Police And Emergency Services Victim To Electromagnetic Radiation

Posted by Lloyd on February 27, 2010 under Cell phone radiation danger | Read the First Comment

I’d like to cover a subject that has been treated rather haphazardly in the UK press. A recent article in the Daily Telegraph revealed that police officers in the UK are planning to sue their own force over illnesses they claim were caused by the Airwave radio system they have been using whilst on patrol.

Airwave and TETRA

The airwave network is a digital radio communications service operated by O2 and relies on the TETRA standard. (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio). It was designed specifically to enable longer range use and more capacity to the emergency services and military.

False Claims About TETRA

Airwave was introduced on the grounds of national security, by playing up to people’s fears. It was said that Airwave was vital for getting your ambulance there on time, not strictly true as Airwave is not currently being used by ambulance services to improve performance times. What is true is that a few ambulance trusts are using Airwave for linking handheld computers to the Internet for file transfer. Claims were made that Tetra helped save lives at the Madrid bombings. Spain does not currently have a Tetra network, it has used Tetra handsets but these have proved so unreliable that they are likely to be continued.

It was argued that Tetra provided protection from criminals and terrorists through end-to-end encryption. This is a fallacy, the signal is digital and advance missions between masts are not encrypted

Airwave And The Police

The air wave network was introduced in 2001, since that time dozens of police officers have been claiming that radiation emissions from the system have caused them a variety of complaints such as headaches, nausea, skin rashes, and stomach pains.

The Lancashire Constabulary, in the north of England, was the first in Britain to try out the Airwave network under a pilot scheme.

176 individual complaints have been logged by the local branch of the police Federation and senior officials at the police authority have seen fit to budget for a contingent liability in respect of Airwave liability claims.

Worryingly, 54 police forces are now involved in the process of implementing the TETRA Airwave scheme throughout the UK. Police forces were understandingly reluctant to adopt this new technology, but the government put £500 million on the table and police forces that did not accept the new TETRA Airwave scheme would receive no part of this funding. It’s fair to say that the police forces reticence was not based on fears for the health of the police officers using the new technology it was rather based on the fact that they considered the system untested and not good value for money.

Of course the health and safety executive has investigated the controversy and not surprisingly has declared that there is no link between the radio technology and the reported health symptoms but the Lancashire police authority have received a number of liability claims for injury which have alleged that the use of the Constabulary’s mobile communications equipment is clearly to blame.

Electromagnetic Radiation And The Emergency Services

I don’t know about you but I have heard countless stories of police and firemen complaining about their radio sets. These people are exposed to electromagnetic radiation from multiple sources. They have these radio sets which they use for their work and invariably they will have their own mobile phone not to mention the emissions from the in house transmitters. Just look at any police station or fire station at the number of antennas and masks sitting on their roofs!

Isn’t it ironic that the very people who spend their lives saving other people’s lives in so doing are in fact putting their own lives in danger?