Collins Aerospace has just announced that FEMA plans to deploy the Collins’ UrgentLink disaster communications system in six regional mobile emergency response support locations. They claim that UrgentLink HF communications system is the first nationwide public safety network of its kind.
The press release announcing this contract notes:
The Urgent Link solution, a subscription-based service fully managed and maintained by Collins Aerospace, calls for the deployment of radios in FEMA’s six regional Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) locations and 100 cached radios for use during disasters. Operating on an HF spectrum specifically authorized by the FCC for disaster use, UrgentLink uses ground stations throughout the U.S. to create redundant coverage when landlines and cellular, satellite and microwave networks and other systems have been disabled or destroyed by hurricanes, wildfires, terrorist acts, or other catastrophic events.
“Imagine being in a situation where there are no phones, no cell service and even emergency responder radios are rendered useless — it can be incredibly scary and dangerous for emergency personnel and the public,” said LeAnn Ridgeway, vice president and general manager, Information Management Services for Collins Aerospace. “That’s the situation we created UrgentLink to address and we’re proud to provide FEMA with this mission-critical backup system.”
The UrgentLink network will be available to FEMA as soon as the radios are deployed, which is expected to be by June 2020 in preparation for the 2020 hurricane season. FEMA will join other UrgentLink customers, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department – the second largest public safety agency in the country.
A 2018 UrgentLink brochure reads:
Ham radio operators provide a very important service during and after a disaster. Using High Frequency (HF) radios they can communicate long distances without reliance on local infrastructure that may have been damaged or destroyed. Many of the operators are trained in disaster response and generously volunteer their time and equipment to help out.
There is a weakness – availability. Ham radios require a skilled and experienced operator. The greatest need for them is typically during the first 24-48 hours after a disaster and it’s during this time that it’s most challenging for people to get around. If the ham radio operator is not on site when the disaster strikes you will not have access to their services.
In the case of Hurricane Maria, it took three days for the ham radio operator, supporting the Red Cross, to get to their headquarters. And a week after, hurricane officials were calling to ask for even more ham’s to be sent in from the US mainland. This challenge was faced despite this event being predicted ahead of time. What would the delay be with a disaster such as an earthquake that cannot be predicted days ahead of time?
Anyone else find it kind of ironic that this is coming from Collins?