Disaster communications are failing first responders and citizens

As public safety leaders and longtime citizens of cities directly impacted on September 11, 2001, frontline workers’ responses deeply affected us. Twenty years ago, the frontline workers who responded to the horrific attacks in New York, Washington (DC) and Pennsylvania were unable to share a simple radio message and communications networks were overwhelmed. Interoperability — the ability of the frontline to communicate with each other even if they use different telecommunications carriers — is critical to allow them to do their jobs safely and effectively and keep Americans safe. It allows first responders to coordinate their actions with full situational awareness of what is happening around them. However, because of technology — and quite frankly, bureaucracy — interoperability has long been a problem in the public safety community. While agencies using the same carrier can communicate within their network, another jurisdiction assisting in the event of a crisis that is on another network cannot. The fact is, agencies must retain the ability to choose their network, and that freedom of choice should not prevent effective communication in an emergency if another jurisdiction is on a different network. First responders risk their lives every day to keep our nation safe. So as a nation, we have a moral obligation to ensure they are afforded every resource — including real interoperability — to protect their safety, so they can protect ours.