First Responders and Emergency Communications

First Responders and Emergency Communications James Wadsworth Fairfax County, Virginia Radio Services Center Manager

Definition of Interoperability • 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 and/or 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 and/or data with one another on demand, in real time, when needed and when authorized

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revereby Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the British marchBy land or sea from the town to-night,Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light,--One if by land, and two if by sea;And I on the opposite shore will be,Ready to ride and spread the alarmThrough every Middlesex village and farm,For the country folk to be up and to arm."

The Department of Homeland Security Described 6 levels of Interoperability • Level-1 Swap Radios: • 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 • 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 • Mutual aid channels provide operability for first responder radios and interoperability between radios within the same frequency bandi.e. 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) • A gateway is a generic term for devices that connect multiple frequency bands and/or 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 (T/R) 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 and/or 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 • 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 • Standard based systems ensure that the radios and/or 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 (ANSI/TIA/EIA-102) and conform to SAFECOM interoperability standards.

Those who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. George Santayana (1863 - 1952), • Examples Of Past Events And How Interoperable Communications Played A Part.

January 13th, 1982 • There was a major snowstorm that was covering the Washington, D.C. area with considerable accumulation, and there was an early release of federal employees, and heavy strain on the region's transportation system.

Air Florida Flight 90 • 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 4:01 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-395/US-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 Fire • A rapid rail transit accident occurred about one half hour after the air crash. At 4:30 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 D.C., 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 Fire • The crash occurred on the Blue/Orange 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 • So in a one hour period, the D.C. area lost the use of its (at that time) busiest airport, busiest expressway, and busiest subway line. The (by far) widest/busiest bridge from D.C. to Virginia closed, and the one rapid rail transit line from D.C. 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 COMMITTEENovember 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 didn't 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 couldn't 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 4:30. 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. NeuhardFairfax County Fire and Rescue Departmentbefore the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology,Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the CensusWednesday, September 8, 2004 • Interoperability is a critical issue for the emergency services – 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. • Critical components of emergency response systems which are interoperable, but not technical, include: 􀂂 common incident management techniques 􀂂common terminology 􀂂common policy and procedures 􀂂standardized training 􀂂compatible equipment such as protective clothing, metering devices, selfcontained breathing apparatus 􀂂 common hose threads for firefighting, and redundant methods of communications

Conclusion • Know what tools are in your toolbox • Practice with your tools • Practice with your neighbors using your tools • Practice again

First Responders and Emergency Communications