Finnish Rescue Services organisation relies on Sepura for integrated communications

The Länsi-Uusimaa Department for Rescue Services in Finland has been relying on TETRA and Sepura radios since the upgrade of their communications system in 2009.

The Department for Rescue Services supplies fire fighting, fire prevention, and rescue and civil defence services to the region of Länsi-Uusimaa. They also provide emergency care and ambulance service to the municipalities of Espoo, Kirkkonummi and Kauniainen within the region.

The main driver for the migration to VIRVE, the Finnish national TETRA network, was the upgrade of the Department’s obsolete communications equipment for smoke-diving and data transmissions.

After a lengthy procurement process started in 2007, the Department selected Sepura’s hand-portable and mobile radios and integrated them in a variety of systems. Sepura’s mobile radios were incorporated in the fire station’s alarm system and installed in vehicles and command rescue units, whilst the hand-portables were supplied to the “smoke-diving” rescue units responsible for attending the actual fire.

Sepura TETRA radios are now used for regular fire and rescue operations: from voice communications to fleet mapping and short data messaging.  They have also been integrated in the Public Warning system and manage the public announcements through the TETRA network.

In addition, the Department also uses Sepura radios for resources management and mobilisation via the professional fire station alarm system and as a gateway for the paging of the volunteer fire brigade. Importantly, Sepura gateway radios have extended the network capabilities into underground and woodland areas.

Sepura hand-portable radios have also been installed in volunteer fire brigade tankers and are connected to a status terminal and navigator to pinpoint incident locations for the Emergency Response Centre. The Department uses Sepura terminals also for all training and development purposes.

Kimmo Markkanen, Director of Risk Management for Länsi-Uusimaa Rescue Services comments: “We were particularly impressed with the data and gateway functionalities of the vehicle and fixed terminals now installed in the fire stations and used for Public Warning. Our smoke-divers, in particular, chose the radios for their size and the wide choice of DMO functions”.

Tom Ericsson Sales Manager from Insalko, Sepura's longstanding channel partner in Finland, says: “We have been working with the Department for Rescue Services of Länsi-Uusimaa for some years and have become very familiar with their specific requirements for integrated communications.  Already proven in operational use by public safety operatives world-wide, Sepura TETRA radios are undoubtedly the most suitable for Länsi-Uusimaa also thanks to their versatility and durability”.

The region of Länsi-Uusimaa covers an area of over 4,500 km2 comprising 12 municipalities with a population of 420,000, including the municipality of Espoo, the second largest city in Finland, located west of Helsinki.

Source: www.sepura.com