Nebraska bill could be ‘difference between possible life and death’ for first responders

The bill would allow communication between state agencies and volunteer departments

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Right now, volunteer emergency departments cannot communicate directly with state agencies like the Nebraska State Patrol.

They have to hope that the message is correctly relayed from one agency to dispatch to the other agency, and that nothing is lost in translation.

LB 1199 would allow different agencies to communicate with each other by providing radios to volunteer departments that allow communication with state agencies.

The money to pay for this would come from the American Rescue Plan.  At first, it would be prioritized to departments that spend a lot of time handling crashes on Interstate 80.

Stephen Rasgorshek, a retired radio technician for the State Patrol, testified in favor of the bill.

“Establishing interoperable communications between state agencies and local responders will provide the state of Nebraska with the ability to vastly improve current operations by providing a more rapid response, coordination and time and effort to make a difference between possible life and death,” he said.

A volunteer on the Waco Volunteer Fire Department who was at the scene during a blizzard in 2019 explained how this communication could save lives.  Lauren Bestwick described in great detail how she was severely injured responding to a major pileup on I-80 during that blizzard.

“We get in route to the scene, arrive to a massive pileup on the interstate. We had no idea of the significant impact it was and how big it truly was. We had merely parked, unbuckled our seatbelts. I remember standing up, and our squad was hit by a semi because of this communication breakdown. I spent a week in ICU. It could have been prevented or less impactful with a different outcome, had communications not broke down.”

The bill is still in committee.  If it passes there, it would go to the floor for debate.