Published on February 4, 2016
In late 2015, Mastercom donated 12 brand new IC41PRO radios to the Denistone East Before & After School Care Association (DEBASCA). This generous donation of easy to use, lightweight, rugged CB UHF two way radios has created huge efficiencies in how DEBASCA conducts its everyday operations, as well as improved safety management.
DEBASCA is a non-profit community organisation, managed by a voluntary parent management committee and staffed by a highly skilled and committed team of childcare professionals. It caters to the needs of children as young as 5 and as old as 12. Licensed to care for up to 195 kids at a time, there are many stakeholders and dependents reliant on dependable and rapid communication. With a road dividing the school grounds, multiple buildings and open grounds, DEBASCA relies on supervision and spread of staff to ensure child safety at all times. Efficient communications is a must especially in the case of an injury or crisis situation.
“I really can’t express just how grateful we are for Mastercom’s help,” said Hayley Smith, DEBASCA’s Director. “Working at an after school care centre, the radios have been the one item that we’ve come to really heavily rely on. We really don’t know how we had survived in the past without them!”
Prior to incorporating the two way radios DEBASCA was reliant on “runners” (designated staff members responsible for running messages between interested parties). Despite staff efforts this system was highly inefficient for obvious reasons.
“Because our school grounds are so open, the new “walkies” are vital for the effective supervision and rapid communication between the team”, added Mrs. Smith. “For the first time we have reliable communications to help us do our job better and demonstrate implementation of recognised safety protocols.”
The added value of owning a portable communications system such as these UHF CB two way radios run under a class licence, is their versatile use. DEBASCA’s radio use has extended beyond the school grounds, with “walkies” frequently being taken to special events and excursions as an additional safety measure. The wider school community has been very complimentary of how smoothly DEBASCA’s excursions are run.
“At Mastercom, we are strong believers in the benefits of reliable and rapid communications systems especially for teachers and people responsible for the care of children,” commented Hamish Duff, Managing Director – Mastercom. “Large schools have been investing in such systems for a long time now, using radio communications to connect staff, vehicles and buildings to ensure constant visibility and connectedness between team members. We were very happy to be able to equip DEBASCA with the latest ICOM rugged two way radios and educate them on how to use them to their full potential,” added Mr Duff.
