Custom made earpieces for Airwaves

Sixty motorcycle officers in Northamptonshire are now sporting custom-made earpieces to improve the way they communicate with the rest of the force.

Before the arrival of the new Airwaves headsets motorcycle officers would lose contact with their colleagues as they had to remove their helmets to speak to a member of the public, as the old analogue radio system used speakers and microphones built into helmets. The analogue system has now been made completely redundant as Northamptonshire has recently opted for the Sonic Genesis 2 system that fits directly into the ear canal.

The new combined microphone and speaker system consists of two moulded earpieces. Each earpiece costs £350 per officer, which is being funded by Force’s Airwave Project Board. Each officer has undergone a medical check as in some cases the inner ear of a number of officers has proven to be sensitive to the latex used in the device, which would make it too uncomfortable to wear. Once given the all clear by the audiologist, a plastic moulding of the individual’s ears is taken to ensure that the latex earpieces made from the mouldings fitted perfectly inside the inner ear canal.

Airwave Project Officer Dave Bailey said: “The Airwave Project gave us the chance to look again at motorcycle communications and to provide state-of-the-art equipment that is better than we’ve ever had before. We have received some positive feedback directly from the officers who have been regularly using the Airwave Genesis 2 communications sets in the Force, who have found a massive improvement all round.”

Meanwhile a 15-year study on the possible health effects of the Airwaves radio system would like every officer in the UK to sign-up so their health can be monitored during the period of the review. However, of the officers that are taking part in the study, only a fraction are taking advantage of the free health checks that are being made available. A free and confidential health screening service is on offer that will give the Airwaves study a baseline of data on which to carry their study forward.

Since the study began in 2003 the vast majority of officers in the two pilot forces of Lancashire and the West Midlands have not taken up the offer of free medical checks.

Figures released by Imperial College stated that less than 500 of the 8,000 officers currently employed in the West Midlands force had taken a health check.