EMS Magazine`s Resource Guide: Communications

APCO News

In late February, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International and APCO Institute added Robert L. Smith to the staff roster in the position of EMD manager. Smith came to APCO from West Virginia, where he had been the youngest communications center director in the state. While in that position, he also served as emergency services response coordinator for the Public Governance Institute Congressional Retreat 2003 and for the Congressional Institute/Public Government Institute’s House & Senate Planning Conferences in 2002 and 2003. Smith, who is an EMT, previously served as a shift supervisor and training officer for the Raleigh County, WV, Emergency Services Authority. In 2002, he was listed in the International Who’s Who of Public Service Managers.

With extensive training in 9-1-1 communications, emergency management, hazardous materials, fire and EMS, Smith’s academic pursuits included biology and chemistry at West Virginia Tech and business management at Bluefield State College in Lewisburg, WV.

On March 1, the Regional Public Safety Communications Center (RCC) in Port Orange, FL, went live with APCO’s Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Program. RCC provides police and fire dispatch services to the cities of Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, and fire dispatch service to the city of Ponce Inlet. Staff consists of 27 full-time telecommunications officers, two part-time telecommunications officers, one operations manager, one administrative manager and an executive director. Dr. Todd Husty is employed as a medical consultant to ensure the best EMS services possible.

Shift staffing consists of a minimum of one team leader and five telecommunications officers. The center is equipped with 10 consoles, all of which are capable of dispatching police or fire, or functioning as a call-taker position. All telecommunications officers attended the APCO Basic Telecommunicator and APCO Basic EMD courses in-house.

Evoxis, Inc. Releases Intelligent Multi-Channel Notification System

Evoxis, Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA, has released Prodigent for Emergency Management—a communications system that provides detailed information to a variety of first responders and other emergency personnel through multiple communications channels.

“Just about every form of automated communications system out there takes a single message and delivers multiple copies of that message to a large audience,” says Evoxis’ CEO, Mohan Ramani. “That’s fine, but it creates a situation where all people know is that there’s been an event of some kind, and they have to engage in their own information-gathering to understand what they’re supposed to do and how they should react. We’ve solved that problem by shifting the paradigm to what we call one-to-one communication with a system that understands what’s happened and has the ability to custom-create individual messages for each responder.

“We’ve used a combination of techniques from artificial intelligence and another rather arcane field called ‘computational linguistics,’ which allows our software to understand the logic just as a dispatcher would when looking at a couple of points of data, such as ‘here’s the event, here’s the skill set, here’s what I need this person to do,’” Ramani continues. “The system is able to replicate the thought process of a dispatcher for each individual, whether it’s a firefighter, EMS, law enforcement or other responder.”

The first phase of the system is already up and running in southeast Pennsylvania and was recently demonstrated for senior officials in Washington, DC, who are in charge of federal procurement for emergencies. Most of the funding for the systems will come from the Office for Domestic Preparedness, says Ramani.

In the event of an emergency in Pennsylvania’s Region 13, the Prodigent system will be capable of sending discipline-specific messages to approximately 723 fire departments, 383 police departments, 202 EMS teams, 13 hazmat teams, two bomb teams and two SWAT teams. To learn more, go to www.evoxis.com.

Airborne GovDocs

How do government agencies keep up with the Information Age? The same way Oprah and United Airlines do: through targeted e-mail subscriptions. Since 2001 anyway, when GovDocs, a St. Paul, MN-based Internet technology company, launched GovDelivery, to “help governments nationwide improve communication with the individual citizen by offering e-mail subscriptions to specific topics and then automating distribution of e-mails when website updates occur,” says Scott Burns, CEO and co-founder of GovDocs.

This year, they’ve gone one better, taking the alert capability to the airwaves with GovDelivery 2.0, offering to wireless communication devices the same kind of service airlines use to alert travelers about flight information: a text-message phone call.

