WISCOM and WISCOM 800
Wisconsin Interoperable System for Communications
The Wisconsin Interoperable System for Communications (WISCOM) system serves as a means of redundant communication for Wisconsin's seven Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalitions (HERC's) hospitals, partners, field EMS units, field Incident Commanders and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) during major disasters, multiple tramatic casualities, active shooter incidents and other large scale responses. It is vital to maintain these communications in the event of a disruption in normal communication practices such as land line or cellular phone service.
For the system to be truly redundent, as required by Emergency Management accreditation standards, it is recommended that WISCOM hospital base radios follow these best practices:
- Be powered by a source, such as battery or Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) that will not be impacted by the loss of power to the hospital's primary power supply.
- Be left on your designated regional WISCOM talk group (SE Wisconsin HERC 7) to support inter and intra-regional emergency response communications between hospitals and field EMS.
- Be located in the Emergency Department whenever possible.
- It should be made a priority to train your organizational staff where the WISCOM radio is located on how to operate the base radio to faciliate and achieve true regional interoperability.
To use the Kenwood Type 1 base radio microphone depress the monitor button first then simultaneously depress the transmit button. Alternatively you can lock the monitor button down by holding it down and sliding the lock button towards you. There is no adverse impact on doing this.
WISCOM Training Video in MP4 format
WISCOM PowerPoint Presentation
Please be patient with the video and audio. They will download to your computer and they can be viewed there.
Coming soon WISCOM 800 for SE Wisconsin. Over the next several months HERC will be providing upgraded VHF/800 antennas to the hospitals to replace existing VHF antennas in preparation for WISCOM 800. DHS will be providing new VHF/800 WISCOM radios in the fall of 2026.