[11-13-07 – Satellite Today] The Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council for Trauma (STRAC) is expanding its deployment of satellite-based communications, Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) announced Nov. 13.

    STRAC has purchased additional MSV satellite equipment and services to facilitate its emergency response capability across 26,000 square miles in a 22-county area of southwest Texas, MSV said. STRAC’s responsibilities include rural emergency medical services (EMS) and hospitals and having interoperable communications with state agencies such as the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Forest Service and the Texas Task Force-1, the state’s urban search and rescue team.  STRAC also oversees more than 70 EMS agencies and more than 53 hospitals, including three Level 1 trauma centers.

    "The satellite communications services provided via MSV are mission critical to our organization’s capability to communicate with hospitals and to coordinate with a myriad of emergency and public safety officials throughout our vast area of operational responsibility,” Eric Epley, executive director of STRAC, said in a statement. "We have found satellite dispatch radio to be cost-effective and an efficient and highly reliable means of communicating with responders and emergency care providers throughout our region.”