Wu Pushes for Improved Public Safety Communications

Press Release

Today Congressman David Wu held a hearing in the Science Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation to explore why first responders still do not have access to fully interoperable communications equipment. The hearing also examined why the process for setting interoperability standards that was started in 1989 has still not been completed and how to ensure that the expensive radio equipment purchased by local public safety organizations operates as intended.

"We've learned an important lesson from September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and other disasters: interoperable communication is critical to effective emergency response," said Wu. "When time is of the essence and lives are at stake, a clear flow of information is essential. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for police officers and firefighters from a single region, or even a single city, to be using incompatible communication systems. This lack of interoperability has contributed to the deaths of first responders and hindered the ability to rescue people in harm's way."

Since 1989, the public safety community and industry have been working together to develop "P25" technical standards, which will both ensure interoperability and promote competition in the marketplace for equipment for digital land mobile radio systems. However, only one of the approximately ten types of standards has been fully completed.

When Congressman Wu began investigating this issue in early 2010, the testing process that guarantees interoperability had hit a roadblock. Derek Orr, the project manager who oversees this issue at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said in his testimony before the committee that now, "the tide has turned."

He continued, "I am pleased to say that over the last two months we have witnessed a renewed willingness within the P25 standards body to actively participate in the identification of relevant conformance tests."

Congressman Wu intends to keep the pressure on both industry and the related federal agencies to complete the full set of public safety communications interoperability standards by scheduling a follow-up hearing for this fall.

Fundamentally, the goal of the standards process is to improve the safety of first responders and others in the field by ensuring that all communications equipment can connect to all other communications equipment during an emergency.

Jeff Johnson, president and chairman of the board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and chief of the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Department located in Beaverton, Oregon, explained in his testimony that "we in the fire service are not so much interested about how radios and systems work, but THAT they work."

He said that "we need to complete the P25 standard in the interest of assuring public safety that the digital radios they buy will, indeed, work interoperably."

The assurance that communications equipment will operate effectively is especially important to state and local agencies that spend significant resources to purchase these systems.

"The most important question for the first responders who rely on this equipment is "does it work?'" said Wu. "In addition to being mission-critical technology, these systems represent major expenditures for government agencies across the country. Particularly at a time of uncertain and dwindling budgets, cost-effective procurement enabled by an open-architecture is essential."

For more information on today's hearing, please visit the Science and Technology Committee's website.

Source