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Mike Petersen |
Walk into a firehouse anywhere and you're likely to hear firefighters talking about broadband. The fuel for these discussions often is news of a new, more powerful consumer smartphone. Firefighters want access to the capabilities consumer devices deliver.
They are anxious for FirstNet to deploy, providing a nationwide public safety broadband network over which mission-critical devices can operate, but the timing is still unclear.
"Imagine what broadband can mean for EMS if personnel are documenting injuries to hundreds of people in a major disaster," says Don Wright, retired battalion chief in Glendale, California. "Think about the impact this could have for a victim's continuity of care if physicians at receiving hospital emergency rooms had the same information in real time."
Everyone agrees on the broadband objective-arm incident commanders (ICs) with the communications tools they need to "have the back" of the team. And, the benefit is clear-situational awareness raised to an entirely new level. The question is when this will happen.
The Transition Begins
It may be sooner than many thought. "We are just at the start of our transition to broadband," says Mike Worrell, acting chief, Technical Services Division, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department. "But, the fire service is moving forward cautiously. We want to be sure that the networks and devices we use are reliable and cost-effective to operate."
Many departments have decided to start taking advantage of broadband themselves. These departments have discovered that they have several options available. On the network side, today's carriers provide services in multiple band classes plus 3G, 4G LTE, and WiFi. And when FirstNet is available, making the transition from these carrier networks will be easier than starting from scratch.
As for broadband devices, options today include smartphones, vehicular modems, USB LTE adaptors, and embedded LTE modules. And, several new public safety grade devices can connect to carrier LTE networks and to the future FirstNet network.
"We are experimenting with public safety broadband-capable LTE modems to create hot spots within our fire apparatus," says Kasey Beal, deputy chief, Fire Technical Services Division, Mesa (AZ) Fire and Medical Department. "By creating a hot spot, we can connect multiple devices to the modem and substantially decrease our ongoing air card costs."
Needs, Expectations Clarified
Working with broadband has helped departments better identify requirements for the future. The list includes the predictable-rugged, standards-compliant devices and the technological flexibility to accommodate emerging technologies ranging from biometrics to drones.
But, there are other pressing requirements-how best to manage data, training, and costs. Everyone agrees information over broadband must be understandable, easily usable, and targeted primarily to ICs. "You can't distract a guy with data while his primary job is operation of a hoseline," Wright says.
Training will take time to get to "best practices." And, cost will be a significant factor. Departments will have to make hard choices from an ever-expanding list of compelling options. Many of the hardware and application solutions may ultimately depend on when FirstNet deploys. That said, some thought leaders believe departments could be working more closely with engineers to develop systems and applications that could be put to use now.
Regardless of one's personal view, there i