For government agencies that are online, the system’s flexibility allows citizens who subscribe to choose their preferences—which topics they’re interested in, whether to limit messages to brief text only (preferable for wireless alerts), or to unsubscribe entirely—all on one easy-to-navigate page.

With GovDelivery 2.0, government agencies on any level can update a limitless number of interested citizens directly to their cell phones on any issue that the agency might have previously required a newsletter, a website or the media to disseminate widely, in hopes that interested parties would see it.

The problem with websites, says Burns, is that even if someone has a stake in the information, they still have to remember to log onto the right pages and find the updates. “But studies have shown that individuals are much more likely to check their e-mail than to continuously check a website. So, once they’ve signed up, we take responsibility for getting updates out to them in the future. Automatically. By regular e-mail or to their cell phone, if they want it instantly,” he says.

GovDelivery 2.0 can alert citizens on any number of issues from nonemergency job recruitment information to time-sensitive bus schedule rerouting to more critical information such as weather and traffic alerts and other emergencies; and it can do it as soon as administrators upload the information to their website.

GovDocs’ proprietary technology makes them the only company capable of providing this service to the public sector in the U.S., though other parts of the world from Europe to Japan are using the technology. “We not only make sure the messages get out to citizens, and that they can manage them easily, but we also automate all of the management. So a city the size of Washington, DC, can get set up in a few hours,” says Burns. Thirty government agencies are already online, including the U.S. Dept. of Labor (www.dol.gov/ using only the e-mail system) to Portland, Oregon’s transportation agency, TriMet (www.trimet.org/ with the wireless alert feature). For more information, visit www.govdocs.com.

Don’t know your cell phone’s “e-mail address”? It’s your area code and phone number (no spaces, no dashes) @mobile.my and your cell phone company name (e.g., verizon, cingular) dot com. Like so: 9995551234@mobile.mycompanyname.com. Be forewarned: your wireless plan might charge for text messages.

Interoperability Receiver Board Provides Dual-Band Solution
By J.C. Sanders

One of the major challenges facing public-safety personnel is being able to effectively communicate via two-way radio, especially during emergency and disaster situations.

Most police departments have radios, be they handheld portables or mobiles, installed in their vehicles that operate in the UHF band; however, most fire departments are similarly equipped with communications products set to frequencies in the VHF band. These are different bands where “never the two shall meet…” or talk or monitor, as UHF radios cannot communicate with radios in the VHF band. Previously, during those situations where instantaneous communications were critical, these on-the-scene public-safety professionals were at a distinct disadvantage. On-scene communication between police and fire personnel has traditionally been relegated to higher-echelon officers, away from the scene, using additional, and typically more expensive, equipment.

As homeland security evolves into the new national mantra, that tradition of operating on their own frequencies in their own bands is not adequate for the levels of communication that are now required. So how do these public-safety professionals solve the problem with UHF radios that cannot communicate with VHF radios? A solution is offered by Vertex Standard USA with its Interoperability Receiver Board (IRB) that can be installed on the company’s public-safety-oriented mobile series, the VX-4100 and the VX-4200. With the new IRB, interagency communication is available to commanders on the ground, fire captains, police supervisors and anyone who needs to be able to monitor another agency on another band, as well as to talk to each other.

“With boards installed into each department’s mobiles, they can monitor, on a real-time basis, the other department’s communications,” says Richard Galvan, product development manager for the Land Mobile Division of Vertex Standard USA. “At the same time, they do not miss any calls on their own dispatch channel, which has priority. In all respects to the operators of the mobiles, the system is now completely dual band. They are able to easily communicate from VHF to UHF and from UHF to VHF without losing the ability to communicate within their own system.”

The IRB allows users to monitor the other department (or band) real-time, as well as to talk directly to it. If the police officer picks up his mobile microphone and transmits on a UHF frequency, he can communicate with the fire captain who hears the transmission even if his radio is VHF, because the captain is monitoring the UHF channel used by the police. In effect, it is one of the most cost-effective and user-friendly dual-band or crossband operational options available on the market today.

