Coquitlam Search and Rescue’s new, state of the art, Mobile Command Centre (MCC) is on the road, and a formal dedication ceremony to celebrate this accomplishment is being held at Town Centre Firehall Saturday, November 19, 2016, from 1:00 until 3:00 pm.
The dedication ceremony will showcase our new vehicle to the community, and especially to the many donors that helped make this project a reality. Donors include the Province of BC, the communities of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, Belcarra and Burnaby, businesses, service groups and individual citizens. We could not have done this without them. After reaching our fundraising objective, Sandy Burpee, MCC Fundraising Lead, stated, “I am very pleased to say we have achieved our fundraising goal and we are very grateful for our donors’ generosity”.
(R to L) Dwight Yochim, Colleen Talbot and Ron Grender of the Coquitlam Foundation
The MCC has been a long term team project. It was designed by Coquitlam Search and Rescue team members from the ground up, incorporating the experience and knowledge of search and rescue teams throughout the province. “After nearly four years of dreaming, planning, designing, building and fundraising, we finally have our new command vehicle. Wow, has time flown by and look where we are now,” says Liz Clyne, MCC Project Manager. Clyne explains, “So many people were involved with this project. It has taken a real team effort to complete this project, which we believe will be a real asset to all the communities we serve”.
SAR Members in the new mobile command centre
The MCC is comprised of three components: the cab and chassis; the module (which is the functioning command centre) mounted on the chassis; and the electronics and technology that support operations planning, implementation and monitoring of SAR tasks.
The cab and chassis, a Ford F650 diesel, was purchased by the City of Coquitlam in partnership with Metro Ford of Port Coquitlam, and the module was manufactured locally by Intercontinental Truck Body (ITB) of Surrey. The module was the most complex part of the build, absorbing many hours of planning by team members in collaboration with ITB, who together designed a command centre suited perfectly for Coquitlam SAR’s response requirements.
UHDTV displays for GPS tracking and status maps
The electronic technology – digital radios, computers, printers and video displays – were ordered and installed to match the module manufacturing schedule. According to Michael Coyle, MCC Technical Lead, “the command centre will have the latest communications and display technology to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the team’s operations, including one-of-a-kind software designed specifically for Coquitlam Search and Rescue”.
Digital radio system for field team position tracking
Joining our donors and dignified guests will be current Coquitlam SAR members, their family and friends and a number of Coquitlam SAR alumni.