A one-stop shop where police, fire, ambulances and other emergency services can get their radios repaired or installed quickly is coming to the West Shore.
The public safety building will cost around $20 million and will be located near the Costco on the West Shore, according to Gord Horth, Capital Regional Emergency Services Transmission (CREST) general manager.
“We handle about 10 million transmissions a year. There are 50 first responder agencies that use the service,” Horth said.
CREST has used three sites: its main site on West Shore Parkway, the operations centre at West Shore RCMP headquarters and a warehouse for equipment.
The new building will be around 14,000-sq.-ft. in size and will house the warehouse, the master site, and a few offices, Horth said.
“We have a core of eight full-time technical people, two administrative folks, and a few contractors who come and go.”
There are about 35 transmission towers CREST can use that will allow emergency responders to communicate with one another but will sometimes “piggyback” off pre-existing infrastructure, such as Rogers cell towers.
Horth said the service will allow first responders to communicate better while out in the field and act as technical support for emergency responders so they can focus on what they do best — helping people.
“They all have the same kind of radio. We maintain them, program them, and troubleshoot them.”
Much of the work emergency service providers do will roam across various municipal boundaries on Vancouver Island, so having a robust system is essential, Horth said.
“Whether it’s a natural disaster, an investigation of a crime or a high-speed pursuit, they don’t have to worry about communication.”
According to Horth, CREST uses the P25 Network, the “gold standard” for public safety communication in North America.
The new building signals a commitment to safety, said City of Colwood Coun. Dean Jantzen, who sits on the board of directors for CREST.
“It certainly serves not only our community but the region,” Jantzen said.
The new building will allow for future expansion, said Jantzen, and the new building will be strengthened against earthquakes.
Horth said the same system is used in Alberta, where there is a province-wide P25 network, and in the Maritimes and Greater Vancouver, where a similar system has been set up.
“We’ve got some redundancy if something extremely bad happens in Vancouver and we can back them up and provide the service and vice versa.”
The new building will be post-seismic, one of the principal vulnerabilities identified by the board in case of a catastrophic event such as an earthquake.
READ MORE: 10 emergency support projects in Greater Victoria get funding from B.C.