For more information on the IRB, visit www.vertexstandard.com, or call technical support at 714/827-7600.

J.C. Sanders is president of Sundial Marketing Group, Inc. He is a freelance author, as well as a marketing and public relations consultant.

District of Columbia Installs Wireless Broadband Data Network

The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) has selected Motorola and Flarion Technologies to build the nation’s first public safety high-speed wireless broadband data network for police, fire and EMS. The program includes installation, testing and network operation for a year, using 10 transmission sites that provide citywide coverage.

“The new network is designed to allow first responders to receive broadband data within the District of Columbia,” says Robert LeGrande II, deputy chief technology officer for the District of Columbia. “They will be able to receive live video from remote locations, as well as bandwidth-intensive data; and it will allow them to receive sensor data from remote sensors, which will help them better defend and maintain the city.”

Although new applications may require some special training, the new system is actually just an extension of the first responders’ existing desktops, says LeGrande.

“In many cases, the applications that we’re looking to make available wirelessly throughout the city are already available and being used, but they can’t be used outside of an office environment or hot spot.”

Police, EMS and fire department personnel currently receive monthly briefings on the progress of the network installation, says LeGrande.

“They also receive a report on our legislative efforts to secure the additional radio spectrum,” he says. “This is a pilot network that is being operated under an experimental license from the FCC, so there is a legislative effort to try to convince Congress to make changes in the law that will allow public safety an additional 10 MHz, so jurisdictions across the United States will be able to deploy these networks.

“Our target date was to have the 10 sites up and running by August,” LeGrande adds. “As of June, one was already working and ready for demonstration in a limited area of DC.”

For more information, visit www.octo.dc.gov or www.spectrumcoalition.org.

ICRI Offers Affordable Solution to Radio Interoperability
By James Careless

“Radio interoperability” and “budget” are two terms that don’t go together. Small wonder: To make all police, fire and EMS crews truly interoperable, billions of dollars would have to be spent equipping them with compatible handheld radios and radio networks. However, there are work-arounds that provide functional interoperability while letting everyone keep the radios they have. One such solution is the $4,500 Incident Commanders Radio Interface (ICRI), designed and built by Communications-Applied Technology (www.c-at.com). The ICRI is a portable “switch” that uses supplied adaptor cables to accept up to five different radios and/or Nextel Direct Connect cellular phones, plus one telephone of any sort—all at the same time. For $3,000 more, the ICRI can be modified to serve two talk groups, rather than the base model’s one.

In each instance, the radio/telephone’s audio output is connected directly to an ICRI input port, while the radio/telephone’s microphone input is plugged into an ICRI output. Once connected, the audio signals from these devices communicate back and forth within the ICRI, so that first responders on different frequencies and formats can talk to each other directly.

“Moreover, individual departments can specify which of their own channels the ICRI switches on,” says Seth Leyman, Communications-Applied Technology’s president and founder. “For example, you could decide to allow everyone to be heard on your main channel, or you could preserve your regular system and dedicate a different common channel for the ICRI instead.”

Linking to a network repeater or acting as a fieldable repeater itself, the ICRI can improve radio reception at an incident scene. A radio attached to a long cable run—available on a reel as an ICRI accessory—can be placed in a building to improve radio communications for first responders inside. The ICRI’s capacity can also be readily expanded by daisy-chaining a second ICRI to the first.

A rack-mounted version is available, but it’s small enough to be packed in a small carrying case and powered by AA batteries or a 12-volt cigarette lighter plug.

Does It Work?

The ICRI sounds so obviously simple that it inspires skepticism: Does it really work? The answer, as detailed in numerous testimonials posted on the website, is yes.

