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What about the ‘Sharp End’?
Keith Phillips, OBE, former ODPM Programme Director of both the Firelink and New Dimension programmes gives his frank view on the impact regional controls will have between incident commanders and their brigades. He also looks at future technology applications based on his work with Primetech...
Originally it had been planned to address the issue of at-incident communications requirements towards the end of the Firelink procurement process. There were good reasons for this timing, including the need to maintain a stable platform of national roaming whilst the wide area scheme rolled-out. Delays to Firelink and I’m sure other considerations, will have inevitably affected the ability to address this issue. A complex issue, encompassing more than just voice radio communications. Over the years we have seen increasing use of BA telemetry, mobile LANs in command units and the use of video. Since September 11th 2001 there is now even greater focus on the need for firefighters and others to be able to communicate effectively and safely in high rise and complex building structures and in underground situations. Part of the latter issue is now being addressed by a short consultancy study being carried out by Mott Macdonald on behalf of the ODPM. An inevitable part of their conclusions could be a suggestion to review the current operational requirement. If this proves to be the case one could assume that it would be wise to review that which has gone before. After all, if it has proven its worth for a number of years and it is unlikely to be totally deficient. Developing New Ideas In carrying out such a task, one of the greatest difficulties is to be able to visualize how best to adjust an existing and presumably safe, operational requirement to take account of, so called, new ideas and technologies, especially emerging technologies and techniques. So often the requirement is driven, sometimes in the wrong direction by an emerging product endorsed by a forceful and effective marketing campaign. That is why sponsoring government agencies like the Home Office, Her Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate and the professional associations, traditionally encouraged the various services to first agree a common requirement wherever possible. To do otherwise simply exacerbated the problems of interoperability and inhibited harmonization of procedures to say nothing of the economies of scale issues. It would appear that those days, certainly as far as government is concerned, may be behind us. We must look to others to try and influence these issues. A role that BAPCO could contemplate perhaps, as a complementary element to the efforts of the professional associations. The alternative, and one which has its undoubted strengths, is to let industry develop its wares and to market them to the emergency services in their own inimitable fashion. There may remain a case for some central influence – if not control, for some co-ordination of requirements, through perhaps an accredited technical/user interface with industry and the emergency services alike. So What’s New? Setting aside the specifics of operational requirement definition, what is on offer now to make the job of communicating with and managing incidents effectively and safely? In January’s issue of the BAPCO Journal many of us will have read with interest about the Mobile Police Station Case Study. This article exposed to us the very real benefits the Police Service are reaping as a result of making effective use of Mobile Broadband Satellite Communications. This effective use of a mobile satellite solution has obviously opened a new era in Police communications, exploiting as it does, the opportunity to use cost effective, reliable, secure and easily deployable techniques to give operational staff that all important ‘edge’ when engaged in sharp end activities. Security, particularly in a Policing environment, is an extremely important facet and therefore Primetech (UK) Ltd has also been performing trials with a UK Police Force using Baron McCann X-Kryptors. These devices have been used to encrypt the traffic inside the VPN tunnel to baseline (restricted) level.The trials so far suggest that this a viable solution enabling traffic to be further secured over the satellite vpn connection. What can Radio Meshing offer? In August 05’s edition Motorola, in talking about ‘Seamless Mobility,’ introduced some of us to ‘Mesh’ network solutions and last month Mesh networks were coveed in greater detail. Mesh networking could have a fundamental affect on emergency service thinking in the context of incident level communications. Imagine the operational potential of something which is not only easy to deploy, provides an independent, secure and extremely flexible bearer but one which is actually self forming and self healing! As an example of its use I recently saw a demonstration of a system called RECoN (Roaming Emergency Communications Network) hosted by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service HQ’s and provided by Primetech (UK) Ltd and its partners. The RECoN system offers an integrated solution which allows voice, video and data to be streamed across a portably deployable wireless (Wi-Fi) network using small hand portable portable radio devices. In the scenario enacted by presenters, the Incident Commander and mobile Command Unit officers could view images from any point around an incident site through the use of multiple, high-resolution cameras, some of them miniature in size and shoulder worn. In addition, once the wide area communications link (via satellite broadband) was established, authorized users could access voice, video and datastreams through the internet. The potential for active connectivity to and from remote senior commanders, specialists, or other emergency services or management agencies was well demonstrated. One of the key benefits was its use, to great and obvious advantage, of commercial, off-the-shelf terminal equipment such as wireless laptops and PDA’s. The cameras and supporting equipment have been installed into a tactical vest for true portability and hands-free streaming. Team members carrying a second camera on an extendable monopod, for viewing around corners, under vehicles etc was also exhibited. A covert capability was also demonstrated. A Typical Incident Scenario: At a typical medium sized incident, hand portable units are switched on and deployed around the incident at strategic points to provide a coverage bubble i.e. creating an on-site Wi-Fi ‘Bubble Network’ for all authorized users within range. A video server, Notebook and the LCD Screen display are typically located in the mobile Command Unit. Deployment time is a matter of between 4 -7 minutes depending on the number of components deployed. Once deployed, camera output is available immediately for viewing on any authorized device, including PDA’s, Notebooks etc. Communication is automatically established via the pre-configured video server, hand portable radio units and cameras. As video is streamed from each camera, images are displayed on the LCD screen in the mobile command unit. Each camera can be controlled by the Incident Commander or support staff, whether in or out of the vehicle via the associated tablet computer and the resulting images are available to all authorized users. With broadband satellite communications established, the video stream from each camera can be transmitted to a remote secure web portal or other high security facility. Dependant on predetermined permission levels, authorised remote users will be able to view and even control video from office desktops over a VPN by connecting to the relevant web host. An additional benefit is that it will allow authorised users to utilize Digital Radio (O2, Airwave) and VoIP as a voice communication capability, via satellite, in the event of other network interruption or failure. Incident Operational Support Software A further aspect of Primetech’s presentation at Merseyside’s FRS HQ’s was to demonstrate the highly effective use of another of its marketing partner’s products, in the shape of ‘Operational Support Tools’ software. This comprehensive command support tool allows real time and remote command management functionality. Not only can this tool stand alone but it is engineered to directly interface to Primetech’s Mobile Broadband Satellite communications thus offering remote monitoring and participation of the incident management scenario by those at HQ’s or those at the Gold command level. A Role for BAPCO? In my view we are now at the point where a bit of concentrated focus on the sharp end wouldn’t go amiss. Never before have incident commanders been under so much pressure to "get it right" in the context of accountability if nothing else. They and those under their command deserve the very best in terms of what technology can deliver, focused on a clear understanding of the operational requirement. As discussed earlier, the introduction of regional control rooms for the FRS must also bring this issue into sharp focus if command units and hence Incident Commanders are to be able to communicate effectively at a local, regional or potentially national level. So what do we do? We could of course let it all go along at its own pace, with all that that entails, including the development of diverse equipment, non interoperating arrangements. We could end up with unnecessarily complex systems, the inevitable consequential training overheads, the over reliance on specialist staff and, perhaps, equipment not being used to its full capacity due to lack of knowledge. Alternatively, we could find some way of meaningfully working together through BAPCO to ensure that these products are brought to the emergency services in a way that really gives operational commanders what they need without adding to their operational burden by inhibiting complexity and in the process bringing real and practical benefits.
