https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • WHY ATTEND
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Registration Opens April 2019-Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Commentary Newsletters


Mobile data lets public safety keep its wits

Mobile data lets public safety keep its wits

Imagine that you’re the lead rescue planner for an event that has attracted more than 100,000 people. Then imagine that sometime during that event sensors indicate a possible anthrax contamination. That’s exactly the situation Tom Shannon, the current chief of the Salt Lake City Fire Department found himself in nearly two years ago.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 10th September 2009

Imagine that you’re the lead rescue planner for an event that has attracted more than 100,000 people. Then imagine that, sometime during that event, sensors indicate a possible anthrax contamination. That’s exactly the situation Tom Shannon, the current chief of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, found himself in nearly two years ago.

At the time, Shannon was the assistant fire chief for the city of Glendale, Ariz., which was hosting the Super Bowl in February 2008. Shannon was the liaison to the NFL, was responsible for credentialing and tracking hundreds of firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and was tasked with ensuring that those first responders performed in compliance with the National Incident Management System.

I spoke with Shannon this week in preparation for a Webinar, sponsored by Motorola, we are conducting on Sept. 15 (next Tuesday, at 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT) that will examine how mobile-data devices and applications are being used effectively by public safety during large-scale events and incidents. We will be joined by Ben Holycross, the radio systems manager for the Polk County (Fla.) Department of Public Safety, who was deployed to Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help restore communications.

Midway through the first half of the Super Bowl, an air-monitoring system indicated the presence of anthrax. At halftime, another positive indication occurred. There were 80,000 people inside the stadium and another 30,000 or so milling outside the building. So, the decision to execute a mass evacuation was no light matter.

“Before you pull that trigger … you need to authenticate all the data you’re getting,” Shannon said. “You need to ask, ‘Is this real, is this real, is this real?’”

Fortunately, it was learned that the air-monitoring system had indicated a false positive, so no one inside or outside the stadium was at risk. The key to it all was the ability to check other sources via the mobile-data system and share that data across myriad agencies. “That was huge. We were able to put off what really could have been a pretty sizeable event of mass prophylaxis,” Shannon said.

With all due respect to the chief, I think they put off an evacuation that would have resulted in mass chaos, not just in the greater Phoenix area, but across the country. Can you imagine having to evacuate 110,000 people? And can you imagine the strain on the communications infrastructure, both commercial and public safety, if such an event had occurred?

More chilling is what might have transpired if the mobile-data system had not been in place. In such a scenario, there would have been no way to quickly determine whether the reading was real. If the threat was a hoax, that could have resulted in an unnecessary evacuation that would have put tens of thousands at risk of injury. Worse, if the threat proved to be real, the necessary evacuation could have been delayed, risking hundreds or thousands more taking ill or dying.

This anecdote is just one of many stories and insights that Shannon and Holycross will share next week as we discuss the plethora of mobile-data devices and applications that are proving valuable to first responders today and their potential for the future. I hope you’ll join us.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.

Tags: Commentary Newsletters Mobile Data Commentary

Related


  • Could T-shirts, sports bras, socks help generate future revenue for radio dealers?
    Undergarments are probably among the last products that radio dealers traditionally would consider selling, but smart clothing that delivers sensor data regarding biometrics such as heart activity and impact information promise to be part of lucrative solutions that can be leveraged in a variety of enterprise scenarios.
  • Wireless Spectrum Changes Bring New Opportunities in 2015
    Wireless Spectrum Changes Bring New Opportunities in 2015
    Maybe it’s always about spectrum at the FCC, but not too often about spectrum for Business/Industrial and Land Transportation (B/ILT) entities. If B/ILT interests are want to improve their spectrum lot, we must do it on our own.
  • Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces
    Communicating with personnel was already a challenge for companies with workers in the field, deskless staff who travel, as well as widespread workforces in siloed divisions and office locations. Now that COVID-19 has all but eradicated traditional in-person relationships and many in-office team members are now working remotely, keeping everyone synced is an even more […]
  • How 3D location can increase situational awareness and improve operational efficiency
    Public-safety responders put their lives on the line every day to protect citizens from threats of all kinds. For most of us, this dedication and effort is taken for granted, as it goes largely unseen. This is because police and fire departments—and other first-responder agencies—are committed to being responsive in emergency situations while ensuring that […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Public safety needs a better way to triage emergency calls
  • The importance of commercial broadcast radio to public safety
  • The readers always write: Managing FirstNet expectations
  • Goodbye print, hello future

Commentary


Ransomware? Let’s call it what it really is: extortionware

21st February 2021

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

18th February 2021

Hi-tech sewer can help safeguard public health, environment and economies

18th February 2021
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

How SolarWinds busted up our assumptions about code signing dlvr.it/Rv25kB

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

Senate American Rescue plan calls for more than $60 million in direct aid for counties dlvr.it/Rv1wGF

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

NTIA seeks potential new FirstNet Authority board members dlvr.it/Rv0YfL

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

Smart-building projects target energy efficiency as launchpad to health and safety dlvr.it/RtyhRY

4th March 2021
UrgentComm

ESN official hints at potentially costly new timeline for UK public-safety broadband project dlvr.it/Rttvzj

3rd March 2021
UrgentComm

Ericsson, Huawei, AT&T attending Mobile World Congress in June, others not so sure dlvr.it/RtrtT2

3rd March 2021
UrgentComm

Newscan: Klobuchar calls on Congress to get serious on tech reform dlvr.it/RtqByn

2nd March 2021
UrgentComm

The era of converged network infrastructure has officially begun dlvr.it/Rtmq62

2nd March 2021

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X