When Herbert Marshall McLuhan said, “we look at the present through a rear-view mirror,” he was talking about society's tendency to be comfortable with the way things are.

Fire departments by their very nature must live in the present, respecting the past but moving into the future as rapidly as the adaptation process will allow. To pursue the future, some tough questions need to be asked. What are we doing? How are we doing it? Can we do it better in the future?

Those questions were posed to a group of California fire chiefs. The net result was the pursuit of an idea that may well be one of the largest steps in improving productivity with the technology currently offered to the fire service.

Beyond hypothetical

Chief Kevin Crawford of the Carlsbad (Calif.) Fire Department posed a hypothetical question to generate interest and encourage the group to act collectively: “Why do we exist and what should we be doing collectively?” His question provoked considerable discussion that has probably been repeated in many other local and regional fire chiefs associations.

The chiefs responded by developing of a list that focused on ways of improving efficiency and effectiveness of all of individual organizations through cooperative efforts. The message that emerged was simple: What can we do collectively that makes us all work better individually? The outcome of that discussion probably would have pleased McLuhan, who also coined the phrase “global village.”

One idea that began to gain support was based on a need for a regional approach to training. The 10 agencies that make up the group collectively had 53 fire stations. Each department had very similar training needs, especially with regard to meeting certain standards such as EMS training requirements and having a standardized approach to specific topics such as incident command and tactics and strategy. Attempts to standardize such materials were a logistical maze.

Many fire departments try to resolve this standardization issue by bringing stations together or by holding the same class multiple times. In spite of the best efforts, most of these scheduling scenarios still have significant holes. Moreover, even with multiple agencies it's sometimes hard to get one instructor to standardize the curriculum.

Another problem that many fire agencies face is even more basic. When you pull fire companies out of their first-in district to receive training, it lengthens response times when emergencies occur back in those districts. As the public considers response time as the measure of fire department performance, anything the zone chiefs could do to keep companies in districts while maintaining the increasing demand for training would meet their theme of efficiency and effectiveness through cooperation. They decided on a video-conferencing system.

Federal funding

Headed by Tom Gallup, an analyst from Encinitas, and Ingrid Lenz, an analyst from Carlsbad, a task force was created to develop a grant proposal. It consisted of grant writers, analysts, information technology people and fire personnel. According to Encinitas Chief Don Heiser, it would have been very easy to walk away from this project at any point in time. It was complex and required a high level of cooperation and input from multiple, non-traditional information sources.

After months of preparation, the agencies agreed on a grant application that was submitted to FEMA in February 2003. They received a grant in September of that year for $701,629. There was a matching funds requirement of approximately 30%, which meant that the participating agencies had to raise an additional $300,699. A formula was worked out so that each participating agency paid a pro-rata share per facility.

Once the grant was awarded, a comprehensive request for proposal was created. After distribution of the RFP to various vendors, Tandberg was selected. A contract was awarded to SBC to be the overall contractor. The system installed was started in April 2004 and was completed in December.

The system is composed of two flat-screen televisions. One screen is used to watch the training session and the other is used to ask questions. Each facility has a video camera that is about the size a pencil sharpene installed on top of one of the monitors. There are four central control units that were placed in the geographic region to administer the system.

While this system doesn't substitute for hands-on experience, training for terrorism and hazmat response, the theory behind emergency medical services activities, incident management and more can be delivered via such a system. Furthermore, it can be used to conduct briefings. Individual departments can use it for just their fire stations, or multiple departments can use it for broader-based subjects.

Moreover, this new video-conferencing capability will allow these participating agencies to review major incidents and share resources and information, and it will provide a secure method for communicating policy and procedure during times of crisis. The dispatch center has been incorporated into the system, adding an entire new dimension to the word “communications.”

According to research, this is the largest network of its nature in the public sector to date.

Bang for the buck

At a news conference, Vista Assistant City Manager Rick Dudley said, “The idea of video-conferencing is perfect for training classes and standardization of services because it keeps firefighters at their stations and in their response area for calls.” Speaking on behalf of other administrators, Dudley said it was “making the most out of the taxpayers money.”

