Every piece of EMS radio gear does the same job at a different power level. Start with the power, and the rest of the system falls into place.
A base station is fixed, at dispatch, a hospital, or a station. It runs at the highest power in the system.
A mobile radio is bolted into your unit. It runs 20 to 50 watts, for a usable range of roughly 10 to 15 miles over average terrain.
A portable radio is the handheld on your belt. It runs 1 to 5 watts, far less power, so far less range.
That gap is the exam fact. When your handheld can't raise dispatch from inside a structure, the problem is power, not effort. The fix is the mobile radio in your unit, or a repeater. A repeater receives a weak signal, usually from a portable, and rebroadcasts it at higher power. That's how a 1-to-5-watt handheld gets 10-to-15-mile reach.
Cellular telephones get the same discipline as radio traffic. Know your area's dead spots, and have a backup plan for when a call fails.
Quick check
The EMT cannot reach dispatch on a portable radio from deep inside a large building. What is the reason the EMT cannot get through?
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