E-911 Data Should Be Linked with Security Efforts
A clear federal policy is needed to speed delivery of E-911 data to the homeland security apparatus, speakers said at an E-911 Institute panel Thurs. “What we are looking for is a national strategy that addresses the bigger goals. There are a lot of conflicting standards out there,” said Kevin Murray, senior vp-Kimball & Assoc., a public safety consulting firm. The public would be better served if the federal govt. took a stronger hand in coordinating policy efforts, he said.
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“We need a grand national strategy to bridge these systems,” said John Phillips, a defense consultant and retired Air Force officer. The E-911 system is a valuable source of data from citizens who respond first to emergencies, and who increasingly report suspicious activity that police and security investigators can track: “Today’s war is being fought on the ground and they need the communications apparatus to make that happen.”
E-911 centers work closely with police and firefighters to coordinate responses to emergencies in Nashville, said RoxAnn Brown, dir. of the city’s emergency communications center. For instance, 5 E-911 calls recently came from a hotel. They were from people complaining of chest pains, shortness of breath and other symptoms consistent with a biological attack, Brown said. Armed with the E-911 data, emergency responders wore hazmat suits when approaching the hotel in case of an attack. It turned out to be a coincidence that 5 people were sick at the same time, she said, but the city proved it was ready.
Nashville shares E-911 data with public health officials to identify patterns of illness, Brown said. Not all centers do so, but this could be a model yielding valuable national data, she said. Brown said a major stumbling block for local E-911 officials is difficulty locating the proper state and local officials from FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security when centers have information to transmit. “There are no good directories available,” she said, voicing frustration that federal efforts to develop better communications have not been completed.
Return of analog spectrum will improve emergency communications, said Reynold Hoover, dir.-national security-Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Digital capability will permit transmission of calls over cell phones, PDAs, pagers, radio and other wireless devices, which in turn can be equipped to receive messages. He said in some parts of the country emergency centers can use public TV signals to send data to first responders -- for example, blueprints of building can be sent to firefighters battling a blaze.
“We need to develop a national policy for interoperability” of these devices, Hoover said, noting that FCC efforts are under way. The challenge isn’t the technology, “we have that,” he said, but integrating it with public safety systems.