EDINBURG — DHR Health announced its partnership with FirstNet, a wireless broadband network for first responders, together with local law enforcement during a news conference Thursday.
Doug Clark, executive director of the FirstNet program, addressed a crowd of first responders inside the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance during the event Thursday. He said that DHR Health has joined more than 18,500 other agencies and organizations that utilize FirstNet throughout the country.
“FirstNet is a program that AT&T was contracted to deliver by the First Responder Network Authority as an outcome of the 9-11 terrorist attacks,” Clark said. “The 9-11 commission identified that a national public safety broadband network was needed in the event of congested networks. People needed to have advanced communications and capabilities.”
The program will help DHR Health’s Level 1 Trauma Center team maintain access to critical information during emergencies without worry of loss of service or network congestion. They already have FirstNet phones, one of which was shown by DHR Health CEO Dr. Manish Singh during the conference.
“Being connected to FirstNet means that we can immediately communicate with our medical professionals and first responders Valley-wide to provide patients the medical treatment that could mean the difference between life and death,” Singh said.
DHR Health Trauma Medical Director Dr. Jeffrey Skubic described FirstNet as a second cellphone network separate from the one used by the general public. Only first responders, police, EMS and medical professionals have access to the FirstNet network.
“Today is the day that our hospital is the first one down here in South Texas to join onto that network,” Skubic said. “Some of the police departments here have been using it, and now we are becoming part of it. We all have FirstNet phones now at the hospital that they can directly communicate during emergencies and crises.”
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is among the local law enforcement agencies that have utilized the FirstNet network. Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra said that the program has drastically improved his department’s communication reliability since they transitioned in April 2018.
“As far as the communication between first responders and DHR, obviously the medical services is going to be more crucial for them than just law enforcement because they’re the ones that are bringing patients in,” Guerra said. “They’re able to communicate from the ambulance to the emergency room and have all the data that they need to be prepared.”
Guerra said that his department experienced many dead zones throughout the county in rural areas and near the Rio Grande. Since transitioning to FirstNet, it has provided a secure and stable network for deputies to communicate and receive assignments.
“I can attest first-hand,” Guerra said. “I’ve got access to large ranches in the northern part of the county where we had a lot of dead zones and we weren’t able to communicate. We’re able to do that now with FirstNet, and we’re able to triangulate and find those migrants that are calling 9-1-1 and asking for assistance. We’re able to pinpoint them.
“I can attest, firsthand, we’re saving lives with FirstNet.”
