When public safety responders are dealing with emergency situations, breakdowns in communication are barriers to public safety. In order to get the most out of an emergency plan, it must be communicated successfully every step of the way. Anticipation is the key to preventive planning and response, so what communications challenges should emergency responders expect?

Last week, we made a webinar in collaboration with the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association. The session provided an overview about emergency communications and related technologies adapted for Incident Management Teams.

Good afternoon to everyone and welcome to the beginning of convention and trade show season.  It’s that time of the year where we all will travel to at least one or two conventions to learn from the pro’s what is happening in our given public safety field whether it is police, fire or EMS. 

Today it seems like everywhere we go companies, schools and shopping malls all are using some sort of radio communication equipment for their own in-house use. During an emergency situation, this level of communication could prove invaluable to the public safety responders. If we’re able to know what they know prior to our arrival on scene, it could save us precious time. Let’s talk about an example of an active shooter at the mall; if we are able to hear the communications from the mall security command post, we would know the closest entrance to use to stop the shooter and where EMS should enter to find the victims.

The necessity for emergency responders and managers to transition to a culture of operational interoperability represents a paradigm shift for most. The problem remains that many organizations are hampered by their continued operation in silos and their misunderstanding of one another’s SOPs. While my expertise surrounds the experience that I have had, over thirty years, in emergency first response, the principles I espouse can be interspersed across a variety of organizations, regardless of function, that work in conjunction with one another.  This transference is imperative to the collective cooperation of such organizations.