National Emergency Communications Plan

National Emergency Communications Plan Demonstrating Goal 2 “By 2011, 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.”

NECP Goal 1 & 2 Response-Level Emergency Communication Observational Elements/Criteria

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 1 Interagency communications policies and procedures were common or consistent amongst all responding agencies. • How: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise, RICP, Pre-planning, SOGs; • Challenges: Agencies could be from local, state and federal and from across the nation. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conducting exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 2 Established interagency communications policies and procedures were followed throughout the incident. • How: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges:“Throughout the incident;” • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 3Interagency communications policies and procedures across all responding agencies were consistent with NIMS. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: Not using “codes;” “Calling format.” i.e. Called ID, then Your ID. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 4A priority order for use of interagency communications resources was followed as established in standard operation procedures or plans, such as the Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TICP). • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges:Who gets these first? Is a LE event more important than a fire? Pre-plan? • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 5A primary interagency operations talk path was clearly established by procedure or communicated to responders early in the incident. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges:Establish pre-planned channels for things such as “Calling,” “Command,” “Air-to-Ground,” “Staging,” etc. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 6 Common terminology and plain language were used in all interagency communications. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges:Converting from using “codes” to “clear-text.” • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 7Clear unit identification procedures were used. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges:A numbering scheme could be developed to identify the kind, type, and even home base of resources. (Decades ago, a common scheme was developed in Northeast Texas which identified PD, SO, Constables and is still in use today.) Simply stating the agency’s name and then a unit number should meet this requirement. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 8Common channel names were used for designated interoperability channels. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: This will require programming and ensuring common names are utilized. Vendors and end-users will need to be educated. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 9Multiple organizations with inherent responsibility for some portion of the incident were present and joined in a unified command with a single individual designated with the Operations Section Chief responsibilities. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: Determining who has the “lead” for the incident and who should be in a unified command; Agreeing to an Operations Chief; Deputy OSCs could be utilized to gain acceptance. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 10Span of control was maintained amongst the primary operational leadership: The Operations Section Chief and first-level subordinates. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: This is basic ICS, not interoperability. Span of control is often a challenge where egos exist. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 11Communications Unit Leader (COML) roles and responsibilities were carried out by the Incident Commander (IC)/Unified Command (UC) or designee. - Necessary communications resources were effectively ordered using documented procedures. - A communications plan was established by procedure or developed early in the incident. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: Seldom will a written ICS-205 be written on a small incident. However, verbal is commonly used to designate channels in the fire service. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 12No more than one out of 10 transmissions was repeated amongst the primary operational leadership due to the failure of initial communications attempts. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: This may require a supervisor to carry or have access to at least two radios. Certain channels must be monitored. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 13Upon failure or overload of any primary communications mode, a back-up was provided. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: This may be as simple as changing to “talk-around” or it may require a policy to change to a “Secondary” channel. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Common Policies and Procedures • Element: 14Primary operational leadership communicated adequately to manage resources and make timely decisions during the incident or event. • How?: Educate, Train, Evaluate, Exercise • Challenges: This also is basic ICS and not necessarily “interoperability.” Making timely decisions is an individual thing. • Demonstration:Document incidents / events; Conduct exercises and AARs;

Recommendations Cann Mann

Recommendations OVERVIEW • It was the consensus of the Goal 2 Demonstration Working Group that Goal 2 is achievable and we shouldn’t make it complicated. • In many locales in Texas, Goal 2 is and has been demonstrated on a regular basis. During wildfire responses since 1998, federal, state and local entities have been applying Goal 2 interoperability over vast geographic areas of the state. This includes state and federal aircraft. Goal 2 is simply having and utilizing common interoperable channels in the same day-to-day frequency band and having access to a mobile or fixed gateway which has the interoperable frequencies of the other bands.

Recommendations GATEWAYS • Mobile gateways will be needed to fully achieve Goal 2 in all locales. Feasibly, these should be shared and made available to all public safety entities. Plans, such as RICPs, should, and do, include procedures for requesting and implementing these gateways. • Installing common VHF interoperable frequencies in UHF/700/800 MHz trunked sites and UHF/700/800 MHz interoperable frequencies in VHF trunked sites could allow not only allow for interoperability with Goal 2, but even day-to-day operations.

Recommendations PROGRAMMING and COMMON TEMPLATES • It is obviously essential that all public safety users have all interoperable frequencies, of their day-to-day frequency band, programmed in their radios. Some COG regions are paying for the programming of radios whether or not they were purchased with Homeland Security funding. Some COG regions are purchasing all public safety radios in their region. Some COGs are working with the end-users and vendors to create common templates for every radio. All of these things combined help ensure interoperability and meeting the requirements of Goal 2.

Recommendations CACHES • Caches of radios for use in interoperable situations should be programmed with interoperable frequencies and, if applicable, updated with common names. USAGE of INTEROPERABLE CHANNELS on INCIDENTS / EVENTS • The use of the interoperable frequencies is only an item of Goal 2, but it must be considered that these frequencies will be assigned as tactical, air-to-ground, and command channels on an incident. This might be an opportunity to pre-designate some of these frequencies ahead of an incident. • Documenting use of interoperable channels on incidents and events should be done to reflect compliance.

Recommendations CHALLENGES • Some federal agencies don’t want outside agencies talking to them on their radios and are encrypted. To reach Goal 2, radios with interoperable frequencies might have to be issued to these agencies. • At least some interoperable training must be on the radio equipment that the individual will be using on a regular basis. Interoperable training received at academies, external courses, etc, may not be on equipment that the end-user will be using on a day-to-day basis.

Recommendations DEMONSTRATING GOAL 2 Education • The end-users, elected officials and vendors should be educated on aspects of interoperability and Goal 2. Definitions must be a part of this; include terms such as “narrowband, P-25, interoperability, ICS, NIMS, Goal 2, State and regional communications plans, etc.” Part of the education piece should also be included in the training.

Recommendations DEMONSTRATING GOAL 2 Training • Classes on radio operation and interoperability will be needed at the local level and on a regular basis. This should be for all end-users and dispatchers.

Recommendations DEMONSTRATING GOAL 2 Evaluation • All end users should demonstrate the use of interoperable frequencies. Key end-users should demonstrate the setting up, integrating and using a gateway device. Evaluations could be associated with routine training and with exercises. Evaluations should be based on the plans, training, procedures, and equipment on hand that would be used on an initial incident as associated with Goal 2.

Recommendations DEMONSTRATING GOAL 2 Exercise • Exercises should include a scenario which will involve the utilization of multiple interoperable channels, establishing and designating command, tactical and air-to-ground frequencies, developing and distributing an ICS 205, conducting a briefing on communications, and simulating a “shift-change” transition. Personnel not directly associated with the entity being evaluated should be utilized to evaluate the results of exercises. These personnel shall conduct a fair, impartial and thorough evaluation to ensure the goal is met. All end users should demonstrate the use of interoperable frequencies. Key end-users should demonstrate the setting up, integrating and using a gateway device.

National Emergency Communications Plan