Vandewater to chair sub-group of ISICS board

As a result of the last legislative session, following re-structuring of state boards, Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater was re-appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds to the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System (ISICS) Board. He was first appointed last year.

He said the board’s work has gone very well. He will now chair a group of ISCIS users within the committee.

A few years back, Adair County spent a considerable amount of money to update its communications system to ISICS. The change was intended to enhance communication between agencies in all areas of the county. Fire departments and other first-responding agencies were purchased new radios that went with the new system.

While Vandewater chairs the group of ISCIS users, the board is comprised of the areas of finance, FirstNet Broadband, governance, operations, technology, training and outreach and user. The user group coordinates access and usage policies for the ISCIS platform.

“For instance, in our August meeting, we needed to review applications for the Hardin and Des Moines County Sheriff’s Offices, the Moulton-Udell school district and the Canadian National Railway Police,” Vandewater said. “At our September meeting, we approved applications for the Federal Protective Service and Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon.”

The sheriff said that before he joined the board, he didn’t realize the vast array of agencies that utilize the ISICS system. In August of this year, there were 38,000 radios programmed for the ISICS system and 3.1 million radio transmissions on the system.

Vandewater said the disciplines of fire departments, emergency management agencies, emergency medical services, policec departments, sheriff’s departments, at-large members and communications centers are represented on the ISICS board.