first responders

Headset Computer Opens New Possibilities For Mobile Workforce

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Mobile computing is evolving from handheld to hands-free with the introduction of a new headset-mounted computer that may soon be helping first responders and technicians record and stream data back to headquarters, or view information, building diagrams or schematics using voice commands and head movements.

The Motorola HC1 is a headset computer consisting of a headset, built in video camera, microphones, earpiece and a “view pod.” Designed entirely for hands-free use, the computer is controlled through a combination of voice commands and head movements, explained Nicole Tricoukes, a business innovation manager at Motorola Solutions. The computer will be commercially available in the first half of 2013. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 26, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Innovation At VA: App Offered To Hurricane Sandy Victims

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This is one in a series of articles about innovation at the Department of Veterans Affairs and part of a larger series on innovation at agencies across the federal government.

A mobile app originally developed to aid veterans has been offered to mental health personnel helping Hurricane Sandy’s victims, an example of how innovation and technology within the federal government can have a broader reach than ever before. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 7, 2012 at 7:00 AM

App Aids Bomb Threat First Responders

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In the first chaotic moments after a reported bomb threat, first responders have myriad questions, assessments, and decisions to make amid rapidly changing circumstances.

How large is the potential blast radius? Where will we evacuate people? Any schools, hospitals nearby? What roads should be closed? And on and on…. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 27, 2012 at 3:00 PM

FEMA Builds Extensive Partnerships With Private Sector

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Daniel Stoneking thinks the Federal Emergency Management Agency has taken public-private partnerships to a whole new level.

“You hear about transparency in the federal government and folks talk about opening the door. I like to joke that we’ve taken the hinges off the door,” said Stoneking, FEMA’s director of the Private Sector Division. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 15, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Feds @ Work: DHS Science Guy Dan Gerstein Looks For Fast Payoff

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Dan Gerstein doesn’t wear khaki any more, but his career in the Army still influences his approach to his current work: practical with a touch of inspiration.

As deputy undersecretary for Science and Technology at the Homeland Security Department, Dan Gerstein helps oversee a broad array of research and development activities. The common theme, ultimately, is effectiveness of the DHS mission of homeland protection both through its own people and through first responders at all levels of government. It does this by applying R&D to both knowledge-based and technology-based solutions.
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 /  Published January 27, 2012 at 8:08 AM

Current Technology Can Fix Emergency Communications

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Tom Van Essen, New York City’s fire commissioner on September 11, 2001, recently stated that emergency communications were no better today than in 2001. But the problem isn’t a lack of advanced technology or capability. Rather, it’s an issue of too many people calling at the same time when disaster strikes, which results in flooded networks.

With ever-smarter phones, more users and more services, we expect that the need to communicate in an emergency will continue to overwhelm existing networks. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 22, 2011 at 1:25 PM

Feds@Work: FEMA’s Craig Fugate Gets Ahead Of The Storm

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Craig Fugate has always been a man with a mission- and all the more so this week as the nation’s leading emergency responder, as the head of Federal Emergency Management Agency, tries to get 60 million people on the East Coast ready for Hurricane Irene. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 26, 2011 at 1:01 PM

Battle For Public Safety Airwaves Rages On A Decade After 9/11

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The fight to obtain additional wireless communications spectrum capable of providing police, firemen and emergency managers with the same capabilities most 15 year-olds have on their smart phones has been ongoing since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when outdated radios prevented firefighters and police from communicating evacuation orders. Hundreds died because they could not hear those orders.

And while little has changed in the decade since then, the Obama Administration last month publicly announced its support to transfer a swath of wireless spectrum known as the D block to first responder agencies for the purpose of building a nationwide, interoperable wireless public safety network – a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 19, 2011 at 2:01 PM

Battle For Public Safety Airwaves Rages On A Decade After 9/11

By

The fight to obtain additional wireless communications spectrum capable of providing police, firemen and emergency managers with the same capabilities most 15 year-olds have on their smart phones has been ongoing since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when outdated radios prevented firefighters and police from communicating evacuation orders. Hundreds died because they could not hear those orders.

And while little has changed in the decade since then, the Obama Administration last month publicly announced its support to transfer a swath of wireless spectrum known as the D block to first responder agencies for the purpose of building a nationwide, interoperable wireless public safety network – a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

The decision puts the White House squarely at odds with a powerful faction of wireless companies that continue to pressure Congress for a public auction of the available spectrum. Those companies argue the spectrum is critical to American competitiveness in an increasingly wireless world and a sale would raise an estimated $28 billion that could be applied to deficit reduction. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 14, 2011 at 3:00 PM

White House Adds Support for Public Safety Broadband Network

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Vice President Biden speaks on June 16, 2011 about the importance of creating a national public safety broadband network at a meeting with first responders, public safety advocates and Administration officials.

 /  Published July 11, 2011 at 3:29 PM