first responders and emergency communications

First Responders and Emergency Communications

James WadsworthFairfax County Virginia

Radio Services Center Manager

Definition of Interoperability

bull The definition developed by the National Task Force on Interoperability and refined by Project SAFECOM describes interoperability as The ability of public-safety agencies to communicate with one another via radio communications systems - to exchange voice andor data with one another on demand in real time when needed and when authorized

Definition of Interoperability

The ability to communicate with one another

To exchange voice andor data with one another on demand in real time when needed and when authorized

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Listen my children and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul RevereOn the eighteenth of April in Seventy-fiveHardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and yearHe said to his friend If the British marchBy land or sea from the town to-nightHang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light--One if by land and two if by seaAnd I on the opposite shore will beReady to ride and spread the alarmThrough every Middlesex village and farmFor the country folk to be up and to arm

The Department of Homeland Security Described 6 levels of Interoperability

bull Level-1 Swap Radios

bull The simplest and most basic level of interoperability is the physical exchange of radios with other agencies involved in an event

Level-2 Talkaround or Directed Net

bull Talkaround provides interoperability where multiple radio users talk radio-to-radio on the same transmit and receive frequency in the conventional mode In this situation communications are tightly bound by the air interface the same frequency is required and transmissions are digital-to-digital or analog-to-analog not analog-to-digital

Level-3 Mutual Aid

bull Mutual aid channels provide operability for first responder radios and interoperability between radios within the same frequency bandhellipie VHF users can only talk to (or on) other VHF systems The effectiveness of Mutual Aid Level-3 can only be achieved through adherence to predetermined protocols and procedures as part of the National Incident Command System (NIMS) which is used in the event of an emergency

Level-4 Gateway (Console Patch)

bull A gateway is a generic term for devices that connect multiple frequency bands andor coverage areas and thereby provide interoperability between them Overlapping coverage areas may use wired or wireless gateway devices For overlapping coverage areas operating in different frequency bands wireless gateway devices provide cross-band interoperability for the radios (require separate Transmit Receivers (TR) frequencies) For overlapping or non overlapping coverage areas wireline interconnectivity also can be used to provide cross-band operation for the radio users while also providing connectivity to andor between dispatchers and systems Gateway devices may be used to provide wireline or wireless interoperability between the coverage areas of Mutual Aid channels or existing systems or a combination of both These systems and coverage areas may be single-site or multi-site analog or digital conventional or trunked proprietary or standards based Interoperability will be limited to the lowest common capability that these systems provide

Level-5 System-Specific-Roaming

bull Additional interoperable capabilities for first responder incident management can be provided by leveraging existing systems using mutual aid talk groups These systems typically have more capabilities and greater capacity than Mutual Aid channels A greater level of interoperability for first responders can be achieved by leveraging the existing systems These systems may be in a variety of frequency bands may be analog or digital and conventional or trunked Existing systems are owned by specific agencies and may come from a variety of vendors

Level-6 Standards Based Shared Systems

bull Standard based systems ensure that the radios

andor the infrastructures use technology and messages that are interoperable regardless of the equipment vendor By sharing standards based systems with first responders a greater level of interoperable features with greater capacity can be achieved Level-6 systems may be conventional or trunked single or multi-site They must be based on the P25 CAI standards (ANSITIAEIA-102) and conform to SAFECOM interoperability standards

Those who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it

George Santayana (1863 - 1952)

bull Examples Of Past Events And How Interoperable Communications Played A Part

January 13th 1982

bull There was a major snowstorm that was covering the Washington DC area with considerable accumulation and there was an early release of federal employees and heavy strain on the regions transportation system

Air Florida Flight 90bull Air Florida flight 90 had taken off from Washington DC Airport and

due to wing icing and pilot error the aircraft lost altitude and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge and the Potomac River less than a mile from the airport There were only 5 survivors out of 79 people on board The aircraft descended nose-high and tail-low and at 401 PM the tail struck the deck and parapet of the Rochambeau Bridge (the northbound span) struck seven vehicles killed 4 motorists and injured 4 motorists and went into the frozen river between the Rochambeau Bridge and the express span (they are a couple hundred yards apart) The aircraft shattered the surface ice and broke into multiple large pieces which quickly sank into the river Traffic was already stopped in a traffic jam due to the storm Between the effects of the storm and the rescue efforts around the 14th Street (I-395US-1) bridges the 12-lane complex ceased to function and closed to traffic The George Washington Parkway which parallels the Potomac River in Virginia also closed near the crash site

Metrorail Firebull A rapid rail transit accident occurred about one half hour

after the air crash At 430 PM one car of a WMATA Metrorail train derailed while the train was being backed up through a crossover switch south of the Federal Triangle Station in DC and the car was pulled sideways and it crashed into the concrete pillar separating the inbound and outbound subway tunnels A misaligned switch at Smithsonian Interlocking caused the rear wheel truck to derail and the wheels tracked alongside of the rails for 171 feet following the opposite track until the car impacted the concrete pillar There were 3 fatalities and 25 injuries

Metrorail Firebull The crash occurred on the BlueOrange Line and

resulted in the both lines being shut down At that time the Blue Line ran from National Airport Station in Arlington to Addison Road Station in Maryland and the Orange Line ran from Ballston Station in Arlington to New Carrolton Station in Maryland The derailment occurred on the section where the two lines share the same cross-town subway route and the wrecked subway car blocked both tracks The other (then) open line the Red Line was not affected

Summary

bull So in a one hour period the DC area lost the use of its (at that time) busiest airport busiest expressway and busiest subway line The (by far) widestbusiest bridge from DC to Virginia closed and the one rapid rail transit line from DC to Virginia closed This was a true area-wide transportation disaster a major chunk of the air highway and rail system closed

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSIONPUBLIC SAFETY NATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE

November 16 2001comments by Mr Steve Souder

The crash of Air Florida flight 90 created a tremendous outpouring of public safety response to that horrific event And unfortunately it didnt go well It was communications gridlock to the nth degree Everybody that was there had good intentions everybody that was there wanted to do good But everybody that was there couldnt talk to each other

You had every imaginable frequency and every imaginable brand and type of radio and every imaginable kind of agency converging on that snowy riverbank on that January afternoon at 430 It was a mess But what it did was to reinforce what public safety had been saying both to Congress and to the Commission for at least the previous four years That then as now public safety needs more spectrum on which to operate and more common spectrum on which to operate

Interoperability A Local PerspectiveTestimony by Chief Michael P Neuhard

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Departmentbefore the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology

Information Policy Intergovernmental Relations and the CensusWednesday September 8 2004

bull Interoperability is a critical issue for the emergency services ndash police fire and emergency management It must be remembered that interoperability is not just about technology In fact it has been said that interoperability is really 80 percent communication and coordination in various forms and only 20 percent technical

bull Critical components of emergency response systems which are interoperable but not technical include

1048706 common incident management techniques1048706common terminology1048706common policy and procedures1048706standardized training1048706compatible equipment such as protective clothing metering devices

selfcontained breathing apparatus1048706 common hose threads for firefighting and redundant methods of communications

Conclusion

bull Know what tools are in your toolboxbull Practice with your toolsbull Practice with your neighbors using your

toolsbull Practice again