Editorial: Congress needs to approve first responder network
Herald Dispatch 07/05/11
"Homeland security begins with hometown security"
The 4th annual West Virginia Homeland Security Summit in Huntington last week reminded us that much has been done to improve our nation's security since the 9/11 terrorist attacks almost 10 years ago.
We may first think about the service of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan or the capture of Osama Bin Laden. But in her speech at Marshall University, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano also stressed the importance of the security investments that have been made right in our own communities.
"Homeland security begins with hometown security," Napolitano said. "It's a concept that means we begin with our first responders and making sure they are enabled and empowered with equipment and training to respond quickly and effectively when something happens."
Various programs and demonstrations at the summit showed how much has been done.
But one problem that came to light in the wake of 9/11 still has not been adequately addressed. That is the jumble of communication systems used by all the various agencies involved in emergency response.
Firefighters, police, emergency technicians, medical services and other responders still are often on different frequencies and communication systems. That can lead to problems communicating within the county, much less across the country.
Of course, many responders also have access to cellphones and the same commercial wireless networks as the rest of us. But those systems can be overwhelmed in times of disaster, as we have seen with cell phone traffic during the 2009 crash of a commercial jet on the Hudson River in New York or the tornado-ravaged areas of the South this spring.
West Virginia's Sen. Jay Rockefeller is pushing for a better solution with the creation of a dedicated nationwide, interoperable wireless network for first responders. The senator discussed the enabling legislation, called the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, at the summit last week.
"We need a forward-thinking public safety policy -- for West Virginia and our nation - that promotes smart use of our airwaves and provides public safety officials with the wireless resources they need to communicate and keep us safe," said Rockefeller. "The Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act will do just that."
Building the network would require acquiring some of the broadcast spectrum now controlled by private companies. Among other things, the bill would address how those companies would be compensated and how the system would be funded.
But the know-how seems to be there, and if the plan is approved, the network would mean a more secure and powerful emergency communications system. This would be more than a big walkie-talkie. First responders would be able to search nationwide data bases, retrieve building blueprints at a fire scene or send accident photos ahead to the hospital emergency room.
It is time for Congress to get moving on this plan.
