To respond to day-to-day incidents and large-scale emergencies, it is critical for first responders to be able to easily exchange data in real-time. To meet the needs of first responders, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is involved in developing radios that can communicate across frequencies, developing requirements for public safety videos, and working to ensure that communications equipment works across manufacturers.
Other DHS activities include finding ways to share information across jurisdictional boundaries through existing and emerging technologies and DHS is further developing Emergency Data Exchange Language Standards. In addition, attention is being given to the Commercial Mobile Alert Service to enable federal agencies to send out alerts to participating wireless providers.
The DHS Science and Technology Directorate has released a major sharing service update to their First Responder Support Tools (FiRST) mobile app first released in 2011. The FiRST app is available at www.firstsupportools.com.
The FiRST app provides first responders information on safe distances for cordoning off when emergency crews are responding to potential explosive devices or hazardous material incidents. They are able to use smart phones, tablets, or laptop computers.
Christine Lee, FiRST Program Manager said, “With the new FiRST Sharing Service feature, first responders at the incident location along with decision-makers at a command center are able to send incident information in real-time and control access to the data. Users will be able to share the data with external information systems such as WebEOC and Virtual USA to ensure a unified response to emergencies.
In another DHS action to help the emergency response community, the DHS S&T Directorate joined with the Army, Sacramento Police Department, and the Sacramento first responder community to hold a demonstration called “Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment” (EDGE).
EDGE is a virtual training platform designed to train first responders across multiple agencies disciplines and jurisdictions in real-time on complex emergency response scenarios. EDGE allows multiple individuals to train on a simulated virtual emergency by simply logging into the secure EDGE system from a personal computer.
In the future, S&T plans to customize the training tools available to multiple agencies to use to train their responders. In addition to the pre-designed commonplace scenarios and environments, there will be opportunities for agencies to customize scenarios, existing infrastructure, and resources to accurately depict the response environment within their own jurisdictions.