A promising homeland protection technology called the hazmat cam, a wireless camera system that can be carried by emergency responders to a hazardous scene, has the potential to give incident commanders a new look.

The camera, contained in a tough, lightweight, waterproof flashlight housing, sends wireless, real-time video images to incident commanders as far as five miles from a hot zone.

“The device was developed specifically to meet the needs of agencies responding to terrorist acts involving chemical, biological and radiological hazards,” said designer Kevin Young, an engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory.

According to Young, the camera being marketed commercially under the name of Visual First Responder by View Systems of Baltimore, is the first wireless video system incorporating encrypted video, a 900MHz transmit frequency, a waterproof camera and a three antenna diversity receiver.

“This combination of features allows the VFR to transmit a secure and stable video image were other portable wireless video systems fail," he says.

The design resulted from working closely with several National Guard WMD Civil Support Teams to find out exactly what they needed in a wireless video system.

The unit provides increased safety and tactical awareness during a response to unknown threats by allowing incident commanders and other response experts to remain safely outside the hot zone while seeing what initial entry teams are seeing. The goal is to provide a steady, reliable, unblinking eye to convey as clearly and in as much detail as possible the conditions within an incident area, Young says.

Real-time video enhances the ability to get the job done because there’s less chance of a communications mistake between the emergency responders and the incident commander.

“Commanders can request a closer look at objects of interest, actually read labels on containers and peer into spaces inaccessible to recon team eyes,” Young says.

By using the camera to look around corners or through doorways or windows, the commander can assess potential risks to recon teams before they actually enter the space being observed. It also can eliminate the need for multiple or repeat entries.