PARIS – Upgrading radio communications and buying more decontamination equipment in case of chemical attack are seen as priorities in Oxford County.

That was the opinion of county Emergency Management Agency Director Dan Schorr in a July 2 meeting with fire, rescue and police officials from several towns.

Schorr called the meeting to discuss with public safety officials how best to use $154,862 the county is receiving from the federal Homeland Security First Responder grant program.

The towns of Rumford, Mexico and Dixfield are receiving an additional first responder grant of $39,000, while Norway, Paris and Oxford are receiving an additional $29,000.

Schorr said he’d like to take $67,000 to upgrade the aging radio communications equipment the county uses on four mountains. The upgrade would allow the county to use narrow-band radio frequencies.

In conjunction with that upgrade, Schorr said he’d like to ensure that all of the county’s public safety units have narrow-band capable mobile and hand-held radios. He said a survey needs to be done of the radio needs of each department.

Then he’d like to buy at least eight sets of Level A decontamination suits, with boots and gloves, to enable first responders to rescue victims from “hot zones,” in case of contamination by chemical, biological or radiological agents. The county also needs to buy at least six Level B suits to use in case there’s a need to set up an on-site decontamination area, where victims’ clothes are removed and they can be immediately showered off before being transported to the hospital.

He recommended some of the equipment be stored in towns with potential targets, such as the Fryeburg Fair in Fryeburg or the Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield.

“Not every department gets the equipment, but every department gets to use the equipment,” Schorr said.

Schorr said he would also like to buy Geographic Information System software, radios for the county’s two hospitals, and enough chemical detection kits for both police and sheriff’s department cruisers. There’s a need for at least two satellite phones, because radio communications are blocked in some areas of the county by mountains.

Schorr also wants to use some of the money for training for decontamination strike teams being organized in northern and southern parts of the county.

Schorr said he’d like to see the radios come equipped with extra tactical frequencies, that could be used by everyone responding to the same scene. He also stressed the importance of having better communications capability with the hospitals, in case of an incident in which many victims need treatment at once.

Some of the fire, rescue and police officials in attendance thought some of the more basic communications upgrades ought to be part of the county budget, leaving more grant money available for handling incidents involving hazardous materials.

Schorr said he recommended such upgrades be included in the last budget, but was turned down by the Budget Committee.

“Make your voice heard through your commissioner,” Schorr told them. “We have the greatest lobby sitting right here in this room.”