5.1 In situations in which the coordination of EMSS communications among political subdivisions affects the health and safety of the state’s population, it is appropriate for state government to take a coordinating role. Statewide planning for coordinated use of radio frequencies for EMSS communications is specifically needed.

5.2 The state is the logical unit to formulate the statutory and regulatory framework for EMSS planning. State planning for area-wide EMSS communications provides authority to accomplish coordination in the use of available radio frequencies, thus promoting multiagency cooperation to best serve the public needs.

5.3 With statewide planning, communities, counties, and multicounty EMSS regions are provided with guidance to achieve the performance goals and objectives of their EMSS communications systems.

5.4 The statewide EMSS communications performance goals and objectives in Sections 10 – 15 address specific roles of state governments in EMSS communications systems planning. These performance goals and objectives should be considered by states for evaluating, planning, and implementing of acceptable EMSS communications statewide.

1.1 This guide covers telecommunications practices and performance standards required to support all of the functions of community EMSS on a statewide basis. It defines state planning goals and objectives for EMSS communications.

1.2 This guide is for planning, coordinating, integrating, and evaluating telecommunications resources statewide to satisfy the functional needs of comprehensive community EMSS systems.

1.3 To facilitate a two-tiered planning approach recommended for EMSS communications, this guide identifies those communications system features that should be coordinated on a statewide basis and defined in statewide (first tier) EMSS communications planning guidelines. Local (second tier) EMSS communications plans prepared in accordance with the statewide guidelines should then be tailored to satisfy local EMSS needs while providing compatibility and interoperability of communications with other EMSS.

1.4 The sections in this guide appear in the following sequence:

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.