Traditional communications systems reliable in disasters, panelists say

Traditional modes of communication continue to serve as reliable, near-term solutions during emergencies, a panel of industry experts said Monday.

Emergency responders are still served well by technologies they know, despite the development of technologies such as Internet telephony and satellite-based voice service, the experts said at the National Conference on Emergency Communications at George Washington University.

"It all goes back to making do with what you have," said Dennis Wingo, the president of Assured Power and Communications.

Wingo, who was part of the early relief effort in Jackson County, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina in August, said problems with power supplies, terrestrial infrastructure, training and the ability of equipment to communicate across jurisdictions make emerging technologies less appealing for emergency personnel. He said cellular telephones and amateur radio remain the most reliable methods of interoperable technology.

Oak Ridge Tech Connect's Eric Novotny said emergency responders typically will use technologies they know well. He said the best short-term strategy to better communications would involve making the networks that use those technologies as robust as possible.

Iridium Vice President Ted O'Brien said the satellite service offered by his firm was effective during the relief efforts following Katrina and last year's tsunami in the South Pacific. He said Iridium deployed more than 8,000 units in the first two weeks following Katrina and saw a 3,000 percent increase in traffic on its network, which needs little ground infrastructure. The company's 66 low-earth, cross-linked satellites comprise the largest commercial operation in the world.

But O'Brien said more responders need to be trained to use the equipment and that it must be pre-positioned for deployment before disasters occur. He also said there is a need for various systems to serve communications requirements in major disasters, and responders need to know the limits of satellite systems, including limits in providing high-speed data and video service.

"The technology exists and the systems are there," O'Brien said. "It's a matter of figuring out where we fit and where we don't."

Wingo said the Jackson County Sheriff's Department was given Iridium phones, but they remained in the trunk of a car because nobody knew how to use them properly.

Robert Bell, the executive director of the Society of Satellite Professionals International and co-chairman of the panel discussion, said technology often appears to move back a generation during the response to disasters, but that is not always the case.

He pointed to widespread use of handheld e-mail devices such as Blackberries after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, as an example of a developing technology thriving during disaster.