ANAHEIM, CITY OF 5-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

APPENDIX K - PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS & INTEROPERABILlTY GUIDANCE One of the major issues facing the Emergency Services Sector is the inability of emergency service workers, including traditional "first responders," to communicate with one another when the need arises. These emergency first responders have long been defined as the "first arriving organized responders with the capability and mission to contain, mitigate, and resolve the emergency at hand." Their effective and efficient emergency response requires coordination, communication, and sharing of vital information among numerous public safety agencies. As the National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets observes, "most systems supporting emergency response personnel, however, have been specifically developed and implemented with respect to the unique needs of each agency." Such specification without regard to the need for interoperability tends to complicate the ability of those agencies to effectively communicate with others in the future, a problem echoed by the public safety community in the National Task Force on Interoperability report Why Can't We Talk? Working Together To Bridge the Communications Gap To Save Lives. In line with the needs of public safety and the national strategy, Federal FY 2006 Appropriations make available grant funding to improve the effectiveness of public safety communications systems and to resolve interoperability shortfalls. By definition, communications interoperability refers to the ability of public safety agencies to talk across disciplines and jurisdictions via radio communications systems, to exchange voice and/or data with one another on demand, in real time, when needed, and as authorized. The Federal program offices recognize that many law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical service, and other emergency response personnel currently lack effective and modern communication systems within their respective organizations. The programs support the need to improve those systems so long as the improvement planning includes a vision for improved interoperability with other agencies. Additionally, the programs require emergency response agencies developing systems to improve communications and interoperability to ensure that their solutions are compliant with the concepts, processes, and protocols set forth in the Department of Homeland Security's National Incident Management System (NIMS). When procuring equipment for communication system development and expansion, a standards- based approach should be used to begin migration to multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary interoperability. Specifically, all new voice svstems should be compatible with the ANSIITINEIAA-I02 Phase I (Project 25 or P25) suite of standards. This recommendation is intended for government owned or leased land mobile public safety radio equipment and its purpose is to make sure that such equipment or systems are capable of interoperating with other public safety land mobile equipment or systems. It is not intended to apply to commercial services that offer other types of interoperability solutions and does not exclude any application if it demonstrates that the system or equipment being proposed will lead to enhanced intcroperability. With input from the user community, these standards have been developed to allow for backward compatibility with existing digital and analog systems and to provide for interoperability in future systems. The FCC has chosen the P25 suite of standards for voice and low-moderate K-l