Public safety collaboration trends

What has been the impact of the National Response Framework (NRF) on public safety agencies?

Since 9/11 the need for tiered response and unified command has increased significantly. In order to be prepared for a crisis whether man-made or natural, localities require the ability to directly engage higher levels of government to assist in responding when their capabilities are outstripped by events. The NRF provides a mechanism for collaboration and partnership between leaders at all levels of government to prevent any one level from becoming overwhelmed. However, to achieve this type of tiered response effectively, scalable operational capabilities are required. Scaling requires seamless coordination across various governmental jurisdictions in order achieve common objectives.

As a result of NRF driving for unity of effort, government agencies are better prepared to respond swiftly and affect better decision making. To enable these efforts, a key change has been in how geographically distributed levels and agencies collaborate to share real time information and make decisions under crisis conditions. Video conferencing and telepresence are being adopted to support life-like communications and information sharing between various government agencies whether in command centers or in the field.

Have state and local budget cuts had an impact on public safety?

Resulting from the economic downturn, the recent cutbacks in government spending is having a real effect on the public safety of citizens. In Tempe, Arizona, a $30 million budget shortfall for 2010 had local leaders looking to eliminate needed police positions. And a $14 million cut in the 2010 operating budget of Gilbert, Arizona, had officials there warning citizens that layoffs of nearly 100 positions could lead to "possible loss of life and property due to more than a 4-minute response time."

A $39 million budget deficit caused Los Angeles Fire Department to impose "rolling brownouts", or temporary furloughs, which would remove 87 firefighters from the daily work rotation. The result is one battalion command team, three emergency battalion offices, 15 fire trucks and nine ambulances would be left unstaffed every day for a year. With fewer resources, response times will likely grow longer according to officials.

Clearly, the cuts are having an impact so public safety agencies are having to be creative in how they maintain response times on a smaller budget. One approach is to leverage video conferencing and telepresence to reduce the need for transportation when offering classroom training. Additionally, training can be offered to multiple or all stations in a district simultaneously instead of serially thus resulting in quicker roll-out and recording of sessions allowing playback for those who miss a session or need a course refresher.

How have you seen public safety agencies benefit from telepresence and video conferencing given these current challenges?

Collaborating using timely, accurate information can determine the difference between a disaster and a crisis averted. This is a key reason that public safety agencies use video communications to prepare for and respond to events and conditions that threaten lives and property.

In my experience working with public safety agencies, comprehensive audio and video communication infrastructure helps to streamline emergency response and effectiveness, better prepare for the crises to come, and reduce ongoing operational costs.

During an emergency, combining audio and video can enable more immediate understanding of complex and high-stress situations in the field. Agencies can enhance decision making and response by using video communications to 1) equip emergency management personnel with real-time information, visuals and intelligence to provision resources and response where they're needed most; 2) enable centrally located experts to provide remote support by having video-equipped field personnel serve as their eyes and ears on the ground; and 3) streamline coordination among different agencies by sharing rich information for comprehensive command and control in an emergency operation center.

Biography:

Matt Jackson, Director of Global Government Markets, oversees solutions at Polycom for public safety, judicial and agency collaboration. Matt holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech, an M.B.A. from NC State University, and a graduate certificate from the University of Virginia.