NCJ Number
217816
Journal
Honeland Defense Journal Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 36-40
Date Published
February 2007
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This two-part article begins with problems and improvements in communication interoperability as it relates to disaster response followed by challenges faced by local, State, and Federal agencies in providing a unified and coordinated disaster response.
Abstract
The urban/metropolitan areas have come a long way in developing their tactical interoperable communications capabilities. As documented in the SAFECOM Baseline Assessment, technology exists to permit interoperable communications. Therefore, continued training and use of available technical solutions and their SOPs are critical to operational success. Even though multi-agency communications has been addressed within many of these jurisdictions, regionalizing the existing communications strategies to identify longer-term interoperability goals across multiple jurisdictions and levels of government still needs to be addressed. Communication interoperability among agencies and jurisdictions is a long-standing problem in the public safety community. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) understands that barriers to interoperable communications are both technical and operational. Each agency typically has its own unique legacy technologies, requirements, operating environments, law, and processes. Therefore, achieving interoperability requires addressing technology and disparate communication systems, as well as an examination of governance, procedures, training, exercises, and usage. In response to disaster/emergency response coordination, Virginia’s three decades of cross-jurisdictional cooperation and support paid off during one of the worst disasters in our Nation’s history. However, a unified theory of homeland security is only as good as how it works on the ground. The National Response Plan seeks to align Federal coordination structures, capabilities, and resources into a unified, all-discipline and all-hazards approach to domestic incident management, and to save lives and ensure the security of the homeland.