There is a special election in King County on April 28 that will determine whether we are able to replace the dangerously outdated radio network that supports our firefighters locally.

As president of IAFF Local 1747, I represent 233 firefighters of the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority. Every day, we have to work around this decades-old system to dispatch and respond to calls in and around Kent, Covington, SeaTac, and KCFD No. 37.

We respond to more than 22,000 calls for service annually. We need to coordinate with police agencies and Medic One to ensure emergency services are available to the 62,000 residential units and 3,300 businesses who require them.

Unfortunately, because of our aging radio network, our firefighters sometimes have to use separate radio channels from police and other emergency medical responders. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Coordinating response should be something that occurs without us having to second guess whether we’ll be able to reach the right resources through our radio network.

During fire or medical emergencies, seconds can make the difference in a life-threatening situation.

A vote to approve Prop 1 would replace the radio network used by first responders to communicate during crises, upgrade equipment in King County’s 911 call centers, increase reliability and provide greater coverage for radio communications so we can make sure that every second counts.

Continuing with the old, outdated system puts our first responders and the public at risk.

Please vote to Approve King County Proposition 1.

Ray Shjerven is president of IAFF local 1747. For more information, visit www.yesonpublicsafety.org.