Every emergency responder has heard the stories about the “Big One”, that event that challenged and taxed their agency to the maximum. It could have been a bank robbery, warehouse fire or a 15-car pileup on the highway and each of these events have a common thread; they must have had a lot of radio communications during these events. I can think of a number of large-scale events that can easily challenge any department’s radio communications. I am going to take a look at a number of these events and talk about some ways in which you should be plan for similar events with training and equipment.