Author: Justin J. Graney, Chief of External Affairs & Communications
Imagine—it’s a beautiful April morning, the birds are chirping and you wake up to see the sun shining through your curtains. You check your phone and find that there is no cell service. You quickly switch to your Wi-Fi only to find that you do not have internet service. You feel a small twinge of discomfort as you reassure yourself it’s no big deal. Now take that same situation and introduce an emergency, such as a wildfire, hurricane or tornado. That small twinge of discomfort may turn to panic.
<Cue the Superhero Theme Music>
Did you know there is an entire community of emergency communications professionals in North Carolina that work every day to plan for these types of situations and to find solutions? The North Carolina Emergency Management Communications Branch handles this type of situation and more.
A similar situation to the scenario above happened in February 2024. Many cellphone users across the country woke up to find that their phones had no signal. While this may seem like a minor inconvenience, in a world where connection to others at the touch of a screen is the norm, this was a bit unsettling for some. In this situation, how do you communicate with your family or your co-workers? Do you have backup plans? How would the loss of all communications technology affect your family?
Imagine for a moment that you’re a first responder: a firefighter, a law enforcement officer, a paramedic or a telecommunicator. How does the loss of communications technology affect your ability to serve the public? Communications in public safety is the foundation on which any response is built. It is the medium by which plans are made, actions are directed and accountability of personnel is achieved.
“Resiliency in first responder communications across the state is established by building communications pathways. Providing education and resources for local, state and federal agencies working within North Carolina is our main focus,” said Amanda Winans, Deputy Statewide Interoperability Coordinator and 24-Hour Watch Manager. “We work to make sure that first responders across the state, no matter what level, have an ability to communicate with each other in a time of need.”
The Communications Branch not only focuses on interoperable communications, meaning that all agencies and disciplines can talk to each other, but they also work daily to help 911 centers and public safety entities statewide access multiple levels of communication to ensure there is never a breakdown in a first responder’s ability to communicate.
Interoperability is a complex issue with a simple explanation.
“Think of many different people speaking different languages,” said Statewide Interoperability Coordinator and Communications Branch Manager Greg Hauser. “There needs to be some type of process that helps to decipher what people are saying to come to a happy medium. So, in the communications world, we help to take all the different disciplines and bring them together and have a conversation on how to connect and talk.”
One way that the mission of building interoperability in communications occurs is through PACE planning. PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency. Each level of this plan provides an alternative method of communications, should the one prior avenue encounter issues or failure.
“If your phone loses connectivity, you feel uncomfortable. Your mentality changes because you are out of your comfort zone. A PACE plan provides you with a roadmap of what to do next,” said Hauser. “Walking through the steps of your plan methodically with your family is important. If we cannot communicate with our phones, what is next? Perhaps you move to text messaging using Wi-Fi? Then to email? You could use a landline or simply return home to check-in. Then your family could go to a fire station or police station if they cannot safety return to home. In order to stay safe, talk about it with your family. It starts with a conversation.”
The planning process with which the Communications Branch assists 911 centers and state and local governments is similar in nature to a family plan but with some complex technologies mixed into the recipe. There are satellite phones, HAM radio operators, failover technologies and mobile internet solutions. These communications strategies are made possible through partnerships within all levels of government and the private sector and with volunteers who work to build, repair and operate communications platforms. The amateur radio community, or AuxComm, is a key component in disaster communications.
“They are the ones that can go into the yard with a piece of wire and a CB Radio that went out of service in 1953 and suddenly, they can talk to Mars,” joked Deputy Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Brandy Osborne. “AuxComm is a really important communications tool. When all other communications platforms have failed, AuxComm is the communications piece that will work.”
As technologies have become more and more advanced over time, the amateur radio community has also advanced.
“Amateur radio operators are so advanced that they can use pieces of equipment to connect to the internet, using radio waves that can ingest internet connectivity from somewhere else on the planet to provide an internet connection for governments to transmit messages.”
- Greg Hauser.
From firefighters fighting a house fire, to law enforcement executing a traffic stop, to multiple state agencies coordinating a hurricane response, communications in the form of radios, cell phones and internet have become critical and essential tools to ensure mission success and first responder safety. In North Carolina, the Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders, or VIPER, is a statewide radio system that local and state government utilize daily for public safety communications. The statewide event channels, are managed within the NCEM 24-Hour Watch.
“When citizens need help, they call 911. When fire departments, counties, local emergency managers, law enforcement and other state agencies need help, they call the NCEM 24-Hour Watch,” explained Winans.
The 24-Hour Watch, located at the North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, is an informational hub where incidents across the state are monitored, resources are requested and dispatched. The center serves as the state warning point, meaning that fixed nuclear facilities, federal agencies and local emergency managers report events directly to the state through the watch.
“Every state and territory has a warning point, which is the idea that it is a one-stop shop that the federal government can reach the state to communicate on any potential hazards and incidents, and vice versa,” explained Winans. “Information gathering and sharing is the name of our game.”
Some of the key resources that the 24-Hour Watch coordinates are the tactical dispatcher program, which provides dispatchers to large events that backfill local 911 centers, and skilled communications professionals that can set up complex radio systems and troubleshoot and repair issues. The 24-Hour Watch is ready to meet the need statewide, whatever it may be. Outside of communications, the 24-Hour Watch receives requests and dispatches specialized state resources such as the Hazardous Materials Regional Response Teams (NCRRT), the Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART), the Urban Search and Rescue Teams and Swift Water Rescue Teams, among others. The 24-Hour Watch is also an approved entity to push Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages to the public.
In what is truly a whole-of-community approach to public safety, the Communications Branch works daily to build and maintain relationships.
“We help coordinate mutual aid agreements where we can collectively gather resources, equipment and dispatchers from across the state to fix a problem to provide assistance to any jurisdiction. For example, if there is a large incident occurring within a jurisdiction, we can provide tactical dispatchers and comms professionals to take responsibility for managing that incident off the local 911 center, so they can continue to serve their citizen’s day-to-day calls for assistance without becoming overwhelmed,’ said Winans.
Sometimes in a world that is reliant on advanced technology, simplicity is the key to maintaining basic communications.
“In a time of need, especially in our personal lives, you can keep it simple and figure out easy ways to communicate that don’t rely on advanced technologies and equipment.”
-Amanda Winans.
For more information on the NCEM Emergency Communications Branch, visit https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management/emergency-c….
