Volume 2, No. 20. October 25, 2002
Responders
responding
While Mexico's waterpark
association strives to get noticed, in the United States the World Waterpark
Association has taken the initiative to make sure waterparks voices will be
heard. Literally.
At its annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 7-11,
the WWA encouraged its members to participate in the Public Safety Wireless
Network Program, a joint venture between the U.S. Justice and Treasury departments
to improve real-time communication among law enforcement, fire and emergency
agencies during incidents. Often, agencies use different equipment and frequencies,
let alone different protocols, that hinder them speaking to each other.
After first focusing on governmental first-responders to major emergency events,
the PSWN Program is now researching other first-responder situations: the type
of incidents where a waterpark or amusement park might serve as a first-responder.
“When we became aware of the initiative, we wanted to make sure our members
had an opportunity to participate,” said Rick Root, WWA’s president.
Specifically, the WWA publicized a survey PSWN was conducting to assess radio
communications between private first responders and government first responders.
This assessment would then lead to recommendations on improving public safety
communications between responders. WWA distributed copies of the surveys at
the convention, encouraging members to fill it out by the October 18 deadline.
“We just wanted, as an association, to ensure that our members’ voice
was heard in this process so the reports and recommendations were balanced and
worked for our industry,” Root said. For more information on the PSWN Program,
visit its web site, www.pswn.gov,
or call 800-565-PSWN.
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