies Hospitals and clinics in Minnesota To accommodate other communications between agencies that are not on the ARMER system in the short-term using legacy system technology, access to the ARMER radio system, a variety of interconnectivity options will be needed: A basic requirement will be for F-M Ambulance dispatch to continue operation of their VLaw MHz and other EMS base stations. Sanford FMA agencies will maintain the use of VHF radios in their vehicles, in conjunction with new 800 MHz radios.

29 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan 27 K. Standards The primary technology standard applied to this project is that of the Project 25 (P25) ARMER system. The P25 standard is specifically for digital radios systems for public safety. In this case, the Phase 1 Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) standard is currently in use. Sanford, F-M Ambulance and associated entities will adopt and comply with the standards published by ARMER, the State Emergency Communications Board (MN SECB) and the various Minnesota Regional Radio Boards. Use of these standards will ensure that users of the system will adopt the appropriate naming conventions, talk group usage, and other operational and technical standards that are in use throughout the ARMER system. L. Maintenance Sanford/FMA plans to establish a Maintenance Agreement with Motorola for service and maintenance of the MCC7500 radio dispatch consoles being proposed in this plan. They also agree to maintain the console system at the same required level of software version as is being used by the ARMER system. M. System Administration Local system administration for the proposed Sanford/F-M Ambulance 800 MHz/ARMER system implementation will be the responsibility of the F-M Ambulance operations staff in Fargo, with assistance as needed from the RRRDC Fargo administration.

30 800 MHz ARMER Radio System Participation Plan Project Costs and Budget Sanford/F-M Ambulance has been obtaining proposals for the radio system needed for their 800 MHz ARMER implementation from various local vendors including Motorola, and has been budgeting for the purchase and installation of this equipment. Shown below is a preliminary budget for the equipment and services required for this project. Project Cost Estimates: 1. Project Element 4-Position MCC7500 Radio Console System for FM Ambulance Dispatch in Fargo, ND Est. Cost $ 400, Microwave Radio Link to Moorhead ARMER Tower $ 40, MHz Mobile and Portable Radios $ 566, Training for Dispatchers and Radio Users $ 10, Radio Programming $ 10, Project Contingency 10% $ 90, Consulting & Project Management $ 25,000 Total Estimated Costs $1,141, Project Implementation Schedule An important function of this ARMER plan is to determine the operational and equipment needs for Sanford-FMA s implementation and expanded ARMER system use, along with the associated costs. Sanford FMA has been budgeting for some of these purchases; with this data now established, Sanford will be finalizing the funding for moving forward with this project. Once initiated, it is anticipated that the purchase, delivery, installation, programming, user training and final cutover to ARMER operations will require between 6 to 12 months to complete. Those Sanford FMA agencies not currently on ARMER will continue to use their existing VHF radio systems into the future until the new 800 MHz ARMER equipment is ready for use, and will retain such equipment as needed for Interoperability purposes.