The system is built to accommodate more users in the future. As it's modular in design additional facilities can be added without serious technological consequence. According to Crawford, “when it comes to providing service, we need to foster good relationships with our neighboring departments, since we are going to be in each other's territory. No fire department is big enough or has enough staff to accommodate every situation that comes their way.”

The ongoing maintenance costs are relatively low. It's estimated that the first-year maintenance was only going to be about $1,900, rising to about $6,250 in about three years. These costs will be distributed among user departments. The pro-rata share of such a cost per fire station will be less than $120 per year. It's hard to imagine a more cost-effective program.

Crawford and Heiser from Encinitas both reflected that the project was an outstanding example of what a group of regional fire chiefs can accomplish once they agree upon a goal. They both agreed that one of the ingredients of making this project work was the use of the task force to write the grant and develop the RFP. The task force created a process that encouraged both the exchange of information and simultaneously encouraged the development of cooperative efforts beyond this project.

McLuhan would very likely look at this project with favor; however, it wouldn't satisfy his insatiable curiosity unless it was more widespread. Individual fire departments wishing to learn more about this process may contact Tom Gallup at the City of Encinitas, 505 S. Vulcan Avenue, Encinitas, Calif. 92024-3633 to obtain a copy of the grant and the RFP. Regardless of whether the federal government continues to fund grants of this nature, there's nothing to prevent regions from developing a similar concept in cooperation with community colleges and other alternative funding sources.

If response time is the holy grail of emergency services and fire stations are the focus of performance, anything that can be done to improve their productivity and simultaneously improve their job skills has to be a cost-effective course of action for the fire service.

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With more than 40 years in the fire service, Ronny J. Coleman has served as fire chief in Fullerton and San Clemente, Calif., and was the fire marshal of the State of California from 1992 to 1999. He is a certified fire chief and a master instructor in the California Fire Service Training and Education System. A Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, he has an associate's degree in fire science, a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in vocational education.

Regional Interoperability Poses Texas-Sized Problem

In 2003 Texas mandated an interoperability plan that is directly connected to state government funding. According to the plan, interoperability is “…an essential communications link within public safety and public service wireless communications systems which permit units from two or more different entities to interact with one another and to exchange information according to a prescribed method in order to achieve results.”

This posed a problem for the Sabine Neches Chiefs Association, a regional mutual aid association located in Southeast Texas. It is comprised of more than 100 different governmental agencies and private organizations. These include fire departments and police departments state and federal agencies, industrial facilities, public and private ambulance companies, hospitals, health departments, county and city governments, and state and local emergency management agencies.

Each of these different organizations brings to the table their own brand of communications and subsequent communications equipment — and one thing that has never been common among police, fire and industry is how to readily and effectively communicate with each other. This becomes critically evident during times of emergency. Almost without question following every major association response when critiques are done and corrections are dictated, communications is at the top of the list.

Depending on the agency or local government, communications systems may include 800MHz trunked radio public-safety frequencies, 800MHz trunked radio private-frequencies, 400MHz frequencies, VHF frequencies, UHF frequencies, and now 900MHz frequencies. Additionally, a plethora of radio brands are spattered throughout the association.

The challenge for SNCA has become not to change every agency's radios and communications abilities, as this would be a cost-prohibitive venture, but to find devices that allow all of the different agencies to talk to each other seamlessly. The association has opted to go with patchwork interoperability. According to JPS Communications, this takes existing communications systems and ties them together with minimal additional equipment and minimal disruption to ongoing communication. The SNCA communications committee has chosen the ACU-1000, which can hold up to 12 interface modules. Each of these modules interface to four wire devices, such as radios and audio consoles or Nextel handsets; two wire devices, such as landline, satellite and cellular phones; and three Ethernet IP-based networks.

Now that this system is being put in place, the type, brand or frequency of the various radio equipment are inconsequential. However, the link to providing seamless communications in southeast Texas will be the telecommunication specialists. Training will need to be developed that is consistent for each agency, public or private, in order for true communications interoperability to occur.
— Chief Scott D. Kerwood Orange County (Texas) Fire/Rescue Emergency Services District #1