For instance, the U.S. Air Force’s Force Protection Battlelab (FPB)—which was formed after a 1996 terrorist attack killed 19 U.S. service people in Saudi Arabia—tested the ICRI’s interoperability capabilities at five locations last year, including the Pentagon. The FPB’s conclusion was that the tests were “able to prove the concept of a cross-band, cross-platform radio interoperability capability through the use of the Incident Commanders Radio Interface (ICRI).”

In Massachusetts, the Littleton Fire and Police Departments jointly purchased an ICRI and test-deployed it at the town’s annual fireworks display on July 3, 2003. “The main goal behind using the ICRI was to allow three separate operational frequencies on three different bands to work together,” says the departments’ evaluation of the ICRI trial. “There is no question that the ICRI can be effectively deployed for emergency operations of multiple agencies operating on different frequencies or bands.”

In Virginia, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Urban Search and Rescue (VATF-1) staged its own tests on the ICRI in mid 2003. “The first test was to simulate patching two Motorola Astro Digital Trunked Radio Systems together,” says the VATF-1 report. To create this situation, four Motorola STX 3000 800 MHz portables were connected to the ICRI; two on fire channel 4G, and the other two on fire channel 4H. According to officials, “The test count in both directions was clear and complete...There was no induced distortion or clipping of words or syllables by the VOX-patching done by the ICRI.”

They generated similar results when cross-connecting two Motorola MT 1000 UHF and two Motorola HT 600 VHF radios, when a simplex radio channel was connected to a digital trunked radio system, and again when landline and cellular telephones were interconnected with both simplex and digital trunked radios. The report concluded, “All tests on usable radio/phone systems with the ICRI provided good reliable communications.”

Should You Buy?

The ICRI’s low price, its small profile and portability, and its ability to interconnect five incompatible radio networks and one telephone network (or better, with upgrades) make it an affordable addition to any department, whether large or small. In other words, the ICRI makes it possible for the terms “radio interoperability” and “budget” to coexist in the same sentence.

James Careless is a freelance journalist with extensive experience covering public- safety communications issues.

LACDCS: Amateurs Keeping the Lines Open

“When normal communication systems are overloaded, damaged, or disrupted because a disaster has occurred, or is likely to occur...” so begins the FCC regulation that results in amateur radio organizations like the Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service (DCS) to step in and keep emergency responders connected. Administered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the responsibility of DCS is to provide local relief communication when disaster strikes.

For example, in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Northridge, CA, earthquake, when power was knocked out—in some cases for several days—the only outside link Granada Hills Community Hospital had was through amateur radio provided by DCS.

Over 2,100 affiliated volunteers operate the amateur radio equipment installed at each sheriff’s station and owned by the county, as well as maintaining the county’s repeater on Mount Disappointment. However, the bulk of the equipment that DCS operates to support backup emergency communications in one of the country’s largest counties—including five additional voice repeaters, a worldwide digital network, an amateur television network, several portable repeater systems and simplex radio operations—is owned by individual members of LACDCS or small associations formed by members.

One of these associations—District Station 22, located in Lost Hills, CA—also takes care of disaster communications for Malibu, a “frequent consumer of the system” mostly due to fires and mudslides, according to Tom Fakehany, a captain in the Sheriff’s Reserve, who coordinates routine practice “nets” on the repeaters every week, as well as on equipment at Malibu’s closed sheriff’s station. Fakehany explains, “Regularly talking on the system is important to make sure the equipment works correctly and to stay familiar with it and with each other in case of disaster.”

Fakehany says District 22 always makes sure these events are fun more than serious work sessions. “Volunteer commitment to anything like this has got to be community- oriented,” he says, “rather than disaster-oriented. The only way service-minded people will stay involved enough to keep their training current is if it’s fun. Then, when a disaster happens, we’re there, we know what to do, and we’ve developed the necessary relationships in the community to do it.”

To find out more, visit www.lacdcs.org.

E9-1-1 Assistance Could Be Coming Soon From Feds
By John Erich, Associate Editor

After months of delays, a legislative boost to the cause of enhanced 9-1-1 could have happened by the time you read this.

