Advanced Planning for Emergency Responders—Focus on Reliable Communications

First responders have a critical role to play when an emergency occurs, whether it involves a weather event, public gathering, or national security incident. They need to know what is happening at the site, what local, state, and national teams will be involved, and execute a response plan. All of this must happen in near-real time, as time is critical in responding. 

Since these teams do not know when something will happen, they must have reliable communications resources available 24/7 to stay informed. Government teams may discuss and even rehearse all the necessary response steps, but what happens if their communications technology is disrupted or fails? Hughes knows that reliable and resilient communication matters, no matter the location. Consider these steps as you plan for the next emergency. 

1. Enough bandwidth—Current federal and state agency networks struggle to adequately support today’s application demands, particularly at field office locations. Cloud technologies, video streaming, teleconferencing, and other bandwidth-hungry applications are congesting traditional telecom infrastructure. Emergency responders must know that they can connect to a reliable, high-bandwidth network to share photos and videos (live drone coverage and smartphone feeds, etc.) of damage and/or emergency sites with the entire response team, including commanders located across the state or country.
2. Access to low-cost, easy-to-use communications gear—User terminals and related equipment for access to traditional networks can be expensive, and governments have been reluctant to tie up resources in equipment they think they may never need. However, today’s high-throughput satellites, both geostationary (GEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO), deliver more bandwidth to a new generation of smaller, less expensive terminals that are easier to set up and operate. Government emergency responders need to understand these new technology innovations, including secure, high-speed private 5G networking, and properly budget for them. Trying to improvise a solution at the disaster site takes critical time, leaves teams disconnected, and ultimately, citizens without support.
3. Secure backup capacity—As part of advanced planning, governments need to determine whether their existing network will provide reliable connectivity during an emergency. The planning efforts should include procuring alternate network capacity (e.g., 5G, GEO, or LEO) to support the response teams as emergency conditions may cause their current network to fail. Hughes has over 50 years of experience in wireless networking and emergency planning. We can help you choose the type of network, technology, and capacity plans to support emergency response teams for every emergency environment. 

Governments and their emergency response teams know that emergencies will happen sooner rather than later. Scientists are continuing to warn that climate change is altering weather patterns in a way that will cause more floods, fires, and other weather-related disasters in the future. Now more than ever, governments need to plan for these events by lining up the equipment and bandwidth they will need to adequately respond. Go here for more information on how Hughes can help support your disaster and emergency communications preparation and response efforts.