|
The Fire Services Take: Winter 2023
|
|
The Fire Service Take with Gary McCarraher
Improving the connected firefighter’s experience
|
|
|
The FirstNet Authority has made substantial progress over the past five years to improve how the fire service uses voice communications, video, and data. Today, fire departments are leveraging broadband with land mobile radios, connecting via mobile data terminals, and sharing video through devices such as unmanned aerial vehicles.
Despite these advances, firefighters continue to search for a device they can use while wearing full protective gear and operating in environments that are immediately dangerous to life or health. So, we’re asking—what should that technology look like? What data should it monitor and transmit?
Shaping FirstNet for the fire service
I am part of a team of fire service experts at the FirstNet Authority. Collectively, we bring 200+ years of experience working at fire departments ranging from the nation’s largest to some of the smallest.
But most of my team isn’t on the fire line today. So, we need input from those of you who are.
We want to hear from you. Public safety’s input was integral to the design and buildout of FirstNet, and it will be just as important in its next evolution.
Your input equals results
In 2023, the FirstNet Authority fire service team is conducting targeted outreach to fire service communities throughout the nation. Our goal is to understand and document how broadband technologies can enhance fireground operations and firefighter safety.
After these engagements, we take the feedback to our partners in academia and the telecommunications industry for further development. The FirstNet Authority Board can also direct investment dollars to advance network capabilities and address challenges and needs identified by the fire service.
Targeted outreach
We are looking to engage with all ranks and levels of experience in the fire service, from both career and volunteer roles, including boots-on-the-ground firefighters, company officers, incident commanders, and chief officers.
Our outreach includes three different ways of engaging with the fire service: focus groups, roundtables, and roadshows. Each engagement has a different format and focus, all with the goal of better understanding what the fire service needs on the fireground.
Focus groups on devices and operations
In our focus group sessions, small groups of firefighters come together to discuss how broadband services can be used in the different environments where they work, whether it’s fire combat, hazardous materials, or wildland fires.
These sessions give us the opportunity to envision devices that give firefighters easy access to the rich data available to them. Some of the available data streams include biometrics, thermal imaging, video, voice, and location-based services.
In our focus sessions, we’re asking: What type of device would best deliver this data? How would you design the hardware and the display? What is the size, shape, and arrangement of your ideal device?
We want to understand how to best operationalize broadband for the demands of firefighting.
Roundtables on coverage
Coverage is king when it comes to public safety communications. Firefighters need to be able to connect, no matter where the mission takes them.
At our roundtables, we discuss the fire service’s coverage needs, whether through traditional infrastructure like cell towers and sites, in-building solutions to boost indoor coverage, on-demand options like deployables, or another solution that’s yet to be created.
These roundtables build on the discussions we began with the wildfire community when we learned ways to improve coverage for firefighters battling wildland fires. Other coverage topics may include air-to-ground coverage, maritime coverage, range extension, and device-to-device coverage.
The fire service community is called to duty in hard-to-reach places, and we want to understand how to boost FirstNet in the places where firefighters go.
Roadshow demos of FirstNet offerings
FirstNet is more than the nationwide public safety broadband network—it has created an entire ecosystem of devices, apps, and tools that are designed for public safety operations.
Our roadshow demonstrations showcase what FirstNet has to offer to members of the fire service. The roadshows highlight how fire agencies across the country are using FirstNet to provide better, safer, and more effective services to the people they serve. Other demonstrations include drone technology, FirstNet deployables, situational awareness apps, and vertical location mapping.
We want the fire service to experience FirstNet’s capabilities firsthand to truly understand what the network has to offer.
Hearing from you
We invite you to join in these engagement opportunities. We’re seeking fire agencies of all sizes throughout the country. Send me an email if you would like to be notified when an event is scheduled or if you would like to attend one of these events:
If these events don’t work for you but you’re interested in participating, contact me. We can work together to facilitate a focus group, roundtable, or roadshow for your agency as needed.
|
|
We want to learn from you: Envisioning the FirstNet-connected responder
The FirstNet Authority always strives to understand your public safety needs at the discipline level. Understanding how you use FirstNet in your operations helps us identify investment opportunities and ways to evolve the network.
This year, we are particularly interested in your feedback on how to make the connected responder a reality. How have mission critical services changed the way you keep your communities safe? How can we operationalize public safety broadband, optimize your FirstNet experience, and maximize connection? Our engagements this year will focus on these topics.
If you have ideas or opinions, you can reach out to me or your local area public safety advisor.
|
|
|
|
The FirstNet Authority’s annual report to Congress for fiscal year 2022 highlights the advancements we have made in public safety communications, showcasing the forward-thinking tech that FirstNet brings to the public safety community.
|
|
|
Tech, Innovations, and Hot Topics in Fire Service
Read what we’ve been hearing from public safety in the field about trends and drivers for fire services and emergency communications.*
Firefighters and other first responders are getting help in the field from augmented reality glasses. These headsets can give firefighters hands-free control for tasks like livestreaming video from a drone equipped with thermal imaging technology.
|
|
|
Situated on the southern part of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Hyannis is an economic and transportation hub and a major tourist destination in the summer months. The Hyannis Fire Department responds to fire, medical, and water rescue calls across nine square miles on the cape. As the town’s population ebbs and swells throughout the year, the fire department faces communication challenges. Whether on land or at sea, FirstNet provides personnel with a reliable connection to the information they need to make critical decisions.
Watch the video |
|
Gary McCarraher is the FirstNet Authority Fire Services Subject Matter Expert. Learn more about Gary or email him with your questions. |
|
|
Top photo: FirstNet supports the Hyannis Fire Department through hotspots, agency cell phones, tablets, and wireless routers on fire apparatuses. These devices allow agency personnel to share information while in the field.
|
|
|
|
*FirstNet Authority may provide hyperlinks for third-party, non-governmental websites in order to offer additional context and added value for our users. FirstNet Authority does not endorse any product or service and is not responsible, nor can it guarantee the validity or timeliness of the content on hyperlinks outside of the federal government. In addition, users may wish to review privacy notices on non-government sites since their information collection practices may differ from ours.
|
|
|
|
|