At press time, officials in the U.S. Senate were reportedly working with their counterparts from the House of Representatives to reconcile a pair of long-delayed bills that would help the nation’s emergency call centers make the upgrades necessary to automatically identify the locations of wireless callers.

The House’s bill—H.R. 2898, the E9-1-1 Implementation Act of 2003—passed that body last year, and was referred to the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where it has languished since. A companion bill—S. 1250, the Enhanced 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Act of 2003—was introduced in the Senate, but had not been acted upon since August 2003.

Both bills would 1) create a federal coordinating body to help resolve problems and facilitate E9-1-1 implementation; 2) provide federal matching grants to help state and local governments get their jurisdictions up to speed; and 3) penalize states that divert to other uses funds from fees and surcharges intended to fund 9-1-1 causes.

While the bills have some minor differences—foremost is the authorized funding amount: $100 million by the House bill, $500 million by the Senate bill—they are substantially similar, leading to optimism that differences can be ironed out and the necessary Senate approval achieved soon.

“From what I’ve been told, they’re getting close to a deal,” says Steve Seitz, director of government affairs for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to the full implementation of 9-1-1 as the nation’s universal emergency number. “The bills are very similar. There are some small pieces they’ll have to compromise on, but from what I’ve heard, they’re hoping to try to pass something before the fall election.”

Enhanced 9-1-1, or E9-1-1, refers to the ability to capture precise location data for those who call 9-1-1 from wireless phones. Having this data would allow operators to activate the response process and get help faster to callers who can’t speak or don’t know where they are.

Under mandate from the Federal Communications Commission, the nation’s emergency call centers must develop this capability. But progress toward that goal has been fitful. Currently, about 30% of public-safety answering points (PSAPs) have this capacity. That’s up from 18% a year ago, but still leaves a lot of callers without automatic location.

As is often the case, money is the issue. Many call centers lack the funds to make the necessary equipment and infrastructure upgrades (which are also being required of wireless telephone carriers). For this reason, the legislative assistance is widely supported in the emergency communications industry, not only for the grant money it provides, but also for the central coordinating office it will create.

“The problem is, 9-1-1 is one of the only public-safety functions that doesn’t have some kind of federal coordination,” notes Seitz. “The fire service has a number of federal coordinating offices; same for police agencies. But 9-1-1 has never had that, and we feel having one is key. If we had a coordination office and some grants, we could seed some projects and provide better resources for communities to implement these types of services.”

The money is nice, but the office will outlive any grant funding, and hence may do more long-term good. Such an office, advocates say, could not only speed deployment of wireless 9-1-1, but also help identify and facilitate the growth of emerging technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

“My discussions on the Hill lately have been, ‘It’d be great to get a coordination office for wireless, but we’re at about 30% on wireless. My concern now is Voice Over IP,’ ” says Seitz. “If we don’t have some coordination and central planning here, NENA could say one thing, APCO [the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International] could do another, and the providers could do yet another thing. We need to have some kind of central plan.”

Stopping the diversion of state and local 9-1-1 revenues is also a pressing challenge. Many states and some localities have established fees and surcharges on such things as phone bills with the intention of steering those funds toward 9-1-1 programs, but predictably, in many cases, that money has ended up spent on other things.

“We’ve got to stop that raiding of 9-1-1 funds,” says Seitz. “If monies are being raised for 9-1-1 purposes, let’s spend them on 9-1-1. What we’re finding, though, is that sometimes that money is not making its way to the 9-1-1 centers. That’s a really significant problem in some places.”

Under both of the bills referenced above, grants funds would be forfeited if such revenues are used for other purposes.

A number of position papers and other documents related to E9-1-1 issues can be found on NENA’s website at www.nena.org. Additionally, those with specific questions are invited to contact the group’s Operations Director, Rick Jones, at rjones@nena.org.