Communications is the backbone of the fire service. Whether it is the relay of orders between the incident commander and the resources who are on scene or the flow of information from the citizen, to dispatch, to the first-alarm assignment, we count on this seamless exchange of information to get things done.
In the 21st century, more than ever, we rely on electronic resources to connect with the outer world and to interconnect with fellow responders. What if these everyday avenues suddenly fell silent for all of us? Would you be prepared?
Wide reach
The more we seemingly divest our assets, the more these assets share common threads. Reliance on the conventional telephone network is one example. We count on the telephone network to bring us dial tone and to deliver many of our 9-1-1 calls. Even some of our unconventional networks make use of conventional telephony. High-speed data lines that connect commercial cellular sites and even tower sites in public-safety radio systems often are provided by the local carrier. Although Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls use the internet for their pathway, they travel the last mile to 9-1-1 through circuits of the local telcom.
Even if assets aren’t interconnected directly, the use of common facilities can increase risk. This point was demonstrated dramatically on Christmas Day 2020, when an intentional explosion in Nashville knocked out both 9-1-1 and FirstNet communications to a broad area. The incident also underlines the fact that causative events don’t need to be in your district to be of concern. Disruptions to emergency services were reported throughout Tennessee as well as in Alabama and Kentucky.
Planning continuity of operations begins with an understanding of your electronic systems. Involve all of your technical staff and all of your vendors in diagramming what reliances and dependencies exist. It’s important to know who is responsible for what well before problems arise.
Identify obvious weaknesses and single points of failure. If any of these weak spots fall under your umbrella, immediately establish a plan to fix them. Make sure to require vendors to do the same for any for which they bear responsibility.
Take a hard look at your 9-1-1 center to gauge the exposure and preparedness. Does it meet NFPA 1221: Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems? Do circuits enter the building by segregated paths to avoid accidental damage? Is there sufficient backup power? If there is a complete outage or if the building becomes untenable, what happens to the calls? Are the calls automatically routed to another agency or is manual or software intervention required for them? If your operation has an unmanned backup site, how long does it take to activate? In the interim, how do you get dispatched?
The full breadth
Telephony failures also run the gamut from affecting single residences to those that cripple a region. Fires at a New York City telephone exchange in 1975 and the Hinsdale, IL, central office in 1988 are examples of more significant events. Hurricanes in Louisiana flooded similar facilities, which crippled conventional calls and independently disabled hundreds of cell sites, throttling wireless communications.
When confronted with such events, as with any other, start with a size-up. What’s working? What isn’t? This is helpful in both narrowing down the cause as well as identifying how to continue communications.
Are radio systems operating? At all sites? If not, what sites are working? Do you have a backup? Is it online? Does your backup have coverage or feature limitations when compared with your primary system? Simplex radios or devices that have “talk-around” channels should be functional, but those that normally are reliant on a repeater will be working at lower-than-normal range.
If you have any cell service whatsoever, this can be used to both alert and coordinate response. Because there are so many potential combinations, it’s impossible to identify them here. However, some conditions can restrict the interconnectivity of wireless and conventional carriers, while others can be specific to the cellular provider or even the cellular site. Remember, during disasters, increased usage and cascading power failures can erode communications. Text might work when voice communication doesn’t.
Outages can affect 9-1-1 but not homes and businesses because of the nature of the network. It also is possible for some features to be reduced. The addition of third-party applications to the emergency number provides yet another moving part. Again, determine what is and what isn’t working. If any numbers at dispatch are operational, these need to be publicized immediately as temporary alternates to 9-1-1.
All stations should be staffed and identified as reporting locations for those who can’t call out. This is important particularly for volunteer agencies, because alerting also might be down. From a hazards perspective, keep in mind that alarm systems also can be compromised, and that can increase the potential for undetected fires.
Enlist the media, both mainstream and social, to reach the public. The situation will dictate available options. You even might have to deliver updates in person to local TV and radio stations. Identify key facilities as reporting places and use all unassigned municipal vehicles that have working communications as roving patrols to seek out emergencies and citizens reporting same. If social media is functioning, use it to get your message out and your calls for help in. Even if your account typically isn’t monitored 24/7, assign someone to this task for the duration of the crisis.
Telephone providers have response teams and mobile resources on standby for critical events. However, widespread regional disruptions and extreme severe weather will slow and dilute their engagement. In the interim, consider all options that are at your disposal. Amateur radio operators have a long history of disaster assistance. Personal-use radios as well as any private or public sector radios that still are operational can be called into play. If a link can be established to an unaffected neighboring department, their assets will be of great value. Satellite phones, although still relatively expensive, provide a unique link to the outside world during crises. Of course, you’ll need one or more satellite phones on hand before the problems start.
One means of alerting that typically is immune to this effect is the little red box on the corner, because fire departments maintain circuit infrastructure that’s independent of commercial carriers. Although their cost of upkeep and the preponderance of cellphones greatly reduced their numbers, alarm boxes still are an effective means of reporting a fire. In 2018, one served to turn out Boston firefighters to a call during a 9-1-1 outage in that city.
Although significant failures might not happen every day, they can happen to you. When they do happen, you must be prepared. Whether you are a citizen or a firefighter, silence isn’t the sound that you want to hear when asking for help.
Barry Furey
BARRY FUREY, who is a Firehouse Contributing Editor, provides consulting and training services in emergency communications. He is the former director of the Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center in North Carolina. During his 50-year public safety career, he has managed 9-1-1 centers and served as a volunteer fire officer in three other states. In 2005, Furey received a life membership in the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International for his continued work in emergency communications. Furey was inducted into the Firehouse Hall of Fame in 2017.
