Someone has been jamming emergency radio transmissions in the area, and putting all York County residents and emergency rescue personnel as risk.

On Sunday, Lebanon Assistant Rescue Chief Jason Cole was on a serious medical call and looking for advanced life support help, when someone keyed up his or her radio at the same time Cole was trying to transmit his request for help through Sanford Regional Communications Center. Cole’s transmission was “covered” or garbled, so he had to leave the patient and go outside to get a cell phone signal, he said in an interview with the Journal Tribune.

Cole has since filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.

This kind of “joke” is not the least bit funny, nor is it legal to interfere with emergency communications. In fact, upon conviction, a perpetrator can face heavy fines and prison time, according to the FCC.

The jamming also puts people’s lives in danger. When a person is suffering a heart attack or stroke, quick response is of the essence, and could save a person’s life. If this person or people continue to interfere with emergency calls, it could mean death for some local residents.

It is hard to imagine why a person would be motivated to do something like this. It is clear they have never needed an ambulance to respond in case of an emergency, or they would understand the life-saving support given by firefighters, EMTs and police. The person or people standing in the way of this work should think about how they might be impacted if someone else were to jam communications when they were being assisted by emergency responders. If the tables were turned, it is unlikely that person would continue to think this is a funny situation.

Although this problem isn’t new, activity died down after the last series of blocked communications garnered media coverage in 2004.

Unfortunately, the person responsible for targeting fire departments that used York County Communications, a dispatching center that has since disbanded, was not caught.

The person or people responsible this time need to be caught and brought to justice so they can learn about the devastating effects their actions could cause. We hope the FCC is able to locate the offender and stop this kind of activity once and for all.

Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ

Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.