Interoperable Communications Loom Large in NIMS Hearing
The federal govt.’s National Incident Management System (NIMS) must put much more emphasis on interoperable communications, L.A. County Fire Chief Michael Freeman told a House hearing Wed. The ability of first responders to communicate emerged repeatedly as a critical issue at the hearing by the Committee on Homeland Security’s emergency preparedness and response subcommittee. NIMS was launched by the Bush Administration under the Dept. of Homeland Security to coordinate response to terrorist attacks and disasters, including communications.
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“The International Assn. of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has been advocating interoperable communications for years,” Freeman said. “Large scale solutions likely will have large price tags. The IAFC urges the federal government to offer monetary relief to state and local governments for whom updating communications may be a hardship.”
The hearing turned partisan. Ranking Democrat Thompson (Miss.) criticized full committee Chmn. Cox (R- Cal.) for declining the committee’s prerogative to mark up the main legislation the House was taking up in response to the 9/11 Commission report. Rep. Lowey (D-N.Y.) asked whether DHS and NIMS in particular was doing enough to push interoperable communications. “We've heard for the last 3 years… that interoperability is key and in fact Chief Freeman referenced it,” Lowey said: “Are we going to be debating this a year from now? Three years from now?”
“It’s fair to say that there is no silver bullet solution to interoperability but there are some efforts under way,” NIMS acting Dir. Gil Jamieson responded. “A lot has to be done in terms of figuring out what the root of the problem is.” Jamieson also said that a national communications plan, which has been proposed, will help on interoperability.
Lowey rebuked Jamieson after he conceded he wasn’t familiar with a recent GAO report that found problems with the SAFECOM program, another part of DHS. “This is another example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing,” she said. “Shouldn’t there be a means for everybody to communicate?… If I sound impatient, I am.”
Lowey told us she was evaluating first response legislation (HR-1389) she introduced in light of an announcement Mon. that DHS was launching an interoperable communications office (CD Sept 28 p1). But Lowey said she doubted Democrats would withdraw the bill because it provides funding for communications grants. “Every time we have a hearing I ask the same questions and the progress is just not being made,” she said: “Why didn’t this gentleman who’s the head of NIMS know about SAFECOM?”
Subcommittee Chmn. Shadegg (R-Ariz.) defended DHS, noting that communications involved more than just interoperable radios and that NIMS encouraged public safety groups to put in place emergency communications plans. “An effective communications plan can in fact overcome a lack of interoperability,” he said. - Howard Buskirk