First responders should use service agreements for telecom equipment

First response and law enforcement organizations should consider establishing service agreements with telecommunications providers that would allow them to quickly upgrade the handheld radios they use during emergencies, said former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during a panel discussion on Thursday. Typically, law enforcement agents and first responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians, buy new radios when existing equipment becomes obsolete, according to the former secretary in the Bush administration. The practice leads to officials who respond to emergencies using outdated equipment that cannot communicate with other emergency response systems.